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I am mom to 3 kids: Maeve, grade 4; Skipper, grade 3 and Raines, my PreK scholar. Living the military lifestyle means we get to move often, generally every two years. We’ve had the pleasure of living outside Phoenix, AZ; Guam; Tampa, FL, southern Spain, and now Ramstein, Germany. While we love having the experience of living overseas and taking in the new cultures, it can be difficult. We don’t always know the language (especially in smaller villages), the foods can seem so foreign and scary to try, and it can be hard to be so far from home and family. It is also difficult to find a good solid preschool program that is affordable and has an opening. Where we are, there is a Montessori program and a more traditional preschool, both of which are not inexpensive. The options offered on the US Air Force base, as well as the Army post, are affordable but the waiting lists are long based on a list of criteria to meet. We do not meet the criteria for a higher position on the list, unfortunately, and the cost of the local economy options are prohibitive.

Out of our three children, Raines is the only one who hasn’t been to preschool. The older two were in a wonderful program run by the College of Education at University of South Florida in Tampa. There they learned the skills so needed for entering Kindergarten. I didn’t think twice about what those skills were. But one day I was sitting with Raines, trying to get him to stay with me for more than a page and a half of a book, and I realized I never had to teach my kids these things. I Googled “kindergarten skills”, knowing Raines was one day going to grow up and go to school, and found the info I was looking for. Raines would need to know how to use scissors, sit still for a story, button and zip and tie, know his numbers and letters. Well, we had recognizing numbers and letters but did he know anything about them, what they mean, sound like, the role they play? And I had a long way to go on teaching him the remaining skills. Further searching led me to PreK Scholars and while reading the description of the program I thought, “This is exactly what I need to help Raines!”

So here we are today. Living in Germany, taking in the culture, eating wonderful treats from out local bakery, figuring out what schnitzel is, recognizing that “apfel” is German for “apple,”and preparing for the beginning of our Pre K Scholars program. We will begin in July, when I also begin homeschooling my other two children, helping Raines to have the skills needed for Kindergarten. We are all looking forward to this journey we are on.

To describe my inability to post a blog in the past several weeks, that phrase seems insufficient. It feels more like a computer jam—where so much information is passing through that the wires start to backfire due from overload! A great thought to write about pops into my head and before I get a chance to sit down and write, another one pops up…until I have an accumulation of blog posts ready to go.

The thoughts are there, but one thing is missing: TIME! I just don’t have much of it at the moment. Life is happening too quickly for me as a business owner, teacher of 24 Pre K Scholars students, mother of four (and wife to one). And on top of my normal workload, I’m getting ready to pack up 13 years of memories and relocate the family to Northern California. This is a time of closure and new beginnings all wrapped up in one. A time of sadness, and a time of excitement.

Relocation is a topic in of itself to write about—who knew all that needed to take place to prepare our family for departure?! It has definitely been a mental process during a hectic time of overloaded “end of the year” schedules.

Question: How is a mother to stay grounded and gather personal strength during times of change—big change, nonetheless?

Answer: Her children!

I look to my children for strength. They amaze me everyday by what they accomplish, what they endure and how they tackle life’s offerings, both good and bad. The resilience they possess and the capability to see the bright side of every situation is refreshing. Their ability to be problem solvers rather than victims brings me joy!

The way they look at life as an empty book in which they are the main characters ready to fill its pages with adventure…that is where I get my strength!

I happened to come across a passage from a journal entry written by my 12 year old daughter. It reads as follows:

“Have you ever noticed that everything changes? Most of the time your friends change, most of the time you move, most of the time, well, everyone moves grade to grade. Songs on the radio even change. Your attitudes change. The day changes. Many people don’t notice all of the change going on, but you don’t know how much change IS going on. The change of the second, it is changing…right…now! CHANGE…Many things change in life, so take the time to enjoy it because once time flies, you will never be a kid again.”

Need I say more?

Mary was motivated by Pre K Scholars, noting that it connects with the Montessori philosophy and fills a void found by many Montessori teachers at this “pre-reading” level. She volunteered the following endorsement, encouraging all Montessori teachers to check out the Pre K Scholars program!

If April showers are in your forecast, then it’s imperative that you read James And The Rain with your tots! With expanded text and updated illustrations the 1957 out-of-print copy has been revived!

“James pressed his nose against the pane and saw a million drops of rain.
The earth was wet, the sky was gray, it looked like it would rain all day.”

But a downpour does not discourage James—rather, he grabs his bright yellow raincoat and a gigantic umbrella and sets out on an adventure. He meets up with animals. Do they know of any excellent rainy day games? The animals are encountered in numerically ordered sets, making this classic story a counting book in it’s own right. From one cow, two ducks, three toads…and many more. They splash and slip and puddle jump!

Karla Kuskin uses whimsical text filled with lots of rhyming and repetition, engaging the reader from start to finish. James and the Rain is also filled with wonderful vocabulary words not to be missed.

This is Camille reading:

I started Pre K Scholars because I wanted to make sure my girls are prepared for kindergarten—I want to give them every advantage I can for future success. As a mom, it excites me to see her so eager to read!

If signs of spring are not showing in the climate you are in, you’re sure to see them in almost every store you enter—plastic eggs line the shelves everywhere! Every color imaginable; in grocery stores, drugs stores, and in quantities of unbelievable amounts. We have found a practical and educational use for all those plastic eggs, and the kids are loving the game.

Easter Egg Alphabet Match: It’s inexpensive and easy to make—all you need is 26 plastic eggs and a permanent marker. Take a plastic egg, write an uppercase letter on the top half and the corresponding lowercase letter on the bottom half. Break the egg apart and place in a basket or on the floor. (Continue until you have completed all 26 letters of the alphabet, from A to Z.)

The fun begins! Ask your children to match the letters and put the eggs together. Once the matches are made I have the children place the whole eggs in real egg cartons that I have saved!

I often field questions from other moms: What exactly are fine motor skills? Are they really that important? Is it really imperative that my child be able to write his or her name? How about cutting with scissors—straight lines, curved lines, diagonal lines—is it really that important?

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles in your child’s body, such as all of the muscles in your child’s fingers and hands. These are important in enabling functions like writing, coloring, cutting, grasping small objects, getting dressed, tying shoes, and many others. They require strength and dexterity with the use of small muscles as well as a certain level of hand-eye coordination.

How does that translate into school experiences?

Strengthening your child’s fine motor skills will ease the difficulty of many tasks required in school. In addition to writing and cutting, tasks like working on the computer, reading books, and writing letters and numbers will eventually lead to an increased ability to write mathematical equations and stories.

Won’t my child just naturally gain the necessary strength in their hands as they mature and grow? Are fine motor skills something that can be nurtured and promoted?

There is so much we can do, as parents and teachers, to help strengthen children’s fine motor skills, and guess what? We can have fun in the process! Of course, you can paint, color, bead, cut, do puzzles, play with Playdough and so much more, but I have discovered a few newer activities that are a HUGE hit with the kids.

Swiss Cheese Cubes
At the NAEYC conference in Washington D.C., I picked up these rubber swiss cheese cubes that came with two little mice. The kids manipulate the mice in and out of the stretchy holes of the cheese. They love them, they smile, they giggle, and they ask for more time with them! They come to class asking if the mice are out…do you think they realize that they are strengthening their fine motor skills?

Bendaroos
The second one I discovered for “B” week are Bendaroos—the excitement the Bendaroos generate is thrilling. This time, do you think the children realized they were strengthening their fine motor skills AND reinforcing letter recognition and letter formation?

Have fun as you explore fine motor skill development with your child!

In celebration of A Week, the alphabet and ABC books everywhere

Did you ever notice that letters don’t always look the same?

“Blocky or small. Thick or tall. Roundish, slope-y, Fancy, or dopey. Letters look different in all different places, That’s because they have different typefaces!” With an alligator made of aaa’s—to a zebra made of zzz’s, alphabeasties uses a multitude of typefaces to create a beautiful and creative ABC book.

This book teaches it’s readers, big or small, about the world of typography and the design of different fonts and letters. Adults and children will both be engaged with the ingenuity as you are able to lift the flaps to reveal the different “beasties” that correspond to particular letters of the alphabet.

The alphabethas never been more interesting! Welcome to the world of fonts!

After receiving positive feedback at the NAEYC Conference this past fall, we learned a few things:

1. Our concept was well received
2. Our product was aesthetically pleasing and considered “innovative” in that it’s quite comprehensive
3. We offered only two products—the Family Kit and the Teacher Kit
4. Our prices were out of the price range of most teachers, so they needed to get school approval to use school funds
5. Several questions were common:
   • “Can we buy just your guessing game cards?”
   • “Do you sell just the map of Scholarville with reinforcement stickers?”
   • “Would you sell us your character cards?”
   • “I’m tired of the phonics program we are using…do you sell just your phonics component?”

So, in an attempt to share our products with everyone, the individual parts of our whole kit are available to all of our customers.

Many parents and teachers alike are in search of a quality “phonics only” program to enhance their children’s reading readiness skills and they have found this kit component very useful. We have been approached by advocates of the Down Syndrome Association, ESL teachers, preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, and non-profit agencies, all expressing their admiration in our phonics component and how there is nothing else out there like it!

The town of Scholarville and all of its community members are “one of a kind” watercolored line drawings that have been created by an amazing artist and educator. Scholarville is unique, multi-cultural, engaging, motivating to children, and a perfect springboard into the world of letter and sounds! Their action is evident and their affiliated motions help ALL learners grasp the letter/sound connection!

The Guessing Game is a favorite of all students! It is perfect for vocabulary development and beginning sound reinforcement.

Each piece is important in and of itself, and when combined as a whole kit you have an exemplary kindergarten readiness program!

Click here to learn more about our Kit Components.