A is for Apple Activity - At Home Preschool

For letter A week we decided to make a paper plate Apple. This helped teach him letter sounds as well as his cutting skills, colors, how to use the right amount of glue as well as creativity. I love things that track multiple principles. Plus it's easy to throw together and you probably already have the supplies for it. 

What you need:

Paper Plate 

Red Construction Paper 

Markers or Paint. 

Scissors (if you feel it is age appropriate)

Glue (we used a glue stick to keep the mess down a bit) 

Green Craft Stick (you could also use green paper for the stem) 

1. I let him rip and cut the red paper into enough pieces to cover the plate. We used about 2 sheets. 

2.  I let him color the plate red for a base for the apple. 

3.  Let them go to town gluing all the red paper to the plate. 

4.  Add your stem. (We used a green craft stick) but you could easily use green paper if you don't have one on hand. 

I love how simple this was since we don't have a terribly long attention span.  

Happy Learning! 

Letter A Chalkboard Activity - At home preschool

With our at home preschool program we are doing the letter of the week plan to teach recognition, letter sounds, handwriting and upper and lower matching. Today is our first day! And we couldn't be more exciting. We did a couple chalkboard activities that went very well. 

First I drew a letter A at the top for him to use for reference then made the dots for him to connect. We did this about 10 tes to really drill it in. 

Next we erased the letters with some tips and water. 

First I drew several sets of upper and lowercase A's on his chalkboard. 

Then I gave him a small cup of water and a few quips and had him wrote over the letters with the water "erasing" them. He was so proud of himself after every set he did. You could really do this activity with any letter or number 

The most important part when doing this activity with your preschooler is to make sure you stay as positive as possible even when they are not tracing things great. Positive reinforcement goes a long way and will help them so much more then telling them everything they did wrong.

We have a few more activities planned for today. I will keep you posted and hopefully give you some good ideas for teaching your preschooler. 

3 year preschool homeschool

When my son turned 3 I started looking into preschool and was incredibly frustrated by the things I found. The programs were either way too expensive, way below my sons level, or way too structured. So I decided that at home preschool would be worth a shot. I agree that there are some social aspects that are very important to his overall development so I did decide to enroll him in a sports program. 

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So like many of you I like to save money or make money any way I can but grocery coupons are a struggle for me. I however have found 6 apps that will pay me to grocery shop. 

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3.  Ibotta -this app gives you cash back on the groceries you buy. My favorite part of this app is that they have hundreds of different offers including offers on produce and any brand items. I have gotten cash back on every trip to the store since I got this app. I rarely look at this before shopping because I don't want to just buy things to get cash back. I scroll through when I'm done add my offers and snap a picture of my receipt. They pay through PayPal with a $10 minimum. 

4.  Checkout51 - this app is very similar to ibotta. It pays you cash back on the groceries you buy.  They don't have as many offers as ibotta but I still end up with a couple items a week. They also offer any brand rebates and rebates on fresh food as well. Plus you can sometimes get cash back on both apps for the same product. 

5.  SavingStar - This app is similar to the last two but some stores it is automated with your store loyalty cards. They have different offers all the time and a lot where you buy $15 from a certain company or group of companies and they give you $5. The minimum to cash out is $5 and they pay via PayPal and gift cards. 

6.  RecieptHog - I have been using this app for years and love it. All you do is snap your receipt and you get points based on the total. That's it. Plus you get tokens to a slot game when you can earn more with every receipt. Takes 10 seconds and can be used after all the other apps as well. Use code sonk2593 to sign up. 

The best way to use these apps is together. Use shopkick and checkpoints to get paid to go shopping. Use ibotta checkout51 and SavingStar to get cash back and then use receipt hog to snap a picture and your done. Happy Shopping. Let me know how it goes for you! 

Get FREE Target Gift Cards just for walking in the door

If you are like me and are constantly running to the grocery store, target or the mall. You have to get the shop kick app. It gives you points called kicks for walking into stores, scanning products and making purchases. It adds up so fast and you can redeem them for tons of different gift cards and prizes. My favorite is target gift cards. I always get atleast a few $5 gift cards a month and you get a barcode instantly that you can scan right at the register. I have even cashed out in line and used it right then. Download the app now and get started. You even get 50 free kicks if you use my link to sign up. 

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How to get FREE stuff on Amazon.com

Last month I discovered a new app to get FREE stuff from Amazon. The app is called Daily Fix Fashion Rewards. You can select any prize from Amazon. All you do is like posts on the feed and click ads if you want. The points add up so fast and you can get anything. I have been using it to get kids books, a couple toys to put away for my boys for Christmas and paper products and household supplies. I love this app so far and cannot wait to keep earning more prizes. I usually can get enough points daily to redeem a prize of $10-$20 from Amazon.

Make Money Listening To Music

Slice the pie is a great website that pays you to listen to and review music.  Currently the minimum per song is $.15 which adds up super fast!  After you reach $10 you can cash out to paypal.  It's super easy and does not feel like work.  I wouldn't consider this to be a full time income, but definitely a good source of extra cash.  The best part is that the higher rating you have with them the more you make per track.  Plus if you refer friends you get 10% referral earnings as well. 

http://www.slicethepie.com/?wyd=1061156

FREE Giftcards with MPoints

Anyone looking to score some free Giftcards needs to check out MPoints.  It's a collection of apps and games that you earn points through for completeling activities (some of which you are probably already doing). Without spending more than 5-10 minutes a day I can easily earn over $5/week in Amazon cards.  The apps are available through android and IOS, and your points transfer between apps automatically. Here are a few of my favorite.

1.  MPlaces -This app gives you points for ever place you check into and for opening prize boxes on your map. You can check into places one right after another, so if you are in a shopping center just open the app and check into multiple places quickly.

2. Pedometer by Runtastic - This app gives you points just for opening it and tracking the steps your already taking throughout your day.

3. TMZ - Get your daily celebrity gossip fix with the app and ear quick points at the same time.

4.  MyPlate - This app is a great calorie counter and diet tracker.  The app is very useful and easy to use plus you earn points for being healthy.  It even reminds you to track your meals.

5.   Moviefone - Check local show times and watch trailers for upcoming movies and earn points while doing it.

6. Games - get mpoints just for playing games such as; Scramble with Friends, family Fued, office Zombie, and many more.