We discovered a very simple, but very effective tool for preschool last week:  we made  simple alphabet and number books using spiral notebooks. 

For the alphabet books, I wrote an upper- and lower-case letter on each page.  My preschooler fills up the rest of the page by:

• Copying the upper- and lower-case on each page and/or using an alphabet stamp to put the correct letter on the page
• Adding pictures (from magazines) of things that begin with that letter – apples and airplanes on the A page; backpacks, berries and bananas on the B page.

For the number book, I wrote the number and the number word on each page.  My preschooler:

• Adds the appropriate number of items cut from magazines.  We decided that it made more sense to go for the appropriate number of like items, rather than appropriate number of random pictures, so we have things like two panda bears, six chicken nuggets and eight blocks.
• Adds the correct number of colored dot stickers and/or uses number stamps to add the number.

The number and letter notebooks are proving to be great tools for daily practice and review of the concepts. Additionally, they provide fun play with cutting and pasting. This activity is one of the highlights of my preschooler’s day. 

Kris is the sweet-tea-drinking, classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte Mason, homeschooling mom to her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.