Hey There, Friends!
Okay, so we’re really doing this. It’s day four of virtual learning at home and so far-things are going pretty well. I’d say my kids favorite thing is being broken up into small groups and working with just four or five kids on an assignment. According to them, the Zoom call with everyone gets too loud if you’re trying to talk to friends but in a small group-it’s great! So break out sessions are the high so far! I’ll take it!
Today, I’ve teamed up with Fancy Ashley to bring you Tuesday Talk! Once a month, we combine forces and chit chat about something. Bloggers, we’d love for you to join us!
I touched on this last week and then got lots of messages and e-mails with recommendations from other moms and teachers that I wanted to pass on to you!
We’re talking PRESCHOOL! The plan is for Britt’s preschool to open on September 8th and as long as our school district does open {after these three virtual weeks} then preschool will open too. In the mean time {and probably just this entire year}, I’m doing my best to add a little preschool to our time at home as well.
I graduated from Arkansas State University with a bachelors’ degree in Early Childhood Education. I had hours worth of classes on the importance of care, language, and needs being met all before the age of one. And let me tell you-my sweet girl is living proof how important those things are! We adopted Britt from China when she was eighteen months old so just eighteen months possibly without the care, love, and support you and I like to give our babies. Those eighteen months got her a tad behind, but don’t worry-we’re working so hard to be all caught up soon!
The tricky part about our situation is instead of learning things in order or what we like to think of as in order…easy concepts to tough concepts Britt was thrown into our world where she basically had to learn all concepts at once. It wasn’t an option to gradually go from the easier concepts to the harder ones. Does this make sense?
If you remember, back in 2017, she hadn’t learned to crawl or walk yet. She was a sitter. A professional sitter, I should add, but just a sitter. We went to months of occupational therapy and I remember thinking-let’s just skip crawling. She was almost twenty months and still not walking. Can’t we move right past the crawling? But her therapist assured me over and over again it was extremely important for her to learn how to crawl. Developmentally she needed it {and she crawled for maybe a week before she walked}. But that’s always stuck with me as the natural order of how we learn to do things being extremely important!
It’s the same with mental concepts as well. There are lots of things you do with your babies at home you probably don’t even realize you’re doing to help them develop. For instance, when they’re little we cover up a favorite toy and say, “Where’s the toy?”…eventually your baby starts realizing you just covered it up. Right? Doesn’t seem that earth shattering, but it helps your baby began to realize that even though we can’t see objects they’re still there.
Imagine missing out on those easy concepts at a young age and being thrown into life. It would be so hard!
Britt knows most of her colors, can count to ten {sometimes twelve}, can sing the ABC’s, and is working hard on her shapes. For starting her Pre-K year, I don’t feel like she’s super behind but my goal is to fill in all those gaps and by gaps I mean all those “easy”, “medium”, and “tough” concepts I don’t even realize she skipped. Make sense?
While your child might not have the same background as mine, they each learn at their own pace. Some learn super quickly and others take a little more time. And from my mama heart to yours…I want you to know THAT’S OKAY! I learned that during my hours of college classes too. 🙂
Or maybe preschools aren’t opening in your area this year? Whatever the case may be, I want to share some things Britt and I started doing with you! As well as share some recs from you guys as well! And I hope you’ll leave some comments with things you’ve done at home with your kids when they were little, games you bought your children love, books your children love, or anything you can think of that will help us get these preschoolers {with all different skill sets} ready for kindergarten.
Don’t mind our bed head! I can’t say enough great things about this Playing Preschool curriculum! We started with Year One, which is nineteen weeks of lessons. But I’ll tell you I think we’ll be flying through those! The entire lesson takes anywhere from 15-45 minutes depending on how long the book is and how much you stretch it out. FYI-I’m only sharing these pictures of lessons because their first unit on apples is available to preview on their website. Don’t want anyone to think I’m sharing their private lessons-I won’t do that!
We worked on counting 1:1 with the help of those squares.
We hunted for uppercase and lowercase, “A” with flashlights. I bought this letter set for us to use before I found that curriculum and it’s already been put to use on our work with “A”.
We sorted the apples by color and worked on building the biggest apple towers we could make!
With the help of Amazon, getting the supplies for these activities were super easy. This curriculum has a big list of things you should have on hand and then there are some special items each week for the specific units.
This is a part of that Homer program I told you about last week. Games, puzzles, books, etc. are all on the app! You set the road map for your child by answering where they are academically before they begin.
I got this suggestion quite a bit and I’m happy to tell you this video is on Netflix! If you have a preschooler, Leap Frog Letter Factory, is your friend!
A few other recommendations from you guys…
*Home CEO Academy-each week is a different theme. You just print the curriculum for the week and everything is there for you!
*Focus on all those skills they’ll need in kindergarten…getting dressed, opening lunch stuff solo, carrying their own backpack, etc.
*Spot It–Shay encouraged me to grab one of these games for Britt and as I was searching I found a, “1, 2, 3” edition…which is basically numbers, shapes, and colors. Everything we’re working on right now!
*The Good and the Beautiful-another friend recommended this homeschool curriculum and more specifically the Language Arts-PreK course for Britt. I bought this one and will keep you posted on what it’s like when it arrives. The bonus is the lessons are short and almost everything you need is included. There are a couple things that need to be cut out before hand but the prep is very minimal.
*The Kindergarten Tool Kit-This kit is designed to come with everything you need to prepare your child for kindergarten.
*The Homegrown Preschooler-this recommendation came from a homeschooling consultant! She recommends this program because we know kids-especially the younger ones-learn mostly through play. The supply list might be a bit longer with this one but again-Amazon will be your BFF.
*The Preschool Box-is a monthly subscription box geared for kids ages 3-6. No matter when you start the boxes build on each other. Guess what Britt Slaughter is asking for for her birthday this year? Isn’t this a great gift from the grandparents?
*Magnetic Foam Letters with Board-I grabbed these from Amazon and they can really be used so many different ways. Trace the letters, hide and seek the letters, use them in a sensory bin, and on and on.
Please join me in adding to the comments of what you did with your child you highly recommend to others or what you’re working on now! Thank you, friends! It takes a village and I’m so glad we’re here to help each other!
XO
I was in school to be a preschool teacher and in fact have my Master's degree in ECE. I never really ended up using it though as I stayed home with my kids when they were young and then by the time they were all school aged I decided to pull them out and homeschool. There are so many fun and easy things you can do through play to keep them learning skills just like you are doing!
Hi – this business is ah-mazing for sensory play. (I almost don’t want to share it because they always sell out ;). You can buy individual kits or sign up for a monthly delivery. Every one is so thoughtfully done and GORGEOUS. I literally die over the holiday kits. Perhaps most importantly, it keeps kids (of all ages) engaged. https://www.youngwildandfriedman.com/
So much great advice and tips here!!! I love that you can provide some extra help with your background as a teacher! Good luck these next few weeks!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
I’m homeschooling my preschoolers (2 &4) for the first time and back in the spring when thinks shut down we started a print yourself program called My Magic Backpack. It’s got a fair amount of print and cut prep for the teacher/parent, so I didn’t mention it the other day bc you said you didn’t want something like that, but for those who don’t mind that, it’s AMAZING. My kids love it so much- they’re leading essential skills (letters, tracing lines, cutting practice, counting and simple math) through the lenses of world travel. Every week Abby and Alex travel to a different country. Along the way we have learned about cultures, world landmarks, animals native to the culture and more. You should hear my two year old run around the house going “Bonjour! Bonjour!” 😻
I truly, truly believe Britt is going to be totally prepared for kinder!!!
Another fun sensory bin company is Mama of Joy. I've purchased several and they are so fun to play with! https://mamaofjoysensoryplay.com/
My youngest of four taught himself to read with those Leapfrog videos. Even though I too am an experienced teacher, those videos did it! Highly recommend!