I get asked this question a lot and so it will be helpful to type it all out and have a quick reference for the future. What do I do for preschool and kindergarten in homeschooling? My friends who have already heard the answer probably snicker because I would say "I don't do anything!" I would urge you, "Don't do anything!" Now, by saying that, I don't literally mean don't do anything. Especially if your oldest is this age. If this is your first year with a preschooler or kindergartner you will need to put thought into these things where as, I'm many years past that stage and don't think about it anymore. Which means that I have to remind myself of what I do without thought anymore. First, here are some links of where I get my philosophy in education for these years: simplycharlottemason.com/planning/preschool-guide/ AND mylittlerobins.com/2017/03/charlotte-mason-preschool/ The first link has a video that will give you a good summarization of Charlotte Mason's theory on educating littles. The second link offers great practical ideas on the outworking of that theory. Its a LOT of info in those links. I really like Charlotte Mason, but we aren't religious about her. I would say of all of the homeschool methods we most closely resemble her, but we do other things that work better for us. So, that's the philosophy, now how we work that out practically. 1. As much outdoor, unorganized play as possible. Exploring, getting dirty, and barefoot when possible. When they bring you something that they found, ask open-ended observation questions about it to help teach them the habit of focus and communication but don’t turn it into a lecture. “Tell me about the flower!” “Where did you find it?” “What does it feel like?” “How do you think it grew?” etc. 2. Keep lots of open-ended craft objects around and plenty of manipulatives for counting and sorting. They will sort anything and everything at this age! We never child proofed the kitchen, we just hovered and taught them to leave the cabinets and drawers alone until they got it. But I always kept a drawer, tall enough for a crawler to open, filled with safe kitchen stuff for them to play with while I cooked. Plastic bowls, wooden spoons, measuring cups, etc. Occasionally I would give them a cup of flour and a cup of water and let them pour those together and stir on the floor near me. (that is messy, but SO fun!) As they get older they will learn to add a little at a time to see the different consistency change. Ideas: craft puff balls, popsicle sticks, egg cartons, tweezers, yarn, cotton balls, toilet paper rolls, cardboard box, and so on. Along with basic craft stuff like crayons and paper. I will share one fun activity that I bought in 2012 that is still used constantly in our home, though. We call it the shape game and I bought it at Oriental Trading company. HUGE hit in our home. 3. During bad weather times a sensory bin can be very helpful. If you train them well to keep the sensory objects in the bin (takes longer for some kids but does require intense training for a few weeks) it is great educational fun while you are busy with older children or housework. Always put a time limit so that they look forward to getting it out again. Some things we have put into our sensory bin: sawdust, water, slime, shaving cream, water beads, sand, beans, rice, and (most famously with our boys) lots of small rocks with toy construction trucks. I always try to keep measuring cups and funnels in there for scooping. 4. Hulk just turned 5 and wants to say that he is in Kindergarten, and so that is what I do. But he does nothing more than Bug at this point. I have a scheduled time for “preschool/kindergarten work”. I really only want them to do that if they are bored or desire to, so it’s not something I force at all. If they want to then for about 10-15 minutes they practice tracing letters or numbers or writing their name. They feel very big sitting at their little table and working like their older siblings. They also are expected to sit with us for Bible lessons. They both have picture bibles that they have open and look at. This is a good time for teaching them the habit of sitting still and listening. And they contribute to our bible memorization as well. 5. Right now, I am allowing for up to 30 minutes of Starfall.com a day. Its typically less than that but they do love it and I limit what all they can do on the website to what they are working on learning. All of my kids have played this website at some point. It's been around for a long time.
6. Most importantly, read to them. Take them to the library, let them pick out books that interest them, and read to them every day. If you have older children, schedule times in the day where they read to their little siblings. It's good for both of them. Some of our favorites: AA Milne, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, Frog and Toad, Peter Rabbit, Mother West Wind stories, Aesop's Fables and so on. We also love some popular books like anything by Mo Willems and Mercer Meyer, which Charlotte Mason would've labeled as twaddle. But we still love them, we just try to discipline ourselves by reading some more challenging books too.
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LindseyI'm the mama and wife. Updating you on our life! Archives
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