Homeschool Preschool

 I've been doing a lot of "preschooly" things with Lilly lately and its had me wanting to write down my current thoughts on preschool because I've changed and grown a bit since doing what I called "Pre K" with Reaghan. I haven't had a complete turn around in thought process, but more of a going further down a road I was already travelling on, if that makes sense. ; )

I was so excited to start "school" with Reaghan but I knew I didn't want or need to do anything too soon. Even though I couldn't wait to start doing little themed crafts and "unit studies" with her I tried to keep the long term view in mind and held off on doing anything formal with her until she was 4. Her birthday is in September, so literally the week after she turned for, just a couple of weeks after everyone went "back to school", we started our little homeschool preschool. (Or Pre K ;)) I made a calendar board (we still use it in 1st grade so no regrets there!) and 2-3 times a week we would do school together. We would sing songs like the ABC's and Jesus Loves Me, read a bible story, and talk about the weather. Our school time only lasted about 30-45 minutes and we followed a letter of the week plan that I pulled together kind of on the fly each week by printing things off from Pinterest. If a holiday was coming up we would do little crafts or activities to go with it and sometimes little themes like Dental Health Week in February, or Farm Animals in the spring. It was SO much fun. We both really loved and looked forward to our scheduled time to do something intentional. 75% of the time it was low key, 25% of the time I was a little extra, and that's what I would go back and change. I would take that 25% that tried to introduce addition at 4 years old *face palm* and tuck it away for Kindergarten. Its NOT necessary to try to teach addition at 4! Or the 25% that got a little frustrated when she didn't remember a letter we had learned *cringe* and give her a kiss and just tell her what it is. Everything should be low key during the preschool years because here's what I realized after teaching Reaghan Kindergarten... she didn't need to know any of the things we learned that year of PreK before going in to Kindergarten. I do think it helped that she recognized her letters and numbers as she learned them all again, but the curriculum was geared towards teaching letters and numbers as if she didn't know them yet. 

Reaghan practicing cutting with Apple Printables

After talking with some Kindergarten teachers, they shared that Kindergarten used to be a year to learn letters and numbers and maybe learn to read simple words by the end of the year, and now parents feel like they need to know all of those things before even getting to Kindergarten! I know I had that mindset a little bit with Reaghan, but praise God for growth and wisdom, yes?! Now that we've finished Kindergarten, are on to 1st Grade and have Lilly coming up into those preschool/prek years, I feel like I have a more solidified view on how to treat this preschool time and here it is: don't feel pressured to do preschool with your toddler. If you want to do something then keep it simple and fun and full of play!

I am doing some preschool things with Lilly and still following a little letter of the week plan, but there is absolutely no pressure on Lilly to do it "right" or even remember anything we do. She is actually only 3 so the only reason she's even at the table doing anything this year is because she wants to be like big sissy and "do school." If she wasn't interested I wouldn't be doing anything formal with her, but she wants to be a big girl so in her situation its much better to help her feel like a big girl then to push her away. When its time for "Table School" I welcome her at the table if she wants to come (she usually does) and then I sit with her for about 10 minutes and do something focused together while Reaghan does her Handwriting book. I found a bunch of little books at the Dollar Tree and at the Target Dollar Spot that have numbers, letters, colors, shapes and different concepts like bigger/smaller or same/different in them and we do those together. Sometimes we do a puzzle, read a book or do a little activity from a Busy Binder I made for Reaghan's preschool. I DON'T make her trace the letters or numbers with a pencil but sometimes we do it with our fingers. We color things, circles things or draw lines. If she wants to circle the "wrong" thing then I let her. (She practices following directions and obedience in other situations so this is not an example of letting your toddler do whatever he/she wants, but more just realizing that if you're doing any kind of "school" with a 3 year old there really isn't a right or wrong. She'll understand one day that a sun is a circle or that its yellow and not blue. Right now it really should be all fun and games!)

I give her the right number to add next when doing this paper number puzzle. I absolutely don't expect her to recognize or know the order of these numbers.

I asked her to sort them by shape but she wanted to sort them by color instead. Fine by me!

Really the biggest reason that I do this with her is to connect with her heart. I want to fill up her love tank with some one on one time with mommy before I have to spend an hour or so focusing on sissy's school. I think it helps for her to hear me ask Reaghan to wait patiently for me to finish with her just like she hears me say that to her when I'm working with Reaghan. I think it helps combat her need to constantly interrupt or do things out of a need for attention during school time, and I also think it helps her to feel like a big girl which then encourages her to make big girl choices. She genuinely enjoys our time together and wants to keep going and do every page in her book. Which, honestly, they're Dollar Tree books so if she wants to keep scribbling in them while I move on to teach Reaghan her other subjects then I let her! If she's done then she is free to get down and go play or bring something back to quietly play at the table. She usually does the latter because she likes to be with us. : ) (Addison is usually napping during Table School.) Reaghan is finished with all of her school by lunch time so the rest of the day is free for playing, baking, or visiting friends and family.

Working together in one of the Dollar Tree books.

To kind of complete my thought process here, I just want to say that my heart behind talking about preschool is kind of two sides of one coin. On one side, I think it is so much fun to do preschool/prek things! I love doing a Letter of the Week with crafts and fun themes like Apples, Bugs, Ocean Animals, Farm life etc. When I did it with Reaghan like I talked about above, or when I do it with Lilly we had/have a blast!  Tons of positives came from it; one of them was that it just gave us a little schedule and structure for our week and it helped me be intentional about beginning bible reading with the girls. But even though I was trying to keep it relaxed, I realize looking back that somethings were a little overkill and just not needed. So while I still pull out the fun things to do with Lilly and I absolutely don't think there is anything wrong with these preschool things, I am even more sure of the other side of the coin. (Thank you Lord for growth and wisdom.) The other side is that none of it is absolutely necessary. Especially at 3. I get so sad when I see parents sharing that their 3 or 4 year old is crying because of "school work." Or when parents are stressing out over how to homeschool preschool for their kids this year since everything is still shut down due to Covid-19. I've seen a few friends having their 3 or 4 year old do "virtual preschool" with an online class and teacher. I'm not trying to pass any judgement, but virtual pre-schooling is so unnecessary. I am not a full on "unschooling" homeschool mama, I think there needs to be some genuine textbook learning that takes place as children get older, but not at 3. And not even at 4. At 3 they will learn all they need to know through playing and helping you go through your day. They definitely don't need to be sitting in front of a computer for virtual preschool. I understand some parents like preschool for the socialization aspect (and that's a completely different conversation for another day!) but virtual learning doesn't accomplish this. This year if you are finding yourself home with your toddler when you would've had them in preschool, please don't stress out. You don't need to do anything. Read books and play. If you feel like doing more then Pinterest is full of fun ideas but if its not your thing, then just let your toddler learn through playing. It's really okay!

One last thought - I am still valuing play time for Reaghan at 6 years old. Yes, she has book work to do, but if she and Lilly are engaged in some imaginative playtime when its time to start school, then I don't interrupt. We just start school a little later. I've found that its almost harder for her to get back in to the swing of playing after school but in the mornings they are full of fun ideas and I don't want to take that from them. There is so much time for book work and sitting still in her near future. Each year they will both naturally play less and sit more and so I want to protect and nurture their playtime as much as I can. The younger they are, the more their playtime should be seen as the real work of their childhood. 

Take a step back and evaluate preschool mama's... if you're having fun and enjoying your preschool time together then awesome! BUT if you're feeling stressed or your toddler is not into it then don't push it. Value their playtime. ABC's and 123's can wait, their precious toddler days can't. 

R E S O U R C E S

Check out Busy Toddler and Days with Grey for some fun, playful learning activities to do with your preschoolers!

Check out Arrows and Applesauce for Busy Binder ideas. She has an adorable digital download of a Preschool Journal for sale in her etsy shop, along with so many cute printables for learning and life with littles.

Teachers Pay Teachers is another great site for printables. Many of the downloads are for purchase but you can find tons of cute free items as well. Easy to find things using the search bar and filter for grade/price you're willing to pay. Love it!