Our daycare provider is not a licensed preschool teacher and does not have a preschool program to which she follows. She does lots of crafts and activities with the children - sensory activities as well as letter and number activities. However, I am not sure if it will be enough to adequately prepare M for kindergarten. I am also not aware of any preschool programs that run in the summer or all day so that M would be able to attend. So, with my elementary education degree and certification I am going to attempt to supplement M's education at home by homeschooling him for preschool.
Where to begin...
As with all educators, I started by looking for standards for my state so that I would have a list of goals (standards) that I could use to construct my activities around. By using the state standards I am ensuring I am properly preparing my child for entering a Pennsylvania kindergarten classroom. Standards at this age should be fairly similar amongst states. You can find the standards in two easy to read PDF formats through Pennsylvania Early Learning: Keys to Quality or the Pennsylvania Department of Education websites.
Next I began Pinterest boards of toddler activities and preschool ideas. I have begun collecting ideas for busy bags, sensory bins, worksheets/activities, and crafts. Since M is 13 months, I have focused primarily on creating busy bags for him to begin using in the next few months. He also has a few sensory bins. He ADORES playing with the pom pom sensory bin I made for him and using all of the little bowls and scoops with them.
Since I know have an idea of what types of experiences and skills I will need to reinforce at home with M, enter the Target $1 bins...
I feel like it is a common trend to be a working mother and TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH TARGET! (In fact I think all moms are obsessed with Target!) I have also made a few trips to the local Dollar Tree for supplies. This is what I have gathered thus far...
TARGET:
- Workbooks
- Flashcards
- Art supplies
- White board
- Puzzles
- Books
- Maps
- Games/spinners
- Manipulatives - foam blocks and small objects to count
- Organizational bins
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Scoops and bowls
- Ice cub tray
- Metal tray
- Pom poms
- Books
- Puzzles
- Flashcards
- Photo albums (to put flash cards in and to allow M to write on them)
- Sponges (to make blocks)
- Magnetic letters (mine are left over from my college days, but I know they carry them at our Dollar Tree too)
- Shoelaces
- Foam (and other art supplies)
- Pebbles
- Small erasers
There were a few things I wanted to buy and did not want to have to print or make so I returned to my FAVORITE source for early childhood and elementary resources - The Mailbox magazine. The magazine can be pricey to subscribe to so when I can, I borrow the new copies (and the old ones) from the elementary school library. However, individuals (like me) can register and create an account to access their THOUSANDS of FREE resources. They have everything from clip art (to use as decorations, crafts, props, and felt patterns for a felt board) to worksheets and units. In addition, the sell e-books for as little as $1 (on sale) and consistently mark their print publications down as well. Just recently they had a sale where I could select 7 books and only pay $35. (These books retail from about $8 - $20 individually.) The books I ordered (in this shipment) all included laminated tear out activity sheets that I did not have to create anything for. Books with math centers, language arts centers, games and activity cards, and task cards. One book has 8 (?) different story books the child can create and color with the laminated figures to go with the storytelling. It is AMAZING! I have also purchased entire units on insects, gardening, and dinosaurs. The prices and quality can not be beaten. I have used The Mailbox in my classroom for years and I can vouch for the quality of their products. (I am in no shape way or form receiving any compensation for this post.)
Now on to assembly and organization. This is where I am currently in the process of preparing for homeschooling. My husband thinks that I am crazy for preparing so far in advance, but I figure M is only going to become more active and sleep less in the years to come, so why not prepare early! I used many Pinterest ideas for busy bags and quiet boxes first. I assembled all of my different busy bags, sorted them by skill the child is using when playing with the busy bag, and then placed them in quiet boxes - one for each day of the week. For example, each box contains a fine motor skill busy bag, a building busy bag, a book, a sorting busy bag, and then a busy bag related to numbers/letters/colors. M will be able to take the bin for the day and play with the items in that particular bin. I am hoping that with this built in rotation of activities he will not get bored with them. I of course have extra bags that I plan on rotating in and out (if I have time) using in the car, carrying in the diaper bag, or making available all the time. I also created three sensory bins - pebbles/rocks, small erasers, and pom poms (or fuzzies in our house) - with one tub of sensory bin tools (ice cube tray, funnels, cups, measuring spoons and cups, scoop, and large tweezers). At 13 months M LOVES to play with the pom poms and placing them in the different cups and then taking them out. It is so cute watching him play!!!
As for the educational books and units I have purchased and downloaded. I have the play dough play mats in sheet protectors (I did not want to pay for them to be laminated yet), all things alphabet are hole punched and placed in the brad part of a folder, cute units are still on a flash drive and have not been printed and sorted yet - it is a little early for that, word wall words are printed and need to be colored and cut, and I have begun assembling The Mailbox materials in Ziploc bags. I am almost finished cutting out the storybook characters and I plan on using them this summer with M on our trip to Canada. I know he can't color his own story yet or read, but I think he will enjoy hearing the story with the little characters to go along with it. I have not decided if I am going to put felt on the back to use with his felt board (I bought cheap canvases at A.C. Moore and wrapped them with felt) or magnets for his tray. So many decisions...
That is where I am in the process and I hope that this does not blow up in my face in the coming years. I am not planning on over-educating my child or taking away his freedom to play and learn through play. My hope is not for my child to grow up faster, be placed in a special program, or attend a "gifted" school. I just want him adequately prepared for kindergarten and have problem-solving skills. In my math classroom I taught through game play for years. I plan on integrating a Montessori approach to my homeschooling and setting up a Montessori inspired playroom when he is older. It is so important to let children learn through play and interaction with their environment. However, as an educator I also understand the importance of learning to sit still for short stretches of time and practice handwriting through worksheet practice.
