Not sure how you are going to manage keeping your kids at home without sacrificing their education? You are definitely in the right place. I sympathize with you. For us, it is utilizing our weekends off to focus on homeschooling our daughter.
I know everyone’s situation is different. We are in a really weird spot right now, but I want to encourage you to get creative. See my post on being prepared for homeschooling here. I know everyone’s schedule will be different so I have put together a template of my Preschool At Home Schedule that you see above.
I currently work two jobs Monday through Friday, so the only days where I have guaranteed blocks of time that I can dedicate to a schedule are Saturday and Sunday. Cassidy’s dad is off on Mondays, so we decided it would be a good idea to string those days together and plan a curriculum.
If I have learned anything yet, it’s to be prepared for the day. Winging it takes longer and gives too many chances for deviation. I make sure on Friday that I have my materials prepped and my books organized for the weekend. I usually pick activities from Pinterest to use during the week and finalize on Friday. If you aren’t already, follow me on Pinterest. I have pinned tons of resources under Montessori at Home.
Depending on what time we go to bed Friday night, Cassidy usually wakes around 7-730am. From there we get her up and dressed. We love to do breakfast out on the weekends. When that is done, usually around 9am, we rock and roll.
What we found to be helpful is to be relaxed but firm in our approach. Example, we can bring toys to the table but they must help us do our work. This past weekend the Paw Patrol helped us mark upper from lowercase letters and play dough helped us mold C’s for extra practice.
I like to start out with something light and fun – coloring. While Cassidy colors, I read a bible verse for the week. We use a book that dedicates a verse and story to each letter of the alphabet. Perfect for us, since we are doing a different letter every week. Once I read it to her, we recite it a few times and I ask some follow up questions. After a good chat, we move on to introducing the letter of the week.
Next, we do some activities with the letter. We have decided to go with the free printables from Reading Mama. I use both the letter of the week and the emerging reader printables with a sight word. On her site she also has a list of books for each letter. Since we love books in our house, I thought it would be a great idea to utilize our local library! When I was reserving a few books last week, I learned the library has a program for kids where you tell them a few things about your child and they curate books and activities for them. How awesome, right? It is called the Lit Kit. Last week’s kit included a craft.
Pinterest has been a great resource for finding crafts and activities related to the books we choose every week as well. When I asked cassidy what her favorite part of school was this past weekend, she said Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Our last block of the school day, we work on: tracing, writing, science and numbers. I try to work numbers in to the letter activities. Depending on how much I get done and Cassidys attention span, I adjust.
I spend Saturday evaluating what Cassidy knows and what she needs more help on. Sunday and Monday I plan the material accordingly. During the week we continue the recommended books at bed time until it’s time to start over again on Friday!
I hope in seeing this you have a few takeaways.
1. You don’t have to feel forced into a strict regimen in order to succeed.
2. There are many ways that you can incorporate and incentivize learning throughout the day.
3. We are all doing our best and that is all it takes for us to get out of this in one piece.I’ve connected with some amazing Bloggers to share some blogs featuring routines. Routines for mornings, working from home, homeschool, self care, plants and so much more! Head to each of their blogs to check out what they are sharing!
| JESSICA
https://www.mamabearwooten.com
| TAYLOR
| NOEMI
https://missnoemiblogs.wixsite.com/mysite
| LORI
2 comments
I love how your making it work for you and your family! That’s all we can do in this crazy time! You are her best teacher!
Girl, you have made me wanna do this with Giovanni and Gracelyn! It’s been tough homeschooling Adylee but this may help us in that situation too!