Letters, counting, Bible stories, baking, art projects… These are things we (and most moms) were doing anyway, but I decided to add a little more structure and novelty by planning some activities and calling it “homeschool.” No, I’m not attempting to teach my kid to read at four, that’s not even developmentally appropriate, but I’m spending some extra time being intentional and planning teachable moments.
I’m talking one hour, one day a week. We’re doing a letter of the day, and I’m planning a few activities related to that letter or a theme.
First day: A
Looked at the letter A
Drew A in salt
Traced A’s on a paper
Colored a picture of A things
Learned A in sign language
Read the book “Amazing Airplanes”
Made paper airplanes
Baked an apple dessert
And because we want to encourage STEM for girls at an early age, we assembled a chair from Ikea. Just kidding, that was just random.
Hannah will be back to preschool at the Baptist church close to us. It will be her third year, and she is full of anticipation. We went to the open house night, and it was fun to find out that one of her teachers is the mom of a boy from her class last year. The classes are arranged by birthdays, and Hannah’s class is June-September with Hannah being the youngest. There are several kids from her class last year and several from her class two years ago. So familiar faces as well as new friends. Her buddy Cody is in a different class again, but they are totally fine with that and usually see each other at playground time.
Preschool is two days a week from 9-2, which seems to be just the right amount for us. Enough to give Hannah some fun social time (and me some quiet time) but not so much that it takes over our schedule. We still need days for dance lessons, MOPS and plenty of playtime around the house.
So that’s what we’re up to “school”-wise this year.
Anyone have fun ideas for First Day teacher gifts?
grit & grace 
It’s nice that the trickier letters of the alphabet, such as Q and X, come along later after you’ve established a nice routine. Looks like fun!
I know this is late…but I love this post! I’m beginning the same thing with Eli and have gotten a lot of “what?! you’re not sending him to preschool?!” So refreshing to see other mommas relax and enjoy teaching their little ones the simple things.
Yeah, we definitely look at preschool as a social thing for Hannah, not some kind of academic necessity. It’s been fun planning the little things to do at home, and I might be a little more relaxed than I should, so the scheduled time helps me. ;)