Our daughter attends an awesome preschool built on the structure of “Learn & Play”, in the city where I work. I wish so much at times that I could be at home full time during these years, so that I could experience the joy of teaching her myself; however, at our house that doesn’t work out for us. But I do insist on still being a strong force in her education in learning. It can get a little intimidating when I work all day and then in the evenings I just want to relax or sit down and play with her. But we are doing our best to work out a routine that works best for us. I’m not promising we will be able to implement a lesson or project around learning EVERY day (we are going to shoot for 30 minutes a night, Monday through Friday), but I think as long as we have a schedule that it will work out more often than not having a plan! These are a few of my favorite places to get free worksheets and ideas for working with our daughter at home. Please patronize their amazing sites and resources.
I also found a great book at Wal-Mart that is like 3 inches thick of preschool worksheets. It covers everything from colors, shapes, letters, numbers, to cutting and pasting matching shapes, learning less/more, larger/smaller, above/under. So we do a little combination of everything at times! Here is a sample of my plan to keep me on track:
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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· Practicing letters – Writing – Recognizing – Matching – Sing ABC’s |
· Practicing Numbers – Writing – Recognizing – Matching – Counting
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· Shapes and Colors – Drawing – Recognizing – Matching – Patterns |
· Bible Study Lesson OR · Science Lesson
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· Arts & Crafts project -Holiday? -Season/Weather? -Theme?
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Now I plan to take all of the materials I do have and implement them into this plan. The only thing I will have to really research and plan ahead of time is the Friday Arts & Crafts projects to make sure I have the right materials for the current craft. When she reaches the three year old class and gets her new evaluation next January, we will change our plan and focus. I received her 2 year old evaluation right after the new year, and she really is ahead on many things and on target with the rest! Which made my chest swell with pride. Ha! She can name all ABC’s and count to 15 without assistance (they only expect to 10 at this time.) She can recognize all of her shapes except an octagon. I mean, I am not stressed about a two year old not recognizing an octagon if she can recognize a trapezoid. I think we are good here. And she knows and recognizes all of her colors. The teacher did tell me that she can recognize 3 letters of the alphabet and 2 numbers by sight and that recognition by sight for numbers and letters is a three year old skill. Well, I want to help her master that skill!! That will be our focus for the next year and learning the sounds of our letters. I’m actually really excited! Either I am just one of those overly excited moms or I should have chosen a degree in something other than criminal justice. (;
Also, I recently purchased this 3-DVD Set that focuses on learning Sight Words. I love it!
Do you do preschool at home with your child(ren)?
Shoot me ideas for craft projects and toddler science-y things!!
Southern Mom Life 