Homeschool Preschool

The idea of homeschooling has always appealed to my Mama side and has always been something I wanted to try. I figured preschool is a pretty good "lets give it a try" age. Today was the first day that Parson and I tried our Toddler 2 ABC Jesus Loves Me home-school preschool curriculum....It was an adventure and fun for both of us.

I have had the curriculum for awhile...like 6 months but the past 6 months have been pretty crazy. This has given me lots of time to read through and get familiar with the parent/teacher guide and activity pages. It also has given me time to look at Parson and see what way he learns best.

Last weekend I decided that I thought Parson was at a point where I thought he would really be able to enjoy some of the activities and be cognitively ready to try and "learn" the information. I was nervous...not about teaching him colors, letters, and numbers. He knows all of those pretty good already. But teaching him about God and the bible. I mean, I know its important...but lets be honest I am still learning myself. How was I ever going to properly teach Parson all of this information?

Thank heavens for this curriculum it has it all spelled out for me (to learn and re-learn) to teach Parson. For instance, week one is teaching about Genesis 1:1. One simple verse about what God created on the first and second day. So this morning I read Parson Genisis 1:1 out of his toddler story bible. He loved the pictures and pointed at the moon and the sun (day and night) and pointed to the water and the sky.

Today we just focused on the day and night thing...and sure enough if I ask Parson "What did God create on the first day?" he will reply "the moon and sun!" to him that is day and night!!! Golly, a little prodding and a coloring sheet and help from Mom and he has got one part down!

We are taking things nice and slow with this structured learning thing. Like 15-30min in the morning of  "activities" with stores and songs throughout the day and probably a little something before bed with the verse we are talking about that week.

This week not only are we learning about Genesis 1:1, but also about the color red, letter A, number 2, and the circle shape. So for our before nap snack we ate off of  red circle plates. The letter A and the number 2 are hanging on our fridge on red construction paper and Genesis 1:1 is written on red construction paper also on the fridge.

Yes, as a treat Parson got to have homemade fries and "red dip" for pre-nap snack :)

When we were out running an errand this morning the game in the car was find something red or the letter A. Which lasted awhile until we saw a school bus, ambulance, and a mail truck and to a two year old those are way more fun to find then the letter A.

Our new daily schedule looks kinda like this:

6:30-8:30am - wake up, watch a show, eat breakfast, free play, get daddy out the door to work, and get Parson and Mommy cleaned up for the day.
8:30am -"School" time
9:00am-11:00am- Free play, outside time, run any errands that need to be done, play dates, ect.
11-11:30am - before nap snack if wanted and stories/quiet calm down play
Noon-2pm - Nap time
2pm-4:30pm - usually include, coloring or craft of sorts, free play, more outside time, and stories
4:30pm-5:30pm - Parson gets to watch a show...usually Sesame Street because its an hour long and allows me to get dinner made and Daddy comes home.
6:30-7:45pm - FAMILY TIME our favorite time of the day
8pm - Parsons bedtime

So far the first half of day 1 has been a success...here is to hoping Parson and I both continue to enjoy and learn together :)

Patty