Tot School

~Wyatt is 43 months. Levi is 29 months~


This is my first official Tot School post. I have gotten lots of ideas from her blog 1 + 1 + 1 & hope to start linking up to her Tot School Roll Call soon. The boys are really enjoying all the fun things we do in "school". Wyatt says he can't wait to go to kindergarten. I don't have the heart to tell him yet that he probably won't "go" anywhere for kindergarten except to our homeschool "room" (whatever section of the house that might be designated for that day).
Right now I try to set aside M, W, & every other F as our "school days". If they were going to an outside preschool, they would have certain days for school, & I think it's important for me to mentally set aside some time for some structured, although creative learning time. A day at an outside preschool usually consists of 3 hrs for 3 year olds & 4 hrs for 4 year olds. Most people don't realize how much of that time (& their money) goes to just plain old PLAYTIME. Since we chose to go down to one-income during the child rearing years, I just can't justify paying add'l money (right now) for 75% of playtime & 25% of instruction. I know everyone has their opinion, & everyone has different financial situations, & every child learns differently, & every child has different needs. Who knows, maybe a year from now, I'll be sending Levi to preschool & keeping Wyatt home or vice versa. We are taking it one year at a time, & seeing how things go. And as far as outside preschool being necessary for "socialization"...hmmm...don't get me started!! First of all, my boys aren't lacking in socialization/communication skills in the least (not trying to brag, but if you are at my house for more than 10 min, you will see what friendly little motor mouths we have!) And secondly, they get many opportunities for "socialization" & learning how to have self-control in a classroom setting at church every Sunday AM & Sunday PM, & at Awana's (will talk about in another post) on Wed. night.
And another reason for our desire to homeschool preschool is found in the Bible in Deuteronomy 6:7--You shall teach them diligently to your sons & shall talk of them when you sit in your house, & when you walk by the way & when you lie down & when you rise up.
So for 30 min up to 1 hour, we have "school":
A Bible story, some coloring or painting, some fun activity for gross motor skills (like Red Light, Green light or bean bag toss on #s), we do something different everyday. I try to have a theme for every week (same letter, same # all week long, same Bible story, and then corresponding crafts and activities). And we learn a verse every week as well. Levi is doing surprisingly well at the verses! Praise the Lord! I've realized that he is learning them even though most times he doesn't want to recite it for me on command.
Most of the "supplies" or "resources" that I use for activities are from the Union County Smart Start Resource Center which I blogged about here. And my supply for crafts is still growing, but I try to use things from around the house like egg cartons to mix paint colors etc. And the $1 section at Target has greatly helped our craft supply stash!

Wyatt playing bean bag toss w/ frog bean bags and lily pad numbers


Working on gross Motor Skills of picking up sticks, scooping dirt w/ a shovel and pushing the dump trucks all around the yard!


Working on fine motor skills with trying to do the Lacing Cards correctly



Working on Fine Motor Skills with a Magnetic Go Fish game (which gave me time to finish another craft w/ Wyatt that was above Levi's skill level)


All About Apples


If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see their letter A's that I made w/ Pipe Cleaners. Wyatt's Letter A worksheet. (free printable from DLTK-teach.com) We read the My A Book (LOVE this series and always request/reserve them thru the online library catalog). I cut an apple in half, and they dipped it in paint and made apple prints on their paper. And of course, their apple to snack on!