10 Tips of the Trade: Things I've Learned Homeschooling Preschool

I have been a preschool-homeschooling mom for two years now. My daughter starts kindergarten in the fall, and I'm confident she will do wonderfully, she knows her letters, can tell time, knows the days of the week and the months of the year, is excellent at colors... the list goes on. That said - I'm glad I have a second daughter to do things differently (HAHA!) Here's a list of the things I've learned while reinventing the wheel, I mean teaching preschool.

The 10 biggest things I've learned:  

1) Get an excellent / cheap printer. Epson has the cheapest inks that I've found, and they print in good quality. They aren't a photo printer, but they're excellent for school work.  

2) Have the $1 Store be your first stop EVERY time. I go to the dollar store almost as much as I go to the grocery store. I especially hit it in August and late December early January. Need a poster board? They sell 2 for $1. Need more stickers? Rewards? Glue? Pens? Foam letters? Fuzzy Pipe cleaners? They even have awesome preschool-3rd grade books with school work pages.

3) Invest in a laminator. I grabbed mine from Target for $30-ish. It is easy and I've only ever had one jam (and that was when my daughter was playing with it) and I've laminated close to 60 pages. I will say I was certain I would use the 4x5 pockets - I haven't used one yet, just go with the plain sized paper pockets. Not only will it save on printing, it will also allow your kids to write and wipe (with a dry erase marker), and stick things over and over. All of my calendar is laminated, it works wonders.

4) Set up a Pinterest. If you don't have one already (how have you avoided it?!) set up at least one board for each school year you homeschool. This is one of the coolest ways to get inspiration. You can find printables, crafts, science projects...etc.

5) Join Teachers Pay Teachers. This website is awesome! Its also great for all education levels. The account is free and there are tons of free projects in it (use the left hand side to narrow your search) I have honestly taken a lot of my print outs from the free section - I've only spent $8 on it and I felt it was well worth it.

6) Set up a permanent homeschooling spot - even if its at the kitchen table. You'll need storage, wall space, somewhere for projects to dry, and its best not to do it over carpet, if you have to - get an area rug. Having a space is ideal because it helps the kids know its School time and not time to play and get distracted.

7) Be flexibly disciplined. Listen to your kids, there are certain days when I just know that preschool is going to be a bear. Its during those days that I call an audible and we either do a fun project, something relaxed like a color by number, or we skip it all that day and make it up the next. You'll learn when your children have better focus. I find our best focus right after snack and lunch time and that is when paper-work should happen. Art projects can be scattered where-ever, and science *sometimes* will help settle them down.

8) Variety is the spice of life, and preschool. No one wants to do the same thing over and over and that's the truth especially with young children. That said repetition is one of the best ways to ensure something sticks. Varying how something is taught and practiced helps a lot. For example if you're teaching small, medium, and large, try it with a page, blocks, and the Leap Frog Tad movie, three different ways to encourage learning the one concept.

9) Curriculum, curriculum, curriculum. This ones the hardest and most fun for me. The planning stages. Every Sunday or Monday I plan for about 2 hours of my day. Usually I get about a weeks worth done in that time. At the beginning of the school year I planned out a rough curriculum, I pulled up a variety of Kindergarten readiness tests, and made sure the points in them were covered in our studies.

10) The biggest thing I've learned so far though is to do it. Invest time in your kids and their learning. After all - they're a huge part of you.

All Things Are Possible

"It always seems impossible until it's done." ~Nelson Mandela.  This quote has just become my favorite of all time.

In September I gave birth to my second dear daughter, Ky-Ky.  While I was pregnant woman, I was nervous.  Would I be able to juggle life with a new baby and a 5 year old?  Would my homemaker duties suffer?  Would my oldest think I don't love her enough with a new baby stealing so much attention?  Would I be overwhelmed and curl into a fetal position and hide in the closet watching eagles?  (Name the movie! Video at the bottom if you give up!) 

I must admit, I think having two children has helped.  I feel more focused.  My days are spent with my dollies, my house is cleaner, we eat more dinners at home, heck we do preschool on a regular basis!  When I posted this on my mom's group on Facebook (Are you part of one of these? OMG They are my GIRLS man!  I love seeing their posts and there are days where everyone just needs to vent and these ladies get me!) some of the ladies asked for tips - so here you go.  

What's changed:

1) Humility.  I was on bedrest for almost 4 months.  During that time I had to humble myself and ask for help.  I'm not supermom, never have been, but asking for help allowed me to...

2) Balance.  My cousin-in-law whom I love dearly came over on a daily basis and whipped my house into shape.  Now I don't know if its because she's worked hospitality at some major hotels, or if she has a certain level of OCD (Love you sweetie!) or what, but I have never had my house be and stay as clean as that.  She was at our house for only a few hours a day, and most of that was spent with me and my first daughter, not cleaning-cuz it was done!  She'd done it!  I watched her balance and learned quite a bit.  And I realized that I have never been able to find that balance myself.  Now I love my mom and my MIL who have both helped me out, and I learned how to clean from my mom, but for some reason seeing Ari do it I learned it.  

3) Accountability.  I gave myself too much slack.  I used to always whine about how awful I was for not doing stuff...instead of doing it (makes sense right?)  Now if I catch myself thinking "wow I'm such a slacker." I make sure to stop slacking and set myself a mini goal.  I hold myself to an end goal and its made me happier.  

4) Happiness.  I didn't realize that I could be happy without a lot of down time.  This too came from my 4 months of bedrest.  There is a LOT of time for self-reflection when you can't do anything!  I always thought I was happiest when I was playing video games or watching TV or out shopping and going to festivals.  But I have realized that I can be just as happy by taking pride in what I own, by organizing the house and keeping it clean, by playing with my dollies and watching a Disney movie. 

5) Acceptance.  Allowing myself to say enough is enough.  I have always berated myself, I've never been "enough".  For some reason this aforementioned movie struck home and made it 100% clear to me, maybe it was because I felt so like Ally so much of the time.  This scene is incredible, whether you believe in God or not, and sums up much of what I have been trying to live by recently. 

6) Inspiration.  Dozens of things have inspired me, my two dollies do, absolutely.  My husband, my cousin, my parent's, my in-laws.  Media too: Mom's Night Out, a book called "The Gabriel Method" which oddly enough is about weight loss but has inspired me in hundreds of other ways, The 5 Love Languages...

In the end...well there is no end.  That's something I continually am trying to accept.  Every day is a journey.  Some days I'm awesome at following these changes in my life, and some days I find myself regressing.  But I'm changing.  I'm learning and accepting myself.  So if you're planning on making a long, or at least grueling, New Year's resolution, remember that "It always seems impossible until it's done."

~~~~~

The movie:  Mom's Night Out