If you had asked me pre-kids if I would ever homeschool, I would have given you a VERY definitive NO! I mean, I am not a teacher. I probably lack in the patience department. Creativity? I can duplicate just about anything I see, but original thought… well, that’s a different story. Having to come up with a curriculum and having to have a routine (I’m horrible with routines!!) gave me sweaty palms just thinking about it!
But then I had kids… and everything changed.
I’ve come to realize that what I do naturally… every… single… day… is to teach my children. When I play with them, I am teaching them. Teaching them to play well with others. Teaching them colors, letters, and shapes as we sit and doodle with crayons and markers. Teaching them how to count as we divide up our snack crackers. Teaching them to read and recognize words as they cozy up to me for a story. Teaching them about food and making healthy choices as they help me cultivate, grow and harvest our vegetable garden. Teaching them to care for themselves… what clothes to wear, how to brush their teeth, comb their hair.
Being a mom means I’ve already earned my teaching degree.
The desire in me to see my children learn… grow… thrive is so so strong. I want to see them succeed. I want to see the wonder in their eyes as they learn/experience something new. I want to feel the satisfaction of a breakthrough. And you know what? As a mom, I get to experience ALL of those things!
Which is why we are giving pre-school a try here at home. I’m a firm believer that small children learn best while playing, so our “pre-school” is VERY laid back and spontaneous.
I recently read an old Finnish saying, “Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily.”
So what does my curriculum look like? Joy-FULL!
Each week, we have been focusing on a different letter of the alphabet. We concentrate on learning letter recognition and sounds. We then do a craft or two throughout the week to visualize words that start with that letter. As we are playing, we pretend we are a-a-a-ligators, b-b-b-bears, c-c-c-cars (you get the point). When I’m excited, the kids are excited! We count M&M’s, we count j-j-j-jewels, we count b-b-b-blocks.
We play.
But perhaps my favorite part of our “curriculum” is the verse that we learn each week. My son’s mind is a sponge and I want it to absorb as much good as I possibly can feed it! What goes in, will eventually come out. I want it to ooze with things that are good, things that are just, things that are honest. I want him to have an arsenal of biblical ammo to take on this hard world. I want him to hide God’s word in his mind… as well as his heart!
And as a mom… I get to reach both mind and heart. I pray that I am guiding these tender hearts toward God.
So check back soon! I’m going to be sharing what we have been learning the past several weeks! It’s been fun. It’s been exciting. It’s been rewarding!
