A Relaxed View of Preschool and Kindergarten
I know you mamas. You’re excited! This is it! Your oldest is finally ready to start homeschooling! You’ve been holding your breath until you can start preschool or kindergarten with them. The books are bought. Your schedule is ready. All that you need is…..erk! Stop! Don’t go another step until you read this.
I’ve been exactly where you are right now. When my oldest hit 4 I had a full curriculum bought and I was so ready. Or so I thought. I basically made myself and my son absolutely miserable until I realized what I was doing wrong. I was going too fast into the “academic” before setting a firm foundation with character training and exploration.
If you’ve read anything of Charlotte Mason you will know she was a huge fan of delayed academics and lots of outdoor time for youngsters instead. She was right then and she’s still right today. Outdoor time will explode your children’s learning potential, decrease their hyperactivity and improve attitudes. A side benefit is it does that for you also.
So, now I have an 8-year-old that does roughly 1-2 hours of more academic work coupled with 3-4 hours of active learning, exercise, and nature study. He’s a happy learner now and so much more productive!
And what am I doing with my 5-year-old son? He does lots of active play outside whenever possible. He also loves building things with blocks, racetracks, boards, etc. In fact, he learned his colors and counting from building blocks, no expensive manipulatives needed. I work most every day with him on simple math and phonics to the tune of roughly 30 minutes total. He listens sometimes as I read Jake’s history and read-a-louds and science. He picks up on tons of stuff while he plays and listens. It’s pretty laid back, but he’s learning extremely well!
I can’t begin to tell you the difference it makes in our home. Instead of expecting my 5-year-old to be reading by Christmas I’m just teaching him as he matures enough to learn each step. No pushing, no frustration over his lack of attention span. Ahhhhh. Peace!
Jenny is a wife to her amazing husband of 17 years and stay-at-home momma to 3 kids with another on the way. She blogs at https://www.inconvenientfamily.com where she is learning that blessings aren’t always convenient.
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