HOLY SCHNIKES

I HAD A LONG DAY!
I really feel like today was played out three times at once. Wowsers!

I felt like I had three full time jobs that were mega demanding all at one time all day today.

My 10 year old had her friend over, my 12 year old was sick, my 14 year old was really annoyed by my 10 year old and her friend. One of my twins is sick and the other is annoyed that his twin is sick and not as playful.  I had a full day of kids, housekeeping, playdate organizing, home pre-school organizing,  a billion phone calls, a lot of typing, vacuuming, swiffering, cooking, wiping, entertaining, nurturing, etc etc etc etc.
Everyone and everything was 50x more demanding than usual today!

I can say I am very happy things are calm and it is bed time. Thank goodness.
Later on I will have to amuse myself by watching the new episode of the monstrosity that is Toddlers & Tiaras. what a trainwreck!!

So I bet you might be wondering about the home preschool, right?
A few friends and I that are in a playgroup together have started a home preschool group. We have 19 of us in the group and have spit the groups into a couple of groups.
We are doing a more natural learning type of preschooling. Lots of fun, no pressure or drilling with flash cards, and most of all...great mini projects and field trips!
We have chosen several books, each of us bought one and we are creating 2-weeks-at-a-time lesson plans. We actually start next week! We will do our "schooling" one day per week in a big community room at one of the local libraries. It is free!! We just had to reserve in advance. Then on another day each week we will be going to a local library storytime and craft hour. The other days will be play dates and field trips, depending on the week..with one day per week being a big group day where we meet with the other half of our home preschool group. We want to go with learning through play. Not pressure and drilling and crazy expectations. We wish not to rob our toddlers of toddlerhood....children of childhood etc.

The philosophy........
Children pursue life, and in doing so, pursue knowledge



All of the children in the group were born in 2008 or 2009.

Our first 2 weeks theme is blue. All of our lessons those 2 weeks will revolve around the color blue in some way. Including the snacks, They will be BLUE!

We plan to let them go at their own pace, not to pressure or make them feel like they are in school but to add some smart structure to their daily playdates. We usually hold playdates 5 days a week.



The books we purchased and are working from are:

1.  The Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities: Written by Teachers for Teachers
2. Gymboree - The Parent's Guide to Play (Gymboree Play & Music)
3. The Preschool Calendar
4. The Complete Resource Book for Preschoolers: An Early Childhood Curriculum With Over 2000 Activities and Ideas
5. The Complete Daily Curriculum for Early Childhood: Over 1200 Easy Activities to Support Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
6. Montessori Play And Learn: A Parent's Guide to Purposeful Play from Two to Six
   
   
   
    
Field Trip ideas so far:  Zoo, art museum, feeding ducks, pumpkin patch, strawberry patch, grocery store. Have them find 3 items each and add to cart, cupcake decorating at one of our houses, splash pad, park to collect leaves, stones, sticks, etc...make a nature day, park to play but add some light learning with the play wish us luck!