There are a few different reasons that we decided not to put Cash into preschool this fall. First of all, we were in Glasgow when I needed to be researching, visiting and checking into the different options. By the time we got back in Bowling Green, sign-ups were over and classes were full. Another reason is that a lot of the options, when I did look into them, were too many days or for a longer period of time during the day than I thought Cash needed. The biggest reason we didn't put him in a preschool this fall, though, is a multi-faceted reason. Heath doesn't think that preschool is necessary, especially at this age. I wasn't too worried about school readiness at Cash's age, and I figured that most things that he would learn at a preschool, I could teach him at home. Yes, I know that there's the social interaction in the school setting, but we knew we could have those same opportunities through different church activities, play dates and even field trips with friends. On top of all that, Heath and I think that this age is just too young to worry about school. He's going to be in school soon enough, why rush it...
With all that being said, I'll have to say that as a mother and a former teacher (I'm still a teacher in a way, though, right?) I knew that I wanted to find a way to keep Cash's growing mind stimulated during the week. We've found that he's the type of kid who gets bored and then starts trying to find mischief to get into - including pestering his brother. But really, what big brother doesn't?
So I did a lot of looking around, researching, and reading reviews, and exploring possibilities, and came up with what we think is a pretty good solution. I purchased a homeschool curriculum for preschool online, and have started doing some of the activities with Cash. The curriculum includes hands-on ideas, printables, games, activities, movement, etc. and best of all, includes Bible stories and verses to memorize. Honestly, it's complete to the brim with a schedule that would drive me crazy if I tried to stick to it, but I'm not. I'm taking bits and pieces here and there and incorporating them into our day when I can. I'm not stressing over getting everything done for each unit in a week's time, and if Cash isn't in the mood, or the laundry needs to be folded instead, it's okay.
I bought the Letter of the Week curriculum from Erica. I actually ordered the CD because I'm horrible with being able to figure out downloading and unzipping files. Plus, it's handy to use on my computer or Heath's laptop. I took a week to go through the ideas, make some things, and laminate some stuff (I love my laminator!), and this past week, we started with letter A. Here's a few of the things we did during the week.
A is for apple, so a lot of the activities have apples as the manipulative. Here's Cash putting the different size apples in order from smallest to largest. It took him a while the first time he did this "game" (as he calls it), but with some encouraging, he was able to get it finished. He did the same activity with Heath later that week, and he breezed right through it.
We used a crayon to trace the letter A and small a, then Cash used his water colors to paint the picture of the apple tree.
For this "game," he counted the number of apple seeds and then glued the corresponding number next to it. He loved this for two reasons. First, he loves counting things. Second, he loves glue sticks. :)
Are you asking yourself, "Where is B while all this is going on?" Well, most of the time, here's right there with Cash doing the same thing, or trying to. While Cash was using the glue, B was practicing his gross motor skills while jumping on the couch. :)
And here he is painting his Oscar coloring page while Cash painted his apple tree. Couldn't end this post without a picture of him, too, right?
