I Really Like Homeschooling + Here’s How I’m Preschooling

It’s true, I think I’ve unwittingly discovered that I love homeschooling.

Bleh. What kind of mom ARE you, you say?

You can think of me as a tiger mom / hippy mom / free-range mom. Give me allllll the labels, and include all of the connotations that accompany them.

Okay, okay. I’m not really ‘homeschooling’. My kids are 4 and 2. But due to Covid-19 I am not able to outsource my care of them anymore, which had included academic instruction.

This quarantine period has had all of us reevaluating and getting creative in regards to how to meet all the needs and desires we have for our children. And for me, it has had me really questioning which values are most important and how to intentionally include tiny toddler bits in each day.

This process isn’t new to me, in some ways. I’ve spent hours on choosing two different preschools – one in Albuquerque, NM (La Puerta de Los Ninos) and here in Phoenix (Creative Bridges Cooperative Preschool). But now, realizing that I have a few months until Fall comes around, as the sole educator of my children, I’ve taken on the role of identifying how I want to play that role and which values I would like to instill.

I’m only two months into this, but I thought I’d share how we’re doing it, how I’m balancing my mental health and how I’m really embracing experiencing the world with my children!

Small Chunks of Time

There was a meme floating around Facebook some weeks ago and it essentially said that 3-5 year olds only need about 30 minutes of structured academic learning a day. What a relief!

Some days we stick to this, some times more. Almost never less, since my daughter particularly loves the attention she gets during this time.

We include morning chores and routine as part of our school time, followed by a morning walk. The morning walk is for my mental health, gets us outdoors and it also eats up time. It’s true: these are the longest days and shortest years. And each day, I’m trying to get through in one piece – in 15 minute segments.

Using Workbooks

For my sanity, and to overcome decision fatigue, I’ve ordered three books, and a set of booklets to help keep us on track. This was after HOURS of studying homeschooling moms blogs (THANK YOU MOMS for your infinite wisdom). We’re focusing on writing, reading, Spanish and math. These take roughly 30 minutes a day.

Get Messy!

Science is all about getting messy. So is art. So is cooking. I’m embracing this (and reluctantly also my messy house…).

Each day I’m incorporating a ‘messy’ project. We’ve been cooking, gardening, tending to the chickens, yard work, and making crafts with scissors and paint.

Hand strengthening

I learned this from the kids’ preschool – that kids need to play, play, play to build the strength of their hands and of their bodies. So we play on the monkey bars, throw balls, play with playdoh and tongs.

Homeschooling Take-Away

What I’ve really learned is that it takes far less time to educate than I had anticipated. I’ve also learned that kids LOVE to learn. I’ve found that so much of it is following their interests and building up all of the tools at home. Which we are doing, one week and one toy at a time.

Hang in there mamas!