My Tot School

Now that K is ready to learn in a more concrete way, the teacher in me is sneaking out! We haven't decided on homeschooling long term yet, so I decided I'd better get it in while I can! I got the idea for Tot School here. Then I found a great free curriculum online for 2-4 yr olds. It's called ABC Jesus Loves Me. I LOVE it, because it...

• goes really slowly
• reviews a ton
• has lots of hands on activities
• can be completed in only 3 days per week.
• included things I already wanted to work on with K.

You go over the same Bible story each day for a week, same nursery rhyme, & same Bible song. The verses are set to music, and it's only one verse per month. I revised the shapes section a bit, and am taking the first half of the year to intro them (a shape every 2 wks), and the rest of the year to do fun activities to review them.K already knows his colors, but we're going to do projects & activities with them too, mostly coloring. There is also a "book of the week" that I read to him @ bed time each night. If my library doesn't have the book in the curriculum, I just substitute a neat one that I already have. The other thing I really like is that it teaches a self care or manners concept each week as well: dressing, saying please & thank-you, sitting quietly, introducing yourself, etc. 

This is how I incorporate it into our schedule: 

• In the morning (& throughout the day) we work on the manners or self care concept.
• Before nap, we have "Bible time": go over Bible story, song, verse, & nursery rhyme. 
• During our set aside "tot time" in the afternoons, we pick 2 activities from the curriculum to do:                                                                                            Tue: Bible craft & gross motor activity, Wed: color, counting, & fine motor activity, & Fri: shape & book of the week activities
• Then at bedtime I read him the Book of the Week.

I'll try to post about our first week tomorrow.