What do you do for preschool?

Question

I'm a stay at home Mom and I'm always with the kids. I get to be on the computer for maybe 30 minutes a day and not much time to plan lessons. I already bought the Horizon preschool curriculum and I use YBCR, YBCD, Little Reader, Little Math, we rent Signing Time DVDs and Preschool Prep and we have a lot of puzzles, crafts and stuff to use but I get so lost thinking of what to do each day. confused I spent close to $1,000 already on this stuff. It's money well spent but I'd like to use what I have and not buy more.

Friday I made a sight word parking lot (I got the idea off Pinterest) and I put all new words for my 2 year old to find and drive his cars on. I'm looking for things like that that teach them while having fun. My daughter Lily is 1 and I just let her watch the programs and play with her and sometimes count her cheerios or just talk to her while I cook/clean and tell her what I'm doing. My 2 year old Kevin likes things that he can play with and touch. He loves ABCmouse.com. He likes to help cook and clean. My mom makes realistic baby dolls and made one for Lily's 1st birthday. The doll is anatomically correct and wears a diaper and Kevin brought me the baby and said "She pooped pizza". He likes saying what food he pooped, anyway, I showed him how to change her diaper and he really liked that.

How do you set up your curriculum's for each each day? Are you just creative or do have a schedule you follow for each thing?

Anonymous · Answer

Wow. You went nuts on stuff. We used free Starfall.  Same as ABC Mouse.

For a one and two-year old, I would just suggest signing songs and playing games. Go to the museums or zoos.. Many museums and zoos have Mommy and Me programs or Stroller Time. The local, state, an Federal parks often have programs for little ones. The Fed park near us has a toddler story / activity time twice a month. These are great programs that teach I think better than an formal school program.
Many libraries offer a toddler story time. Get out to these, too.

My day?
We have breakfast, count cheerios or discuss food groups
pick out our clothes - do you want to wear the red or the blue shirt?
morning walk, play iSpy or just chat about the weather
play time
games, stories
make , and they can hep a bit
nap
wake up, snack they can help choose and make
play
learning games
help with dinner, they might be seated at the table to play with small stuff while I cook

Suzy Q · Answer

Free play. The single most important thing I do with my kids is letting THEM decide how to play. And it doesn't take a ton of money.

Don't get me wrong, sure I take out the crayons for half an hour of drawing, and I read to them after lunch, and I switch around the available toys. But I don't fill their day with pre-arranged activities. That would only get in the way of them learning to entertain themselves, to use their fantasy playing with whatever is available, to learn to play together, to take turns, to resolve conflicts, basically to develop social skills. And by following their lead and talking about what they are doing, they still learn plenty of 'school' stuff.

What do you do for preschool?

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