We're Starting Tot School

Last week I was on my Instagram Stories talking briefly about my interest in homeschooling my girls when they become school age. I started looking into the growing world of homeschool about eight months ago and in the process came across the idea of Tot Schooling - which is basically just being intentional with reading and playing during the toddler years. And we're going to give it a try!

I'm not following any type of set curriculum or any daily/weekly schedule. I'm not saying I won't in the future, but for now, as we start, I'm keeping it low key and low pressure. Each week we will focus on a topic as well as a letter of the week. I will also begin introducing new actives to the girls like daily chores and calendar time.

At this moment, I'm not exactly sure what our days will look like. I'm kind of an odd individual in that some aspects of my life I need each and every detail - in other aspects, I'm completely onboard with "winging it" and just going with the flow of things. So, to translate that, I've already planned all the fun activities and books we will be doing for the upcoming week, but as far as when we will do them - I'll figure it out. Weird, right? Sorry if you're completely Type A. I will eventually share our laid out daily and weekly schedule when I figure it out.

And I really think after we have a few weeks behind us and I get a good idea of how all three of us respond to adding this new bit of structure and intention to our days, I'll know where we can go from there. I do not plan on scheduling out every minute of our day, but I do plan on incorporating the following activities on a daily/weekly basis:

Bible story/verse
Weekly topic
Letter of the week
Sight word of the week
Calendar time
Habits/chores
Reading aloud
Arts and crafts

I am slightly worried that in trying to make this new adventure as rewarding as possible for my children (and myself), I could certainly get overwhelmed with planning (and spending money and accumulating materials) - and this is exactly why I'm keeping it low-pressure as we begin. Whatever I do end up purchasing, it will either be inexpensive or re-usable - and if it's both, that's even better!

Weekly Topic/Theme
Each week we will focus on an age-appropriate topic like colors, shapes, foods, or seasons. That topic will guide the activities and crafts that we do as well as the books we read. Our letter of the week will (hopefully) correlate with the topic. So for our first week, we will be doing colors and we will focus on the Letter C. Our weekly Bible story/verse will do the same - so, again, this upcoming week we will talk about Joseph and his coat of many colors.

Each week (probably on Sundays) I plan on sharing the previous week. I'm doing it this way in hopes that I can share what I learned during that week, what worked or didn't, and what the girls liked best. I'll share which topic we covered - and within that topic, I'll share the books we read, activities, crafts and supplies, as well as the letter of the week and Bible story/verse.

Sight Words
All children learn at different completely different rates. Just because two children, the same age, know/have different skill levels, doesn't mean one is behind. For my oldest, she is really starting to look at the words on a book's page and is pretending to read out loud. I am going to teach sight words on what's recommended first and see how she responds. If she's not ready, fine. We will try again later, but I feel like she's ready. I will share how this journey goes as well. And even though this will be more for my oldest, if my youngest shows interest, I will certainly show and review the sight word with her.

Habits/Chores
Some habits we have already been working on include washing our hands, putting trash in the trash can, using manners, and cleaning up after we are finished with a toy (the worst!). My girls constantly show interest when I am doing the laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, or cleaning windows. I'm going to take advantage of that! In an effort to help myself and teach my girls, each morning we will wash a load of laundry. They get to learn and I will (hopefully!) stay on top of the laundry situation. I will add other chores and habits as we go along.

Calendar Time
I plan to either make or purchase a calendar board that will be placed in a central part of our house. Each morning we will review the month, day of the week, date, year, and season. This will also be a part of the day we will discuss the weather. I love calendar time because they will not only get to learn the months and days (new vocabulary!), but they'll also begin to learn ordinal numbers, number recognition, and sequencing. It will also add a bit of routine and structure - which all (most?) children thrive with. I also have some fun songs planned.

Reading Aloud and Arts/Crafts are both pretty self-explanatory. Again, in my weekly updates for the previous week, I'll focus heavily on sharing books, activities, and crafts that we did.

That's my game-plan for now. It's not an hour-by-hour schedule or a detailed chart, but it's where we are starting. I'm so excited to start this journey with my girls and get a tiny glimpse of what homeschooling in the future may look like. Again. I still have so much to learn and research when it comes to homeschooling, but I have time and I can take you all along on that journey as well. If you currently homeschool, have homeschooled in the past, or are considering it, please comment and let me know how you researched, what curriculums or philosophies you followed - what worked or didn't. I am eager to learn all that I can!