At Home Pre-School Boot Camp: Week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of At Home Pre-school Boot Camp!  If you missed the beginning of the series, you may want to start from Week 1.  

You' will notice that these posts are not being published on an exact regular schedule.  As I  am publishing these posts, I am enjoying the last days of freedom before putting my kids in formal education.  These posts are bringing back happy memories as we enjoy the end of summer.  I hope that they will be material for some other mom making her own memories.

Things to do just once this week

If you have been following this series from the beginning, your child has been attending a structured activity that is going to help him have success in society for a few weeks.  This week, add in a social event.  This could mean hanging out at the library after reading time to play.  It could at happen while he is at day care.  It could be a planned trip to the play ground, or an old fashioned play date.

On one of your at home days, block out some time to cook together.  Cooking can provide an opportunity to read a recipe, calculate the needed ingredients, observe science in action, experience a piece of a new culture.  It is a great life skill.   As you are getting started concentrate on letting your child do the work, and making it fun.  Do simple, familiar recipes and allow quadruple the time you would normally need.

If you have more time, ask your child to choose an art activity that you have done before.

Daily habits

First of all, keep up the reading and play times you have already established!  If you are not connecting with your child in a meaningful way, all your other attempts at teaching him will fall flat.  

Start looking for areas where you could allow your child to be more self sufficient.  Could she dress herself, find her own toys, or even fix her own lunch?

Enriching your home environment

Look for some ways that you could make your home more kid friendly.   Think about adding stools and moving the items they use daily to their level.  Here are some ideas to get you started.

Looking ahead

Our next big activity is Play-Doh .  Feel free to just pick some up from the store, or have some baking soda and cornstarch on hand.  Grab a box for the play dough and feel free to toss in some plastic knives, cookie cutters, and anything else that would be fun to use with play dough.

Friend to Follow

Aubrey  from Montessori Mischief has inspired me to give my children freedom in their learning and independence in their daily lives.  Montessori is a great educational philosophy, and I love how Aubrey applies it to the home environment. She also makes herself available for questions!

If you have a question about Montessori education, submit it to her tutorials page. Also, be sure to Check out her Montessori 101 Series! 

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  Click here for more information.   Thanks for your support!  The post, At Home Pre-School Boot Camp: Week 4 , by Christy McGuire originally appeared on WisdomKnowledgeJoy@blogspot.com.