A is for …
I have given plenty of space on this blog ( see the whole Tutorial Page) to how we have homeschooled and how we teach the early grades. Now, having a preschooler in the house I thought it time to write a bit (perhaps a series) on the learning rhythm for her. I need to keep track, as it will only be a few years till I have another preschooler…and I thought perhaps there may be a few of you who may be interested.
Montessori: Letter Work (a favorite book)
Generally the preschool years are a naturally explorative time… and my learning rhythm is complimentary to this. I am not trying to push a rock up a hill, so much as just go along with the natural flow of curiosity that this age group has. My three year old just shadows me most of the day but now that she is three she has a lot more questions and likes… no loves knowing what her schedule is. That being said I have each week organized (with many lists of course) to showcase one letter per week. At three I am not very concerned with her ability to pick out the letter or write it perfectly (unless she desires to) but mainly I just want to use the letter to give a theme to each week. The older kids all enjoy this immensely…especially when there is warm batches of apple crumble or applesauce for A Week …or Banana muffins on B Week. In the past I have encouraged the older kids to dig deeper into the book stack (that I have purposely picked out to compliment our week’s letter) and write a brief report on something new they have learned.
A is for…..
Apples : Making Apple Crumble, Visiting an Apple Orchard, Learning fractions from cutting apples, Apple prints on paper or cloth, taste test with different apples, make a Quick Applesauce ….
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Aprons… which are fun to wear!
Things from Nature: Amethyst, Ants, Acorns, Antlers, armadillo, Arctic, angora (rabbits, or goats), Amber (with bugs stuck inside!), Alligator, Agate stones,
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BookLists for youngers and the olders:
A is for America.
Apple Fractions
How do Apples Grow?
The oak inside an Acorn
Ant Cities
The Ant and the grasshopper from Aesop’s fables.
I will be adding to these lists as the week progresses.
A Seed Inspired 
🙂 my happy for today- Grace typed on her Perkins brailler today. She pushed the appropriate key and said “a”. I am thinking “B” and “L” will be coming soon. Thank you for sharing this. I will join you and tomorrow post about what we are doing. It will look differently for sure since Grace is visually impaired. Since she also has Down syndrome I am letting her set a rhythm but hope to also have a color of the week and was thinking about a number for the day/ week. ( she knows her colors but I am using that love to add the color word- so as we learn to read the colors name we are coloring pictures of things that color. 🙂 we are working with red so Apples and fire engines and stop signs were in today’s picture. ( I see sweet baby girl in the background taking it all in)
oh wow that is lovely. thanks for updating. What a great start to my day to read all of this!
T
So sorry it was a book!
you take that sorry back! I loved reading it!
T
You are so organized and encouraging. If my kids were little again (they’re 41 & 32), I might be joining you in this endeavor. We homeschooled our daughter for three years only. While it was one of the things we did right, we were not nearly as organized as you.
i bet she loves those memories for sure!
I wish I was more organized…. keeping it here on this blog helps a bit.
T
You are awesome. I do similar letter “themes” with Margot but I am a novice so I am encouraged to see that my feeble attempts at “preschool” are tried and true. Thanks for sharing. I am taking notes;) Baby S is looking so grown up in that bumbo seat!
oh thanks… yeah she is just growing along. IF I blink I seem to feel out of the loop!
that Margot is sharp as a tack… I am surprised she isn’t creating the curriculm for you… it may just include the aquarium everyday!
T