Getting Ready...

Knowing then that I was going to homeschool Preston, the many preparations began to start. I knew I wanted to have our own area away from the other boys to work (that meant a separate desk). Then to buy all the general school supplies. That followed by trying to figure out what the heck kind of curriculum I would follow or what activities I wanted to do or other materials to use. I discovered virtual preschool as something else to supplement a bit. As a result of the pandemic, I was able to secure free money and a loan. I used every last dime of the free money I received and threw it back into materials for school. Here are some of the things I came up with :

Treasure Chest box of prizes

Grabbers - our currency (more on that below)

Workbooks and games

Planner

Montessori learning toys

Lots of playdough

Really tried to find a variety of learning toys and activities to use. I even found a curriculum that I thought was going to work, that at the time I really liked by Blossom and Root that focused more so on learning through nature, reading, music, art. I had the best intentions.

Fast forward -----> Preston's attention span is not long and we have to take play breaks. I discovered he learns best through play and generally dislikes worksheet type work. Basically, if I can discreetly be teaching him without him knowing it, that's the best way! haha. He will do some worksheets and sit to read and other activities, I just have to space them out. We also take at least 1 weekday completely off a week. I also definitely do not try to do any type of all day or multi hour type school. It's pretty sporadic day to day and in some cases I need it that way to help the other kids with their schoolwork. It would stress me out too much to try and stick to a rigid schedule. I've largely dropped the main curriculum and am now just mixing a bunch of different things. 

The older kids were gifted laptops by my family - such an amazingly sweet gesture. This would prevent a lot of computer hopping around. 

Seeing that this would be an extended learning journey at home, I began my own "home"schooling page on Instagram so I could document our year and have it to reflect on. Wow will there ever be things to reflect on from this year!