As an Experience Early Learning Blog Ambassador, we receive the Experience Early Learning preschool curriculum in exchange for sharing our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. As always, our opinions on amazing things for children are 100% our own. Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best judgement when planning activities for your children.
This has definitely been a unique experience for all of us.
Going from the comfort of our wonderful preschool classroom to all of our friends learning at home has been an adjustment and especially the fact that it all happened as quickly as it did.
It's been a few weeks and I'm sure most of us have developed some sort of a routine by now. I wanted to take a few minutes today to share some ideas for making the most of this time learning at home.
Alright, let's get started. First and foremost, take a deep breath. home learning doesn't look anything like being in a classroom and that's okay.
Maybe you're still working or maybe you're working from home. Either way, there's no need to worry about "keeping up." The most important thing right now is just to spend time with your kiddos.
Toddlers and preschoolers learn so much from everyday life. Whether it's helping you to bake cookies or even setting the table, life skills are a wonderful way to practice basic math.
Counting and measuring, sorting and so much more can be learned just from helping with the things that we're doing every day anyhow.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the most important thing that you can be doing during this time is reading to your kiddos.
Study after study has found that reading to children every day promotes language and literacy skills. Not to mention how much fun it is to hang out together on the couch in your pajamas and read a good book.
As far as the take home activities that are being provided from Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time), we're so thrilled that you grabbed them for your toddlers and/or preschoolers, but no pressure.
You don't have to do every activity or even do the activities according to the instructions. Be flexible and give yourself grace. These are hard times.
Paint a picture or plant flowers together or even make a craft, but don't feel like you have to do every activity that's being sent home.
Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) is an absolutely amazing play-based curriculum and we're hoping that you love everything that you've seen so far.
So all of that aside, let's talk about how to use the take home bags or in other words what am I supposed to do with all this stuff?
One thing that I'm sure you've noticed by now is that every week is organized into it's own bag and each activity is stapled/attached together.
Each day I've been making a point of reading the story or listening to the read aloud. Some books we have, but there have also been quite a few that we don't. No biggie.
That's exactly why we've been sharing the read alouds via YouTube. Even if you don't have the books, you can still experience these wonderful stories with your toddlers and preschoolers.
The other thing that we've been doing at least a few days a week is doing the creative art together as a family.
Another fun idea would be letting your kiddo choose a craft or activity once or twice a week that he or she is interested in.
Maybe you only have time on the weekends that's great too! Have a creative day on Saturday and/or Sunday.
Wake up, eat breakfast, read together, and then make something.
My point is that there are so many ways to take advantage of the Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) supplies being sent home that don't necessarily equate to "doing preschool at home."
That's probably my absolute favorite feature of this curriculum (both toddler and preschool) is just how flexible and versatile it is.
If you don't get through everything, no worries. Save it for a rainy day. When it's all said and done, the most important thing is spending time with your kiddos.
Happy learning through play, friends!
