We unofficially started preschool this week!
I don't know why I say "unofficially." We really did: I chose a curriculum, planned lessons for the week, did crafts, and ate themed snacks. That pretty much covers the preschool basics, right? I think it's just that I'm afraid to declare that I have begun: I'm not always great at sticking with things, and what if my enthusiasm and productivity only last a few weeks?
There's no real need to have begun, of course. Levi is just barely over two and a half. For the past few months, though, I've been feeling quite strongly that I need to do something relatively scheduled in the fall, and since I'll have a newborn over the summer, I've wanted to decide what that "something" is going to be now instead of later. As I looked into preschool ideas and found myself drawn to the same curriculum over and over, I started wondering, "why wait?" And now I'm glad I didn't, because I'm learning all sorts of things that (I predict) will be helpful to know in the fall. Things like:
--Spending time on "school" has left me entirely unable to get the house clean. I need to prioritize differently, or incorporate more "chore time" into our day, or something. I'm sort-of hoping that I'll get used to our new "schedule" and things will just fall into place again. (Notice all the quotation marks there? That's because none of this seems "real!")
--Doing Levi-age-appropriate crafts is nearly impossible while Owen is awake, and Owen has mostly given up his morning nap. Time to train him to play alone, or do activities in his high chair, or only do crafts in which he can participate (or only do the messy ones outside), or something.
--On the up-side, the promise of a post-nap craft has proved to be a useful tool in getting Levi to nap when he'd rather not.
--I have to plan my snacks and crafts at the same time as my grocery lists, if I want them to be themed (and of course, I do). I've made one extra grocery trip already this week, and if I'd had the opportunity there would've been a second trip. Daily grocery trips were NOT supposed to be part of the new schedule!
We're only on day two, so it's obviously too early to make any declarations about "how things are going," but I have to say that so far, it's kind of fun. Levi has figured so many things out entirely on his own that it's nice to be able to say, "hey! I taught him that! On purpose!" Let's see how long the excitement lasts. :)
[I only managed to take one picture of our day yesterday, and of course the camera is nowhere to be found at this exact moment. If you're interested in what we're actually doing during the day, though, let me know, and I'll post that, too.]
I don't know why I say "unofficially." We really did: I chose a curriculum, planned lessons for the week, did crafts, and ate themed snacks. That pretty much covers the preschool basics, right? I think it's just that I'm afraid to declare that I have begun: I'm not always great at sticking with things, and what if my enthusiasm and productivity only last a few weeks?
There's no real need to have begun, of course. Levi is just barely over two and a half. For the past few months, though, I've been feeling quite strongly that I need to do something relatively scheduled in the fall, and since I'll have a newborn over the summer, I've wanted to decide what that "something" is going to be now instead of later. As I looked into preschool ideas and found myself drawn to the same curriculum over and over, I started wondering, "why wait?" And now I'm glad I didn't, because I'm learning all sorts of things that (I predict) will be helpful to know in the fall. Things like:
--Spending time on "school" has left me entirely unable to get the house clean. I need to prioritize differently, or incorporate more "chore time" into our day, or something. I'm sort-of hoping that I'll get used to our new "schedule" and things will just fall into place again. (Notice all the quotation marks there? That's because none of this seems "real!")
--Doing Levi-age-appropriate crafts is nearly impossible while Owen is awake, and Owen has mostly given up his morning nap. Time to train him to play alone, or do activities in his high chair, or only do crafts in which he can participate (or only do the messy ones outside), or something.
--On the up-side, the promise of a post-nap craft has proved to be a useful tool in getting Levi to nap when he'd rather not.
--I have to plan my snacks and crafts at the same time as my grocery lists, if I want them to be themed (and of course, I do). I've made one extra grocery trip already this week, and if I'd had the opportunity there would've been a second trip. Daily grocery trips were NOT supposed to be part of the new schedule!
We're only on day two, so it's obviously too early to make any declarations about "how things are going," but I have to say that so far, it's kind of fun. Levi has figured so many things out entirely on his own that it's nice to be able to say, "hey! I taught him that! On purpose!" Let's see how long the excitement lasts. :)
[I only managed to take one picture of our day yesterday, and of course the camera is nowhere to be found at this exact moment. If you're interested in what we're actually doing during the day, though, let me know, and I'll post that, too.]
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