Preschool Ideas

Living Alongside Your Little Ones

What Preschool ideas do you have for my little ones?

Shirley and I get this question often. How often? A couple of times weekly! I think that when our first children were two and under, we possibly asked FOR preschool ideas too. It is an important question to ask – but the answer that we believe is probably not what you would like to hear, nor in fact expect to hear. It is very simply – “Let them live life along side you.”

“Surely not?” you may say. Ah, but…this concept of living your life alongside your young child is probably the most enriching thing that you can do for your child. Throw in a good dose of reading and nature walks and you have all you need for the first few years.

Charlotte Mason says: “In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.”

The Original Homeschooling Series

That was said 100 years ago! What would she say now of our children’s rushed lifestyles in 2006? Most start their little ones at extra-murals like ball skills, swimming or ballet by the time they are three. It is with hindsight that the parent then realizes that they can never give them back the time to just bumble about in the garden and watch clouds go by and play a bit longer on the jungle gym.

As moms of little ones we often do not have much to show for our days spent at home with tiny tots.

If we have come from a business environment we will find this hard to justify. At work we had a full “in tray” in the morning and at the end of the day we probably had a full “out tray.”

At home now with our child, we find it hard to measure our worth by the amount of nappies we have changed, or snacks we have made or tears we have dried.

Vickie Farris, mom to 10, says : “I doubt that the ancient Hebrew mother, who taught her children as she baked bread, swept the house, and beat out the rugs had any notion that her people would still be living 2000 years later. Neither is it easy for us, as we teach our kids phonics and feed them peanut butter sandwiches to see just what God can do through our faithfulness. I firmly believe that through us God can touch future generations is mighty ways.” Her book is titled A Mom Just Like You 

Besides this, we have the pressure of others around us. Family…or friends who choose to put their littlies into a playschool and go back to work may make us feel that our children are missing out. When they pick up their children from playschool, the children seem to have been exposed to a wealth of preschool ideas daily. Some have a pretty picture to hang on their wall and their kitchens become full of their children’s art. Shirley describes this art work as the working parents “receipt” for the money they have paid to be away from their children during the day.

This sums up why some moms feel they need preschool ideas. It seems necessary to “do” something with their little ones besides just living alongside them. Being diligent as a mom entails making sure they reach their developmental milestones but not at the expense of their childhood, or their relationship with you.

One preschooler’s mom considering homeschooling said: “They seem to do SO much at school, I am terrified she will miss out if I take her out,” to which I replied, “Yes, they may be kept very busy, but at what cost? It would cost your child her freedom to just play and explore and be with you all day, if she were in preschool!”

Research has also shown that the preschool environment can have negative effects on children, psychologically, emotionally, socially and physically. (Read The Best Mother, the Best Preschool)

If you think you need preschool ideas, just look at an average stay-at-home-mom’s day, there are so many wonderful learning experiences, that you can enjoy with your young child:

When your child reaches 4 or 5 she may be ready for slightly more structured learning. Before deciding this we encourage and exhort you to read the following book by renowned home educating founders, Dr Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Better Late Than Early. Their experience and research of over 60 years in the education field is invaluable in helping you decide on your philosophy for the path that your homeschool will take. They give sensible, age-appropriate preschool ideas too.

“The idea that parents should hurry reading, spelling, or math ahead of children’s normal development is not supported by a single replicable research study in the world or by any clinical experience in history. All history, research and common sense points in the opposite direction! We repeat: any who push the three R’s early deny the readiness the Creator built in – reasonable mature vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, reason, brain growth, coordination – as clearly documented in our books Better Late Than Early and School Can Wait.”

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook

Another useful book, also by the Moore’s is Homegrown Kids. In this publication the authors discuss the abilities of children age by age and give suggestions of things they need to learn and preschool ideas and activities you can do with them at each age level.

Gentle Preschool ideas in ABC Fun & 1-2-3

Finally, if you would like a structured, yet gentle preschool programme with age-appropriate activities that will stimulate, yet not overwhelm you or your preschool child, take a look at Shirley’s ABC Fun & 1-2-3. It was written for her own children and others, with this no- pressure philosophy in mind. It is available in ebook format or printed book form and has all the preschool ideas you need! Click on the book to read more…