Hello and welcome to our 4 weeks to prepare for homeschooling. This September is going to look different for each family and I am here to support your home-learning, home-schooling, unschooling journey. Did I get all the terms this time? Ha! Apparently there are various schools of thought involving the terminology, but here, we don’t need to label your choice. Whatever method you choose to keep your family safe and your sanity intact is the best choice.
So, I’m sharing how I am preparing for our September start of home learning. I will be focussing on Kindergarten ‘expectations’ from the Ontario curriculum documents but in no way will it be a regimented schedule.
Kindergarten is all about play-based learning, of course. However, I believe in building the foundation for reading, writing, math, and raising a kind little human as well. You will notice that I focus a lot on positive learning experiences versus the actual content, this is because creating a love of learning really translates into a happy learner as life goes on.
So let’s get started with our 4 weeks of school prep!
4 Weeks to Prepare for Homeschooling
Week 1
We will be slowly starting to collect the items we will be using for the next few months of home schooling. Really try to use items you have around the house or get creative and ask people in your social circle.
I have a specific shelf in my closet for art supplies and homeschooling tubs etc. Make sure to find a space that your kiddos cannot get into for this. Keeping the art supplies separate from their playing space keeps the activities fun and more of a novelty, it seems to help with engagement.
Markers / Crayons / Pencil crayons, anything age specific works.
Measuring cups, we have some from the dollar store that we use and we also have some mismatched ones that we’ve kind of collected over the years, again anything will do.
Empty tubs , think sensory bins. These can vary in size and it will depend on what you have available. I prefer clear tubs but again, any will work. Also, make sure they are plastic and pretty sturdy to encourage unrestricted fine motor developmental play.
Coloured Toys, we have a collection of rubber dinosaurs that work well. You can paint rocks with different colours. Imagine what your child(ren) would like to sort and play with.
100 of something small to count each day. In Kindergarten we celebrate the 100th day of learning! Just make sure the items are small enough to keep together but are not a choking hazard for the little learners.
Things to think about for Week 2 of Preparing for Homeschooling
Where will you be learning together?
Will anyone be helping you teach certain “subjects?
Are there outdoor spaces for learning available?
Loved is Best,
Melissa Debra
