Well, this year I decided I needed a little more structure for my little ones. And it's working out relatively well - gasp! - and has been for almost five weeks now - gasp! - so I figured I should post about it! Ellie is four (five in Dec.) so we're doing some official school with her , but not full kindergarten. Mostly just pre-reading stuff and a little handwriting (including numbers) but that's it. So I have her and Bonnie to occupy for a large portion of the morning while Seth is napping and I'm working with the boys.
I will say right here that I am NOT a huge craft person. I'd read about doing things like this before in homeschool lit. but the idea of coming up with crafts myself was just too much. So, I hit the craft section at our local Super Stuff-Mart and found a whole aisle dedicated to kids crafts - already packaged, etc. I got some foam bead jewelry, some beads that you iron together to make a design, fingerpaint, a playdoh set, and those 3-D alphabet stickers. During our first period of memory work, we're all together, but while I work on math and language stuff with the boys, the girls do a different craft each day. It's worked out great, and they LOVE it! They can't wait to see what craft they get to do, and it keeps them occupied fully up until break time - whew! I HATE having little ones running around wild while trying to school...grrrr. And it feels like they're being neglected...grrrr again. This way, they are productive, near to me and the boys, and having fun - what more could you ask for? It does take some clean-up, but not too bad, considering the benefits!
Now, who KNOWS what will happen when Seth drops his morning nap! I'm trying to repress that thought, but hey, it's GREAT while it lasts 8-).
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