Homeschooling your baby or toddler is easier than it sounds, and you don’t need fancy or expensive curriculum. It just means
doing those things that you would normally be doing with them anyway,
except in a concientious manner.
Here’s some ideas to incorporate into your daily adventures with your little one.
1.
Read to your child. – I can’t stress this one enough. Reading to them
helps them learn how to read on their own. It shows them that
information can be found in a book, and not just by asking mommy “Why?”
for the zillionth time. Or you could do double-duty and get an older
child to read to your younger child. Great for them both!
2.
Have materials readily available. – I don’t really mean have everything
within an arm’s reach at all times. Sheesh, you’d be doing nothing but
clean-up time all day! Rather, things like art supplies and materials
should have a special spot that is easy to get to (after asking Mommy),
and a nice space to use them in. Paper, used one side even, crayons,
markers, paints, safety scissors, glue stick and anything else you can
get your hands on are a good start. The kids will think up the rest.
Maybe out of those books you read to them!
3. Talk to your
child. – I admit, I felt pretty stupid with kid #1 and I alone in the
house, and me talking away. I mean, it’s not like he talked back. Not
yet. Eventually, he giggled and gurgled and realized this was a new way
to communicate with Mommy. I talked about what I was doing, what he was
doing, hte clothes I was putting on him, and the things around him. And
not just talking, ask your child questions. What do they see out the
bus window as you ride downtown? Can they see a car? A tree? How about
when you are doing chores? Can they show you a big sock in the laundry
basket? How about a small sock? Over dishes, can they pick out the blue
plate from the sink and give it to mommy? This is learning and
reinforcing concepts in everyday life.
4. Let your child ask
questions. And answer them. – Sure, I got pretty tired of the endless
“Why?”s myslef, but I did find a way to turn it around. “Why what?” I
would asked, encouraging them to expand on what they wanted to ask, to
express themselves. Pretty soon they were asking more particular
questions. “Why is that bug carrying that leaf?”, so I’d answer
briefly. He’s taking it home for food. As the questions got more
involved, or beyond a quick one-sentence answer, I went with the child
to look it up in a book, showing them how to find the information and
reading it out loud to them. Sometimes I had to clarify or condense
what was in the book, but you get the idea. I remember a day when one
child asked me what was hard inside her arm. We looked up bones and the
skeletal system and explained how it helped hold up her body.
5.
Be active with your child. – When the big kids were little, everything
was a song and dance. When we talked about toes and knees and shoulders
and heads, we sang a song. We sing silly songs. We sing hand-clapping
songs and laugh. We sing jumping songs, on the bed of course. This
includes playing games, even games you think your child might be too
young for. (use caution though) Emma (2yrs) has recently learned how to
play “Red Light, Green Light” even though she doesn’t really understand
most of it. Just try something you remember from your own childhood.
6.
Be pro-active in your tv watching. – I’m not going to say tv is bad for
kids, especially when my own is on all day, every day. What I am going
to suggest is watching tv and participating in what is on the screen,
instead of staring slack-jawed and glossy-eyed. If the fuzzy puppets on
the screen sing a song and dance, join them. If someone counts, count
with them. If someone shows a happy face, be happy. Pull a sad face
when they frown. In other words, watch the show with your child. Talk
about it. Act on it. You can also encourage the child to tell others
about what they saw.
7. Show AND tell. – Sometimes a picture
really is worth a thousand big words. If your childlikes her toy car,
she may also like big cars, car shows, motorized little cars,
transforming cars, going for a car drive, car books, car diagrams and..
well, you get the idea.
8. Keep it simple. – They’re kids, not
little adults. You want to have fun while they are still young enough
to feel that learning is fun. Most preschoolers are quite happy with
learning colors, shapes/sizes, opposites, various animals and sounds,
body parts and names, numbers and letters (although I would prefer to
teach them the sounds of the letters first if I could), and various
names of all kinds of objects. If your child is really interested in
something specific, just make sure they have access to more
information, like books from the library, videotapes and maybe a
related art project. They’ll do the rest and let you know when their
brain is full.
In short, you don’t really need any sort of
fancy curriculum, or any at all. It depends on your specific needs,
your child’s needs, and how much you can afford.
Books I found helpfull:
Slow & Steady Get Me Ready
- I actually bought this one since I heard so much about it. It has
weekly activities from birth through five years of age. I tend to skip
around and pick and choose rather than follow it religiously.
Baby Games
- I found this at a yard sale. Twice. Has all the words to the songs
you can’t quite remember from when you were a kid. Lots of
hand-clapping games and everything! All the crafty recipes you would
ever need are here too.
How to multiply your baby’s intelligence
- Sounds odd, but this was a real eye-opener for me. I check it out of
my local library every few months for a re-read since I get more out of
it each time. They have a website too.
What to do When There’s Nothing to Do (out of print, but you can get it used)
Teaching Montessori in the Home
- I don’t really use this method, but it has great practical things to
make and do so your preschooler will learn the basics from all learning
styles.
Baby Signs – I didn’t read the actually book for this, but I did read a lot about it online and looked up a few signs for our baby. A great idea.
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