Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Homeschooling a 2 Year Old Active Boy


Even though it might not be the plan I have for my life, God's plan for me right now is to homeschool Jackson. It is not that I am against homeschooling, it is just a huge challenge for me in that I feel clueless in teaching little ones. I feel very comfortable teaching children who can already read (gradeschool and up), but I have absolutely no experience teaching children this young. I would love for Jackson to go to a Preschool but he will only be in a 2 year old Preschool next year because of his very late birthday (he will be 3 years old the entire year). We are very thankful that we have an extra year since Jackson lost so much time having a tongue that was completely inactive. Many days I really feel that Jackson is not teachable and that I need major help.

With all his issues, it is not God's plan for Jackson to go to a Preschool right now. I wanted to share a little bit of what I have learned on how to teach an active two year old toddler boy
  • Have a plan! Plans can be changed, but what I have found is when I do not have a plan for the day it ends up being a very hard day.
  • This is our "regular" plan for a the week. Monday Wednesday and Friday morning we go to the gym for my class 9:15-10:15. While Abigail is napping around 10:45 am we have "school" time (try to every day Monday-Friday). I make him sit in a chair and we pray and read the Bible and then we work on his speech saying flashcards. Next, we move to his tongue exercises on the highchair. After we are done working on speech, I try to play with him. On Mondays I play cars and block with him, Tuesday are bubbles, Wednesday puzzles, Thursday animals, Friday is art day--coloring, etc. Also, every other day after our "school" time we watch Signing Time dvd's that help him learn and say words. I really enjoy educational dvd's for little ones! They teach me so much.
  • I would love to have worksheets for 2 year old to work on daily...such as working on knowing and writing ABC's, 123's, and learning words. Do you know any good place that offers worksheets for 2 year olds? I bet I could call local Preschools and see where they get their sheets. Whatever you do, I think it is good to daily have "school time" that challenges them to advance in reading and writing and learning what words mean. Or maybe that is another invention I will create one day. Homeschooling worksheets for 2 and 3 year olds.
  • The very hard days are days when I choose to stay in the entire morning to get laundry done or organize their clothes. Jackson will bring me the keys to the car, and ask to "go, go, go." These days I think will get easier when we have a playset. I did not get the playset last week because they had no more in stock to order. I did get a "rain check" from Toys R Us and will get it at that price if they can ever order it. If they cannot order it in the next 3 weeks, we will probably be going the to Walmart to get it. I really believe that God create boys to want to go out and fish and hunt and provide for the family. This is hard for me because I wish he could just sit still some days and enjoy staying in the house.
  • Tuesday and Thursday morning we do stay in because therapy comes to us that morning and it takes too long to get ready to go anywhere because I am helping during the therapy time.
  • Do you have any suggestions on homeschooling 2 and 3 year old active little boys? As long as Jackson is not attending a Preschool, I must realize that I am homeschooling him. I must also realize that Charlie and I will always be his main teachers no matter if he ends up going to Preschool or not.

3 comments:

Mommy Reg said...

You are doing great with him! I taught preschool for many years before I had my Little Man. I stopped teaching so that I could stay home with him and I started homeschooling him right from the beginning. (And believe me when I say he has a ton of energy. Even his doctor has said that he has more energy than almost any other kid he has seen.) Remember that for a two year old or a three year old, only about a half hour is needed for formal instruction. The basic rule of thumb is about 45 minutes per grade level. And Kindergarten is 45 minutes. Also, everything you do during the day is school. It is awesome that you are working on his speech with him too. When you do the laundry, have him tell you the colors of the clothes as you put them in the dryer. Or have him sort the pants from the shirts when they come out. This is all "school" because you are teaching him. I have a bunch of sites that I go to for worksheets for this age too. At this age, you mostly need to do color pages with him. He is working on his fine motor skills to be able to control his pencil. Even the scribbles are his way of learning control. Pick a theme for the week - say fruits and everyday, you can have him color a different fruit page. This is the beginning of reading for this age. Also, folder games are amazing for kids at this age. This age, kids are more tactile in there learning. They need to touch, feel and do which is why they are so active at this age, (and why some days it seems all they want to do are things that will get them in trouble.) I will post for you a post filled with resources and worksheet sites perfect for Jackson's age. Look for it later today or early tomorrow morning. :) I wish we lived closer together and then we could get together and you could watch how I teach Little G (she is 29 months old).
You are doing amazing job!

Anonymous said...

I am really impressed with your decision to try homeschooling. It was never something I had envisioned for our family, either. In fact, I had very little knowledge about it but there are some wonderful books that really helped educate ME on exactly how to homeschool. I don't have a teaching background, but I have not found that to be a hinderance since there is so much info. available online to help. You can google "homeschooling preschool" and find all kinds of great ideas. We decided to "try" homeschool during Michael's preschool years and see if it was a fit for our family. I figured if it didn't work out, we could send him to kindergarten at 5. Well, we never sent him! Or any of his siblings. And yes, little boys do have a lot of energy and very little focus sometimes, so it can be challenging day after day. But you are his mother and there will never be another teacher who will love him any more than you do, or understand his little quirks, or know how to address behavior issues--no matter how well trained or wonderful those teachers might be. So regardless of how long y'all decide to homeschool, know that the time you're investing now is well worth it. Yes, you will be tired and no, you will not have much time to yourself. If Charlie is supportive, and I assume he is, and you can find some other homeschooling moms to lean on (plenty around FBC), you will do just fine! Kudos to you for being willing and open to explore it! Let me know if I can be of any help. I'm still learning as I go, too! Deana McCathern

Emily Wallace said...

Thank yall so much! It is so wonderful to have such godly encouraging women in my life. I cannot wait to implement these resources!