Preschoolhouse Rock!

As a rookie mum, I wrongly assumed that there would be mums a plenty looking to form co-ops for their preschoolers in lieu of paying through the nose for formal education prior to Kindergarten. Silly me. Only one other mum in our ward was going that route and we decided to join forces and take turns teaching our girls, Teagan and Ellie (born only weeks apart) at home – me on Tuesdays, Cathy on Thursdays. I was thrilled at the prospect and thought the world of Cathy already as we were planning. Then she casually mentioned the fact that she’d been a preschool teacher for years. Ha! Bless her heart, she calendared, she planned, she gave me tips and Teagan loved every minute she spent there.

Would I have loved to have more families involved so I wasn’t teaching once a week? Sure! But it worked the way it worked and we had the added bonus of sweet Auntie Tara inviting Teagan to the co-op preschool she was in when she taught every 6 weeks or so. We were only able to return the favour and have her cousin Sam join us once, because of scheduling issues, but it was fun when we did. And teaching only two little girls was a growing experience for me, to be sure. Ellie and Teagan are as different as they come and referring the two of them and trying to prepare them both for social situations at school proved a challenge. Both very bright and creative, though, and as the year went on, I got a little better at finding activities that they would both enjoy. But only a little. I stressed out and stayed up until the wee hours every Monday night for months and finally relaxed in the last few weeks when it came to teaching and not worrying that everything was just right and Pinterest worthy. It’s a little cliché, but I really do think I learned more this year than they did.

Cathy made a whole calendar, assigning a letter, colour and number to each day with a few book themed days thrown in. We covered the alphabet twice over the course of the year and we each got a chance to teach each letter…Cathy a whole lot better than I. Thank heaven for Pinterest – I never would have made it without thousands of other people’s ideas. A few of them that I remember…

A – ate apples, made alligator

B – bubbles, bee craft, beads

C – made C filled with C words

D – read The Dirtiest Dog, The Diggingest Dog, Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs, D is for Donut out of construction paper, drove cars on a map mat, made dandelions out of Q-Tips

E – ate eggs, made elephant handprint

F – read One Fish, Two Fish, Fun on the Farm, cupcake liner fireworks, fruit salad, make your own face, Feed the Fish, Five Little Speckled Frogs, favourite things

G – games, gumball machine craft, gel painting, GOOP

H – Ha Ha Ha, told jokes

I – marshmallow igloo, ice cream craft, ice play

J – juggled, played Jenga

K – Kite craft, King crowns, kangaroo costumes, ate Hershey’s Kisses, made keys

L - Legos

M – read Moostache, played Memory Match, made masks, maracas, counted and ate M & Ms, played with magnets, made music

N – ate Nutella, noodle necklaces, color by number

O – made octopuses, Pin the Tentacles on the Octopus

P – puppets, popcorn P, Push & Pull

Q – Read The Quiet Book, Quiet Wyatt; made a thumbprint quilt, quarter rubbings, quarter toss, ate quesadillas, played Quick & Slow, made Queen crowns

R – rainbows, restaurant

S – Made S out of squares of paper, Scavenger Hunt, snakes out of Play-Doh, played Stop & Go, made snowmen, played with sequins

T – brushing teeth, marshmallow teeth counting game, made tipping teapot

U – Made umbrellas from cupcake wrappers, twirl the umbrella to quiz letters, U Toss (like horseshoes)

V – volcano science experiment, vegetables

W - weather

X – X marks the spot, played xylophones

Y – cupcake liner yo-yo, Y wrapped in yarn

Z – zoo

It was neat to be involved in Teagan’s preschool and I can’t help but feel like she will excel in Kindergarten.  (It helps that Cathy told me that several times!) She is so creative and curious and bright and I can't wait to see her take on school. I don’t know that I can convince Mason to sit and listen and participate (or convince anyone else to teach him without paying them, for that matter) so when it comes his turn for preschool, we may have to dig into his college fund to send him somewhere formal. But it was a growing experience for me that I’m grateful for… now that we are done.