Entertaining Preschoolers and Toddlers During School Time

The preschoolers and a designated older sibling start the day by "doing preschool" together. I really like this idea because it teaches the older children HOW to teach and to enjoy their younger siblings! The older child leads the younger ones in the pledge, counting, reviewing the alphabet, going over phonics flashcards, reciting the days of the week, months of the year, and seasons. They also recite a Bible verse that they are working on memorizing. They end with singing songs! Following this time, I get out shoe box-sized Rubbermaid containers full of educational toys, games, books, etc. The preschooler can only play with these items when I'm teaching the older children. These boxes might contain: simple phonics activities, beads for sorting, puzzles, papers for cutting out shapes, pipe cleaners (they can spend hours on making shapes with these), blocks, Leap Frog games, play clocks and stackable cubes/cups. A lot of these items can be found at Wal-Mart or the dollar store for just a few dollars. I switch out the boxes every so often to make each box seem new. At times I utilize approved educational DVD's since the TV is near the kitchen where most of homeschooling takes place. When the toddler is old enough and shows interest in doing school work like his/her siblings, I buy a $4 preschool workbook from Wal-Mart for him/her to use to do their own school work. Having everyone (or nearly everyone) at the kitchen table makes it easy to play "round robin" with all the kids during their seat work time.

Lisa Metzger