Changing Things Up

Well, for the past few months this blog seems to have been living a double life. We seem to be caught between Tot School and Preschool. This has been largely due to RockerTot's disinterest with most Tot School activities and his huge interest in reading and writing.

I feel like I've been walking a tightrope between what I am told I should do and what he wants me to do with him. He begs for seat-work (which I strictly limit) and I feel that all of his learning should be hands-on. How can I reconcile this? I've been trying to figure this out for quite a while, now.


He is not a calm child. He is a very, very active and physical little boy. If he sees a piece of paper with some issue that he needs to solve, however, he will sit joyfully and solve it. He loves to read words out of books (he'd rather spell with magnets and erase a whiteboard).

My current plan is to have a Tot/Preschool hybrid. Most of our items will continue to be hands-on, but I will continue to allow him to do his seat-work as he pleases.

I know it's not what most would consider to be proper, but since he loves our new format, it must be right for him.

I'll post pictures tomorrow of our new set-up in our little school corner (we do not have a room).

4 comments:

  1. I don't think you can or should really go by what is concidered "Propper". I think you need to listen to the needs of the child. My DS (now pre-school age) showed little interest in the Tot School activities as well. He LOVES his seat work. I think it is totally ok to move ahead if your child is ready, and if they are asking you to and you don't, you are doing them a diservice. IMO. I'm glad that you have decided to go against the grain and focus on your LO's needs.

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  2. I think ultimately you need to do what your kid wants to do, and forget what others say. I figured out early on that between my personality and my kids personalities a lot of the Tot School stuff so many kids were enjoying my kids didn't like. So, why continue if it's not what works for them? Go with what he likes.

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  3. bother, I replied on the other blog. I'm slow sometimes.

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  4. Hi! Actually we are on a Sept-May "grade level" schedule to correspond with the public school simply because I'll have to report eventually. Keeping things even will be much easier! I have been tossing around the idea of just calling her "K" starting June 1st. We do hs year round with summer being very light. But I think I'm just going to stick with the ps schedule. So this summer, I just say she's "going to start Kindergarten in the fall."

    As for SM 1a, I think we'll get through 1A quickly and slow down in 1B.

    Are you looking into SM? I think we've talked about math before but I can't remember! LOL!

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