Preschool Reassessment
Sunday 
in the late afternoon 
Mystie
My plan previously had been to do preschool very loosely for 2006, slowly adjusting myself to routine and trying out a few different things. My plan had been to get serious about a routine and stick to it in January 2007. Since Hans is an August birthday and near that grade-cut-off, I’ve been kicking around the idea of beginning his school years in January, anyway.
I still don’t want to do anything really schoolish or rigid. I don’t want to have any goals of accomplishment like “you must learn your letters in 3 months” which would only frustrate me and get me all uptight when it’s not really necessary in the first place. However, I do want to encourage him to use his mind and to begin to fill his little memory with Scripture, primarily. Every time he sees bits and pieces of movies at others’ houses, he can tell me all about what he saw, sometimes quoting it. It is always a reminder to me how important it is to utilize that amazing ability of young ones and ensure there is a lot of quality material for them to soak up.
Having a routine certainly improved our days overall. The holidays messed it all up and in the loss I see that both Hans and I simply feel better when we know what to expect and when there is a list and something to do. If we lounge around and don’t get the day kicked off, Hans is sure to ask to go somewhere and I sympathize. Getting out and about kicks things into gear, but it’s not necessary for lifting the morning fog. A routine is what we need and we both flourish under it.
The past few months Hans has been trying to give up naps completely. It has been a rough time where I’ve felt at a loss. I always was one to say, “No, no, if my kids ever didn’t want to take a nap, I’d still make them take a quiet time.” So much easier said than done. What if they are potty-trained and know that a bathroom break will allow them to come out? What if they stay cheerful, but then don’t break down until it’s too late to let them nap? What if you don’t feel up to a fight? I was caught in a haze of uncertainty and just letting each day happen without a plan. Suddenly, the dawn broke and I said, “It’s your quiet time. Here’s a book, and you can sleep on Mommy’s bed. Here’s a timer, when it goes off you can get up.” Voila! Now the only problem is that Jaeger’s one nap is in the morning, and Hans needs it in the mid-afternoon. I’m going to try to push Jaeger’s back so they go down at the same time. Even if they don’t, however, they each have activities they enjoy doing by themselves, but they can’t leave one another alone when they are both up. So a little alone play for them both is a good thing. If I successfully move Jaeger’s nap, I might try to find a way to let them have alone play at some point. However, I don’t like leaving either of them actually alone to their own devices; I’ve been burned on that too many times. And if I’m moving from room to room, Jaeger wants to follow. So, that still needs more thought.
We’ve tried checking out children’s books on tape from the library, and Hans loves it! I showed him how to eject and play the tapes, and he can put them in, play them, turn them around and play them again. It’s good for about 30 minutes every other day or so. That also reminded me of a tip from [Preschoolers and Peace](http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/wst_page2.html “Little Hands at Preschoolers and Peace”) to record passages you want the kids to memorize and let them listen to it during quiet time. I would like Hans to memorize the Ten Commandments, but it’s so long and I wasn’t sure how to begin. I think I’ll try recording it and just having him listen to it a few times a day while looking at a book. He appears to like that sort of thing.
So here is a summary of what I’d like to get back to doing:
**Morning Routine**
* dressed and breakfast
* tidying bedroom
* brushing teeth
* putting away silverware (as his job for which he gets paid, so he can buy his own gum and offer his own money at church)
**Circle Time**
it’s really couch time, but the idea was from Preschoolers and Peace, and she has enough kids to make a circle. Someday we will, too, Lord willing.
* pray in thanksgiving (I’d like to teach Hans to do this part) and pray that God will use the Scripture Hans is memorizing to grow him into a man of God.
* sing a hymn or two (we’ve only done Holy, Holy, Holy and the Doxology so far, but I’d like to teach them new ones and haven’t figured out the plan yet. Part of the problem is my own lack of pitch and tune; I’m not a good song leader).
* recite catechism questions, learning a new one or two a week.
* recite Bible memory, working on something new as the new ones are memorized (the length of time depends on the length of the passage and how faithful I’ve been in actually doing circle time).
* reading time: one board book for Jaeger, one picture book for Hans, one story from *[The Jesse Tree](http://www.amazon.com/Jesse-Tree-Geraldine-McCaughrean/dp/0802852882/sr=8-5/qid=1168202312/ref=pd_bbs_5/103-0868767-1449427?ie=UTF8&s=books)*, and one letter from *[The Usborne Alphabet Book](http://www.amazon.com/Alphabet-Book-Farmyard-Tales-Books/dp/0746030142/sr=1-2/qid=1168202369/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-0868767-1449427?ie=UTF8&s=books)*.
For the *Alphabet Book*, which has great spreads for each letter and shows uppercase and lowercase letters, I try to reinforce that both the uppercase and lowercase are the same letter (he knows his uppercase pretty well but not the lowercase), and I just started introducing the TATRAS sounds for each letter. My mom used TATRAS for all my siblings and I helped tutor a boy a few years ago with it, so it’s all ingrained in my head already (Aaa, Ayy, Aww). I’m not expecting him to learn it now, I’m just introducing it so it’s familiar when we do get serious. Then there are always things to count on those pages, so we do a little counting. Just one letter, one page, a little counting, and it takes less than 5 minutes. Nothing serious or high-pressure; I try to keep it gentle, but still enforce accuracy (he likes to count one, two, three, four, five, six, eleven, twelve).
**Other Times**
I haven’t set up specific times for these, but we’ll try them out and vary them until a routine becomes clearer.
* Art/Table Time: playdough, painting, drawing
* Reading Time: 3 story books (I really need to read aloud more often; I love his books and reading once we sit down, but I never feel like doing it beforehand).
* Quiet Time: already discussed above.
* Play together time: I need to pay attention to them playing together so they share, pick up as they go along, and don’t fuss at one another. They often play rough together and both like it that way, and I am trying to create the balance between letting them be boys, teaching them to respect one another if the other one doesn’t want to be rough, and not letting one of them wimp out and cry just ’cause he’s losing. Ugh.
* Play time alone: somehow, while still maintaining a “visual” without myself being actively involved.
* Outside play: on every day where it’s remotely possible, they need to vent their energies outside. Thankfully, our immediate neighbors are all gone during the day, so I let them shout at bad guys and dragons and run around in our lawn only (which isn’t divided by fences) and they have a dirt pile, as all boys should. I can see them from the kitchen and dining room window, so I stay inside and generally do dishes or catch up menu or other planning while they play.
**Evening Routine**
* While I work on dinner, I try to get the boys to put their toys away. I like the house to have at least a semblance of tidiness by the time Matt gets home for his sanity as well as mine. It’s much easier to sit down to dinner when the floor isn’t a mess.
* Hans sometimes helps set the table by putting the silverware out. We all sit down to dinner together and the boys learn by observation and correction proper table manners and how to sit still. It’s not really a conscious thing, it’s just how we’ve always done it and now I see that it’s been good for them.
* Play time with Daddy before bed, which is between 7 & 7:30.
Tomorrow is Monday and the first no-vacation week in January. Time to kick the year into gear.
(MCL)
with 
(personal library)
Yes, it certainly is time to get the year started. I like the sound of your schedule, it serves as an inspiration! :-) With our new tax season schedule, I’m tentatively planning on having a “school” time with Judah (with Ezra on the couch or a blanket) after Michael leaves and chores are done in the morning. Then they play, then lunch, then Ezra takes a nap and Judah has his “quiet time” for around an hour during Ezra’s nap. I just put him in his room (where his books, and some toys are kept) and tell him to be quiet. He seems to think that “being quiet” means singing loud songs and kicking the wall sometimes. Anyway, it’s a break for me, and sometimes he falls asleep. During the quiet time and after they get up is my more productive time of the day, sometimes we go somewhere (shopping or the library), sometimes we go outside (if it isn’t raining). Late afternoon/evening is a little sketchy right now, as I try to figure out what to do with the vast expanse of time between nap time and bedtime, without Michael’s arrival to break it up. I don’t make a formal dinner if Michael’s not home, although ordinarily I try to have Judah pick up his toys off the kitchen floor while I make dinner so that it’s neat when Michael gets home. Long response, I know, but helpful to me to move toward getting my thoughts organized!
Sounds like all the wisdom teeth coming out didn’t slow you down at all this weekend! But you are like me in the regard that the New Year does wonders for getting me organized and on somewhat of a schedule. Blessings on your year!