Joy School

Instead of starting regular Preschool for Eli this year, I am doing Joy School with him and three other kids & moms from our church.  This involves the moms taking turns in teaching all the kids at her house, switching every week.  We meet on Tuesday mornings for about two hours.  It's the perfect setup!  The kids are learning some good things, having time to play and socialize with other kids, and learn to listen to and obey other adults.  We moms are a part of our child's learning, and also have a bit of "free" time, or at least "one less kid" time.  : )

Eli was so, so excited to start Joy School!  He talked about it for weeks.  A few days before it began he packed up his backpack with an assortment of goodies and carried it around the house.  He kept thinking he was going to ride the school bus to Joy School, but thankfully he wasn't bummed when that wish wasn't fulfilled yet.

I am the one kind of "in charge" of our Joy School group.  I planned out the schedule and curriculum (after looking over tons of home preschool websites).  We do a different theme each week, along with a value such as honesty, manners, responsibility, etc.  We also do a letter and number.  We begin with a circle time, where we sing a hello song, talk about the day and weather.  We teach about our theme and read stories based on it.  We sing songs, do activities, make crafts, eat a snack, and the kids have time to play at the end.

I taught the first week and it was fun!  Our theme was on "apples" and our value was "friendship."  Even though I was prepared, I realized afterwards that there were a few things I could have done beforehand that would have made it easier on me in-the-moment (such as cutting up all the apples for stamp-painting and taste-testing).  Clara did well for a while, then got fussy when they moved into the kitchen for crafts, so that was a little stressful.  Eli got so "into" his stamping with apples that he went crazy and paint splattered all over the walls and my kitchen blinds.  Ehhhh.  But, overall it really did go well and all of the kids were good at listening and playing together.

We'll introduce each letter with a letter box of items that begin with that letter.

One of the moms had a calendar, numbers, and names of the month, and all laminated.  My mom made and laminated the letters and numbers, and the apples for us, and I borrowed the bulletin board from her.  The apple tree in the background was mine from an old project.  I put some gummy worms in them for the kids.  We pass the letter box, bulletin board, and a supply box around as we teach.

After painting, the kids glued Apple Jacks onto the letter 'A,'

Eli had his 2nd day of school last Tuesday.  On the way there he and Clara held hands.  :)  He happily ran inside, and then Clara and I headed out.  She started crying when she realized Eli wasn't coming with us.  :(  I thought I'd be a little sad missing him, but actually the time apart was fun for me, too!  I got my hair cut (Clara was so quiet and just watched very curiously.), then we walked across the street to Stein Mart.  I hadn't been to one since I was a kid, and didn't realize it was a store with discount prices.  It was pretty darn fun getting to go shopping/browsing without a kid running around and begging for things.  I ended up buying slippers and earrings.  Eli LOVED his second day, and tells me over and over "I love Joy School!"  I think it will be a win for everyone.  :)