Joy School

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." 

Benjamin Franklin

           If you are like me and are hesitant to send your baby away to preschool but want to be sure he is still learning, Joy school is a great way to expose your child to an informal classroom setting. A Joy School is an informal preschool in which the mothers involved take turns hosting the class and running the activities. The mother/teacher of the week will prepare circle time and a few fine and gross motor skill activities. Now that my eldest is 4, I’m starting to incorporate some more academic activities as well. Here are some ideas you can adapt to your family’s needs.

Search and Find Letters (and candy)

         

         I adapted this from an activity on pinterest which used shells and sand instead of stones and easter grass. I added the candy as an extra incentive because my son is very shy. If he thinks he might get the answer wrong or feels anyone's eyes (including mine) too strongly on him, he'll clam up, so I added candy to the hunt to help him relax and forget his anxiety.

         I got a bunch of large fish-tank stones from the dollar store and hot glued paper letters on them. (individual letters on paper would work just as well or even letters from a wooden letter puzzle—wish I'd thought of that earlier! ha). Then I hid them beneath some paper Easter grass in my big plastic bin. We have a bunch of candy hearts still sitting in the candy jar so I threw those in as well. We were ready to hunt. 
          Every time we found a letter we talked about the sound it makes and words it starts and after each letter he was able to eat a candy he found (in theory. In reality he gobbled them up willy-nilly as we went along, but that was ok because he was having fun with the letters too). It was a bonus that we got to read the messages on the hearts as well. After that we spelled his name and a few three letter words. I don’t know if it was the candy or just that he’s getting older, but James really enjoyed this activity and wants to play again tomorrow!