RESOURCES Especially For Twos

Hello! If you're in search of ideas about how to begin preschool at home with your two year old then you'll be off to a good start after you've read this page.

Some moms choose to surf the web to find activities for their two year olds and they put together their own set of lesson plans. That is one good way of going about it. There is a plethora of sites out there to find art and craft ideas, activities to encourage the development of fine and gross motor skills, songs and fingerplays, music to listen to, recipes to do with little ones, coloring pages, Bible lessons, and on and on. This worked for me for awhile but then I found myself spending so much time looking for stuff to do that it was becoming kind of a lot of work. And sometimes an activity that looked like something good to do ended up not working so well with a two year old. Like gluing. He had no interest in gluing any of the magazine pictures I so carefully and lovingly cut out. I envisioned us blissfully spending an afternoon together creating a collage but it turned out he had the most fun pounding his glue stick all over the table! "Not like that! Like THIS!" I said emphatically as I kept demonstrating to him over and over again. But all to no avail. The good news is he's improved immensely in this arena. I just needed to wait a couple more months till he was ready. Such a difference the passage of two months can make when it comes to learning readiness.

Another option is to purchase a set of lesson plans. Two that I considered are Ann Ward's Learning at Home and Jean Soyke's Early Education at Home but these are for three year olds and up, not two year olds. At first I thought I'd pare down LAH to use for my two year old but I'm glad I don't have to do that now.

I bought Hands On Homeschooling by Terri Wilson. Her lesson plans are made especially for two years olds. Her book (it's a binder actually) appealed to me because she includes lots of arts and crafts. Our son loves art and I think it's because we've done so much of it. She also does Bible stories every day and I want our son to know the stories of the Bible. I don't know them so HOH makes this very easy for me. If you would like a little more information about Hands On Homeschooling here is an overview of the first three months (for two year olds). She also has a curriculum for three and four year olds.

One aspect of doing this homepreschool thing that I was on the fence about was whether or not to teach the alphabet. I think that knowing the alphabet is not too relevant to the life of a two year old. I have no doubt he'll learn the ABC's and I am not of the mind to push this kind of learning on him at this age. He's got other much more important stuff to learn and understand. Well, here is an excerpt from HOH that put my mind at ease:

"In regards to the alphabet, the goal this year is to expose your child to the world of letters. Don't worry that your child cannot write each and every letter, tell you things that start with that letter, or even tell you what each and every letter is called when they see it. He/she is only two. Give them a fun way to learn about letters and go in to more detail next year."

This sounded very good to me. It allows for child led learning.

Another excellent set of lesson plans is called Before Five in A Row by Jane Claire Lambert. It's for two to four year olds and it is a fabulous way to introduce your child to some great books. You'll have fun too! One of the best features about B4FIAR is that there's a very active FIAR message board where you can "talk" with other moms who are doing B4FIAR too. Jane Claire Lambert describes B4FIAR as "a treasury of ideas to inspire learning readiness." In the introduction she emphasizes that the goal is not to teach academics, but to provide a strong foundation of academic "readiness," and that the desire to learn is the foundation you want firmly in place long before you begin a child's formal academic training. How true. I've been reading to our son each day since he was born, but B4FIAR helped us become so much more observant, not just of the pictures in books, but also on our walks and just doing everyday stuff. If you want more information, go straight to the B4FIAR archives and you'll find a list of the books used and posts about each book.

I finally found the Carson-Dellosa File Folder Games book I've been looking for. If you're interested in making file folder games for your little one you'll find the book at the official Carson-Dellosa website. We didn't used folder games much until age four. Note added 12/01: Hands On Homeschooling for age four has a file folder game for each letter of the alphabet and Julian thoroughly enjoys them.

Brighter Vision offers a package called 'The Discovery Program' for 2-3 years olds. For $12.99 per month (the first month is free and you may cancel with no further obligation if you wish) you receive a cassette tape, a hardback (very nice) storybook, a workbook and a parent's guide in the mail. It's definitely worth the money in my opinion. Julian has enjoyed it a lot and so have I! We started getting it when he was 2 1/2 and he wouldn't have been as ready if I'd gotten it sooner. So far, I have never read on the Web about anyone not liking Brighter Vision. Now that's saying something!

Here are a few Skills Checklists. Michele Lewis's is the most detailed and comprehensive:

Skills List For Two Year Olds written by Michele Lewis, webmistress of the now defunct Homeschooling Preschoolers site.
World Book.com
House of Hugs (Page background makes it kind of hard to read.)
Abeka-About 1/4 of a page of info you can download in PDF.

But all these skill checklists can cause you to lose sight of the big picture. A short article from the National Parent Information Network (this is part of the national information system for education called ERIC) titled What Should Preschoolers Be Taught? helps me keep things in perspective. It describes four categories of learning: feelings, dispositions, knowledge, and skills. The words of wisdom at the end of her article should be the cornerstone of any homeschool. Curiosity and a love of learning are the most important things to nurture in your homepreschool.

You can make up a name for your homepreschool! When your kids reach school age a name for your homeschool will give them something to identify with, and when they're asked by other kids what school they go to they will have an answer. You'll probably use it for paperwork too. For now, it's purely for fun.

If you're the creative type and you really want to do something with that new name that you took so long to think of, then here are some neat ideas from Loree of NY, an experienced homeschooling mom, about how she uses their family homeschool name:

"I made a school seal that goes on school stationery as well as return postcards for the school to send back to me when they have received my paperwork. I've also made business cards, and refrigerator magnets for family and friends."

Did I hear REFRIGERATOR MAGNETS??? Sounds like a good Christmas gift idea to me!