Pruning Preschool

Pruning – (verb) ….Webster definition is to reduce especially by eliminating superfluous matter ..Wikipedia definition…. reasons to prune  include, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruit. 

 

As Spring as comes around it’s time to dust the cobwebs and refresh the house.  Have you ever thought how your children might need a little refreshing too? How about you?  Let’s take this pruning definition and consider how we might reshape, maintain and or prune away the superfluous matter in our schooling.

 

Maintain Spiritual & Educational Health :

Increase the yield with playtime with your children.  Playtime is essential to your child learning.

“Learning accumulates through experience. It occurs first at a social level then the indivudual.” Debra Bell discussing the Piagets Child Model.

How is the Quality of the fruit coming from your preschooler? Sweet or sour?

“The Heart of your child should always trump ABC’s every time! “ Rachael Carmen

 Shaping and Re-shaping: Make sure you are spending time in the Bible with your preschooler.  It can be a short story. Rebecca Jones from Leading little heart home suggests “Think of the Library Lady” , “A short story, snack and a craft.”

Don’t fill your day so full of paper school that you have no time for anything else?  Prune away all the extras. Take time outside to enjoy pretty flowers and notice how each flower is unique.  Let your little Tot know how unique God has created them to be.

Prune those toys that just sit around. Prune the curriculum you bought and never use and bless another family.  Reshape what you do with your preschooler. Fill part of your day with learning about God’s creations with a Nature Journal. Explore all the wonderful creatures outside.

Refresh your day. Focus on only a couple of things for each season. Don’t feel like you have to print out every wonderful craft and lapbook idea. Focus on a couple of themes a season.

Spring Themes                                Summer Themes

Farm Animals                                      Oceans & Sea life

Plants & Flowers                                 Beach &  Sand

Ponds & Frogs                                      Boats

Butterflies & Kites                                Summer Treats like Ice Cream

Autumn Themes                             Winter Themes

Pumpkins                                              Snowflakes

Apples                                                    Arctic Animals

Owls                                                       Ice

Trees & Leaves                                    Stars & Moon

Keep it Simple. I know there are some wonderful ideas on how to organize school. It can be overwhelming when those wonderful ideas just don’t seem to work for your season of life right now. That is OK! I have learned from seasoned Homeschool Moms that it is OK to put it away until your children are older.
At a recent conference I attended Rachael Carmen (Homeschooling mother of 6)  came up with an idea that may work for you if you are teaching multi-levels as I am .  Rachael called them Preschool Boxes.  The idea is to have each box contain certain themes or toys, stickers, and books they can only have during preschool time. You can create one for each day.  Circle Time is also beneficial time where you can do group activities as a family, such as Bible time, Song time, Reading.

 Pruning is beneficial and is definitely necessary to create a proper growing tree or bush. Pruning can definitely  benefit our homeschool as well. Whatever you decide to prune may it benefit your preschooler to shape your family to produce good fruit for Christ.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5