arliemaria Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 We have lots of littles at our church. We are all very close friends and live very near to one another. I have been thinking about starting a preschool/tot class. I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with a similar group. I was thinking once a week would be a good start, perhaps when they were in the 4 yr old range we could do twice a week, but most of the littles are only 2 right now. I have the Slow and Steady book recommended in WTM. I also have Before Five in a Row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Hi! I do have some experience with this to share. 1. start with something very easy. Like a weekly playdate. Moms bring snack for their own kids and take turns bringing a Mom-snack/coffee. 2. have it at church, that way no Mom has to clean up her house.:001_smile: 3. have it always at the same day of the week, same time, so that everyone can rely on it and you don't have to do any planning. 4. once you meet a few times & settle in, only after that, start talking about what educational types of things you'd like to do. 5. if you like, ask the pastor/priest at your church to do a little devotional or prayer each week. have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Thanks for the ideas. We are Orthodox (ROCOR) and will most likely have it at our church. I like the idea of having a Mom snack/coffee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckabell Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 We're currently part of a co-op and are really enjoying it. There are six families in it and it is for 3 to 4-year-olds. We hold it twice a week for two hours each session. Every mom takes a week and is in charge of the lesson, snacks, and hosting it at her house for that week. Another mother is assigned to be her partner so that there are two adults there for six children, which means out of six weeks I'm only helping or hosting for two of those and just drop my child off for the other four. There's a loose Google calendar we set up giving each week a letter and a number and sometimes a theme. Every mother just takes the week assigned to her and finds resources, printouts, etc for that. Most moms also incorporate playtime into the preschool time and every mom is a little different as to the number of games, handouts, stories, songs, etc she has in each session. We have really enjoyed this setup so far. It's free, fun, and my son is learning a little and making friends. He's the oldest and is farther along in reading than most of the others but they work on handwriting a bit too which he's behind in comparison to the other children. It all evens out. Some of the resources we use are preschoolpalace.org, confessionsofahomeschooler.com, and letteroftheweek.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Sounds like fun, but just be prepared, if it is successful, as the children near school age, and the families start talking about enrolling into public school vs.private school and then you mention homeschooling......you'll probably start becoming the odd man out as they all naturally gravitate to each other, as their children end up in the same class, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Sounds like fun, but just be prepared, if it is successful, as the children near school age, and the families start talking about enrolling into public school vs.private school and then you mention homeschooling......you'll probably start becoming the odd man out as they all naturally gravitate to each other, as their children end up in the same class, etc. I realize this main seem strange, but I live on our church's property along with 5 other families all who homeschool. We used to have a parochial school and now the families who live on the property just use the old school room and materials (library, etc.). Most of the other families at our church homeschool also and are second or more generational homeschoolers. I only know of one family who sends their kids to a school and I think mostly they do for language immersion-- they speak mostly Russian at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 How does this sound for a "schedule" 9:00-9:15 arrival and circle time 9:15-9:35 music and fingerplays 9:35-9:50 story time 9:50-10:20 main activity 10:20-10:40 snack time 10:40-11:00 free play Please give suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Sounds nice! Only, lots of times people with littles have a hard time arriving on time... might be good to have some sort of free play time for the 1st 15 minutes. Also, don't tire yourself out or get too ambitious unless you are sure you can do it. You know the Fathers say "do nothing beyond your strength"! And, you probably know with church things sometimes it's best to start small, rather than have to scale back and feel like it's a disappointment. We are Orthodox too (GOA, but I was previously OCA, DH is cradle GOA). Have you looked at the social groups here, Exploring Orthodoxy and Orthodox Homeschooling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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