New to SCM and dont know what to do

I would start with the SCM preschool resources and reading books about CM method.  The more you know about the method and how to do preschool the CM way,  the better.

Teach me, Mommy! is a Montessori method book and while I don’t agree with the unnatural exercises they suggest,  the first part of the book is good, especially the part that shows you how to observe and get to know your own child.

The more you know about your child,  the easier it will be to choose curriculum that works best for her.

We all make mistakes and sometimes choose curricula that doesn’t work well for a child. It’s ok,  trial and error is part of learning for home school moms too;)

A common mistake that home school moms make is to start formal lessons too soon and/or expect too much from little children.   There are lots of ways to teach without using workbooks for everything.

Congratulations and enjoy your wonderful children.

All through the Ages by Christine Miller has living books listed by time period…I like it.

Also I agree about reading about Charlotte Masons philosophy in her books. And don’t buy much ahead:)

a fun preschool book for mama to read and get ideas from with no workbooks involved is The Homegrown Preschooler. It has tons of ideas and the ladies really have hearts for preschoolers my 4 year old thrives when I can use ideas from it.

Also don’t be too afraid of doing it wrong…almost everyone I know has changed something sometime. As long as you pray know your kids are dilagent to do school when the time comes and don’t swap phonics and math curriculum too often you’ll do fine. Don’t be afraid to swap if it really isn’t working though.

So the biggest piece of advice I have is – stop what you’re doing! You’re wasting your time (with regards to curriculum browsing and notebooks etc). And I mean that in the nicest way possible 🙂

Your daughter is 19 months old. There are going to be many, many changes in the next several years. Your “I-love-nature” child today, could turn into a “I-scream-when-you-take-me-outside” child in a year. Probably not, but always possible. She is going to change, you are going to change, your life is going to change. There is no point in planning today for something several years away, when there are so many important variables that are going to change between now and then.

Also, at this stage – you have no idea what her learning style will be, which will  be extremely important when selecting curriculum. You’ll start to get a better idea of that when she’s 4/5.  And sometimes, it still takes awhile, and has to be learned through trial and error.

Do not worry about learning milestones, preschool currciulums, workbooks, letters, numbers etc… Take these next couple of years and do nothing but these important things:

1. Love your child and teach her about God
2. Habit train
3. Read, read, read to her
4. Enjoy nature with her
5. Enjoy lots of sensory-based, fine and gross motor play (this means lots of arts and crafts, coloring, cutting, pasting, drawing/scribbling, Playdoh, sand and water play, making mud pies and snowballs, running, jumping, skipping, biking, kicking balls, throwing balls etc…)

That’s it. That is all any child needs until age 5. No workbooks, no intentional teaching time, no sitting down working on letters, numbers, colors, shapes etc… When a parent is engaged with their child, playing with them, reading to them etc… your child will pick up on those things naturally.

There are great lists of books to read to your child/build your library with available in the SCM Preschool section, and you could also look at the Before Five in a Row reading lists as well (don’t be taken by the curriculum, resist the urge to add activities and just read the literature list).

Some things for you to remember during these next few years are:

1. Many curriculum publishers base their programs on a school setting, and thus are designed to meet public academic requirements. The academic requirements in public (and many private) school settings today, starting in preschool, are NOT based on the natural development/developmental needs of children.

2. Most (I’m excluding SCM in this) curriculum companies are quite frankly, businesses wanting to make money, and they want to sell you their nice shiny products. They will lure you in. Resist the urge to buy. Resist the cultural pressure to be doing a preschool curriculum with your child.

3. Instead of reading about curriculum, start reading about the history of education, the natural development of children especially with regards to brain development and academics. You’ll be shocked at how inappropriate the education system is today, and how far it as deviated from history. Child development has not changed – the education system has. And unfortunately, too much of the homeschool curriculums today are based off the public school system/requirements. For a one-stop shop of suggested reading, I’ll share this with you:

Delayed Academics (aka Developmentally Appropriate Learning)

This is my own compilation of resources through years of reading and researching. It’s not a complete, exhaustive list by any means, but it should keep you busy for awhile, and help you feel better about the choice to just let go in these early years.

Remember, kindergarten is a relatively recent phenomenon, preschool even more recent. In the 1800s/early 1900s, most children did not start school until a minimum of age 6, normally even older. Prior to that the children were engaged in the home learning Catechism and habits, handicrafts and life skills, being read to and playing. That was it. And these are students who had better vocabulary, reading, writing and basic arithmetic skills than most of our graduates today.

More than anything, trust in the process. Trust in the decision to break away from the cultural model. Trust not in the curriculum or the workbooks, but trust in God.

Going through what you did to get her has added to your worry, your desire for the best, to make no mistakes,  I’m sure. It’s only natural. However all parents make mistakes, and it doesn’t matter how much you research and plan, things can and will go wrong. Things will change. Often our plans are not God’s plans – as you know.

Anxiety is hard, I know, I deal with it as well. I too, am a planner. Planning makes you feel in control, which helps the anxiety. Until you start worrying about the plans. And then soon you’re anxious over the very thing that was supposed to help you feel less anxious.

Trust me on this – stop researching. You have LOTS of time. The more you research, the more anxious you’re going to feel as you become overwhelmed by choices.

Instead just enjoy these years. Try and learn to let go some, work on your worrying and anxiety. Its hard. But work on it with God. Also look into dietary options – reduce your sugar and caffeine intake, increase your magnesium and Vitamin D.

Force yourself to not plan the future – no looking at curriculum. No writing lists. When you feel the urge pray to God instead that He’ll help you to trust in Him instead.

When she turns 5 is plenty early to start researching. You’re already ahead of the game by knowing you want a CM education. So just spend the next few years enjoying a CM early childhood.