When Kinsley was 1.5 years old, a neighbor down the street said “You better get her on wait list for preschool.”  I was completely floored that I should start thinking about preschool when she was still so very young – and so while I did start thinking about preschool and what we should do for her, I didn’t put her on a wait list.

Fast forward 2 years and we are starting school.  But not at a preschool.  Yes, you read that right.  A lot of moms (and people in general) have a lot of different opinions about homeschool vs. public school, preschool vs. no preschool, private school vs public school, start at 2 years old vs. start at 3 years old, etc, etc.  Granted, it has been really helpful to hear a lot of different opinions and then to spend lots of time with the Lord seeking His wisdom about what we should do.  I never thought I would be the homeschool mom, being that I HATE teaching and being creative (it just doesn’t fit well with the giftings of an accountant or this type A momma), but I knew that if the Lord made it very clear that it was what He wanted for us and changed my heart, He would equip me to do it.

So, after mulling over lots of options like preschool, doing it myself, being part of a small church co-op of moms and rotating children, etc., we decided that I would just do some preschool things with her at home this year.  The plan is to send her to preschool next year so she learns how to be away from us in preparation for kindergarden, but again, all of that is dependent on where the Lord leads us.

I found this great (FREE!) curriculum online that gives lesson plans for 28 weeks and breaks down every day into a bible adventure, theme adventure, abc and 123, and life skills.  She has everything spelled out (great for us type A personalities) and it uses things that you probably already have on hand.  It is four days a week which I was really hesitant about, but each day only lasts about 30-45 minutes.  So far, we are loving it.  We only had a meltdown one day, but it didn’t last long and we were able to learn everything later.  She is really picking up on the alphabet, bible lesson, and asks to do school everyday.  It is so fun watching your kids learn!  Here is the link in case you want to check it out:  http://www.motherhoodonadime.com/kids/gods-little-explorer-preschool-curriculum/.  We are just praying that it continues to be fun and she continues to learn.

I still don’t consider myself as “homeschooling” – just learning together with a little more structure :).  I knew that if I didn’t find something to help me think of creative ideas and to give me structure, I wouldn’t do anything and I felt like she needed something to capitalize on the fact that she WANTS to learn.  I have had to remind myself to just go with the flow and if she isn’t getting something that day or doesn’t want to do it, no big deal and not to force it (which is hard for the over achiever in me)….this isn’t going to make or break whether she learns to read or knows how to count…it is just to help her start learning.

Here is a pic of us starting school on the first day:

And here is one of Ed taking Kinsley out on a daddy-daughter date before the school year kicked off.  So thankful for a husband that wants to make daddy-daughter dates a priority.