Tot-Schooling: Confessions & Successes

We all try to be super moms and amazing “can-do” parents that raise their children in the environment that we deem best for our family; and the reality is that none of us completely succeed. Tot-schooling is one of those intentional efforts that we have chosen to be a part of our lives so that we can set the stage for more formal education and to encourage healthy physical and intellectual development. Even with planners, engaging toys, and parenting resources everywhere, there are days I fall short and other days I accomplish more than we ever knew possible.

Tot-schooling does not have to be exhaustive, and for us it’s definitely not. Some days we spend an hour, others my daughter is only interested for a few minutes. But it’s about being intentional and diligent in building vocabulary and playing with a purpose. However, there are so many days when what I have planned doesn’t happen or when we have fallen behind. I know that I am not alone in this and just wan to offer up some confessions and the successes behind the problem.

Confession: We get behind in our Tot-Schooling Themes

Like 12 weeks behind. While I have this great blog to help keep me accountable, it doesn’t mean I still manage to stay on track.Life happens. For us, this meant a rough start to my pregnancy, a very unexpected and sudden death in the family, and hosting an Earth Month series. All of this and I quickly found myself scrolling down my calendar to see all of the themes that had stacked up over time.

Success: We re-circulate old material in those times and combine themes. Repetition is key to learning. That means there is absolutely no harm in revisiting concepts and themes that have already been completed. We constantly go over shapes and colors because they’re hard to ignore, and we integrate favorite materials and activities from some of our favorite themes. Combining themes is really easy as long as they are laid out in transitional format. I personally tried to do that when planning my calendar, meaning that Kitchen, food, & taste all fit seamlessly together into one week when we needed to trudge forward with some new, fun activities.

Confession: Some Days are Exhuasting

I find that there are days when we just did not sleep well or others when I am mentally fatigued. You know, the ones where sleeping seems like the rational answer?

Success: Those are the days when we find quiet time activities, sing songs, read books, and cuddle. There is nothing wrong with having a lazy day. We all need breaks! I know that I also enjoy having my toddler speak words back to me, just because her language development is rapidly progressing. This is a fun game to do while cuddling.

Confession: I do not have the most Well-Behaved, Angel Child

So who does, right? This means we all go through rough patches. Yesterday my daughter screamed for almost an hour straight. While I tried to comfort her, she ran from me. She has hard days too, which in turn means mom and dad probably are scratching their heads and struggling and in pain right along side their toddler. It’s a fairly common story in our house of late. This means there are days when I am gung-ho to do a project with her… and she wants nothing to do with me, let alone the fabulous activity I had planned.

Success: We take our day outside or to the bathtub. There have been more days than I can honestly count where we have pulled out bath-safe toys, cranked up the warm water, and spent an hour in the bathroom. That warm and gentle environment has often settled my cranky toddler in the middle of the day, and we still got to play and read while in the bathroom.

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Kara Carrero

Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!