I had meant to homeschool Yuri for the last, err, 2 years.
Sadly, it never became a top priority for me mainly because Yuri was still too little to pay attention to school “work.” In the past, homeschooling just meant reading books, learning new words, seeing new sights, travelling — basically trying to grasp every teachable moment.
All of a sudden, Yuri is 4 and I couldn’t anymore rely on just catching teachable moments as they go. We initially planned to enrol Yuri in a “real school” this year. However, because of reasons I detailed in this post last month, the real-preschool-plan was promptly scrapped. We were suddenly back to our original plan, which is to homeschool… and I am woefully unprepared.
Thanks a lot to regular enrichment classes from Eye Level (!), Yuri already has had a head start. Whew.
In all honesty, I still haven’t found the time to prepare a meticulous curriculum. It’s funny because when Yuri was 2 years old, I spent almost all of my free time researching on homeschool curricula that we could use. In my old laptop, I even had a spreadsheet comparing and contrasting the curricula. Yes I was very OA, yet we didn’t even get to homeschool haha!
(In my defence hehe, I attended a seminar on homeschooling and was told that it’s too early to formally homeschool 2 and 3 year olds.)
Now that it’s time for real homeschool, I’m caught unprepared! We haven’t begun yet even though it’s already the end of everyone else’s first week of school. Then again, two years ago, when I was very vigilant, I was a freelancer who had a yaya. Now I have a regular 8-5 job — and a real estate broker on weekends — who is yaya-less and helper-less. But I’m confident that we’ll soon get the hang of it — as soon as I am able to organise a proper schedule. I’m procrastinating, help!
Anyway, in contrast to two years ago, when I had a full list of homeschool supplies to buy and several printables to print, right now, all I have are Yuri’s unopened preschool workbooks which I have collected over time (I told you I was OA!). The great thing is that they’re really helpful.
Here’s the workbook that serves as our primary “curriculum” for now:
This is a big, thick workbook that I was able to buy from Book Sale a couple of years ago for only P250. It looks worn out now (because toddlers aren’t exactly the gentlest human beings in the world), but when I bought it, it looked brand new. (The pages are still crisp thank goodness.)
Table of Contents – almost 300 pages!
Scissor practice!
What I love about this workbook is that each page has a perforated inner side so you can tear it off the workbook easily.
We have several other workbooks but so far, this is the most useful and complete. I tried to look for a similar workbook in National Bookstore, Fully Booked, and in online stores, but sadly, I wasn’t able to find one. I’m obviously recommending it to you, but I’m not sure whether Book Sale still has stocks of this workbook. Hopefully there are!
Here are more home tips, productivity, and homeschooling resources that you can check out from Canva:
- Canva Work from Home Tips
- Productivity Guide by Canva
- Canva Homeschool Activity Tips
- How to Start Homeschooling by Canva
Are you using a preschool workbook? Tell me so I can check it out! 😀
Also, if you are homeschooling a preschooler, what materials are you using? I’ll appreciate tips and pieces of advice!
21 Comments
I always buy workbook at National Bookstore then I discover Pinterest so I also download free worksheets. Check Teachers Pay Teachers, Education.com and Ultimate Homeschool Board.
Hahahaha! I laughed because I can relate, as early as now (my little girl is 18months), I’m already scouting for preschools and even telling everyone that maybe we’ll just homeschool Maco dahil ang mahal ng preschools ngayon! And meron na din ako books! HAHAHA! A bit OA nga, but I think ang ka-OA-han natin mga mommies will pay off naman hehe 🙂
I’m planning to go down the homeschool route as well for my son but really, I’m clueless as to where to start. I think I need to get the ball rolling to prepare for next year. 😊
Homeschooling is a huge thing for me. Though it crossed my mind a lot of times, I am not sure if I will be able to push through with it. I am so proud of the homeschooling moms like you. Especially with the ones who are yaya-less! It’s just soooo hard to maintain a clean house and a happy home while trying to stay sane. What more it is for those who are homeschooling? Right? Keep up the good work Mommy Maan! 🙂
I haven’t really thought of preschool yet and whether I will homeschool Bunny or we will send her off to big school. Maybe we will cross that bridge when she’s three!
The problem with finding books in Book Sale is it’s all by chance. It’s tough to find the same book again. Lucky you to have found a good and useful book for preschool. I do like that perforated sheets too!
The problem with finding books in Book Sale is that it’s all by chance. It’s tough to find the same book again. Lucky you to have found a good and useful preschool book. I also like those perforated pages!
Oh i know what you mean by not the gentlest… especially after eating anything sugary 😊. New books and toys aren’t suddenly so new anymore with my boys…
I really envy moms who are able to make time to home school their children. It is really hard work and takes real dedication.
Aww preschool!!! Homeschooling needs dedication ha I admire you for that
I’m sure you’ll do just fine 🙂 good luck and remember to always keep it fun for both of you!
Congratulations on your son’s another milestone. I’m still double-thinking if I will homeschool my son or enroll in pre-school. I can relate with being OA. My son just turned 1 year old and I’ve been researching on what we will do on his future education. Goodluck, and I know you can do it!
I never thought of homeschooling maybe because I’m afraid I wouldnt be as effective as the real teachers in schools. Good job to u mommy!
I admire you for this brave move! I’ve long decided that homeschooling is not for us. I don’t have the patience of a lamb. Lol! Good luck on this new endeavor!
I am keeping a note of all homeschooling mamas I know. Now you’re one of them! haha. I am considering homeschooling Nate, Maan, so I’m trying to gauge if I can really do it! I’d love to read updates about you homeschooling Yuri. 🙂
I will take note of the book’s title so by the time my little man is able to hold a pencil and scissors, we will practiceand practice. I am one OC mama and I see to it to spend quality time for my boys. Thanks for this. And good luck to the little learner.
Ziggy’s already 5 years old so we enrolled him in a homeschool provider already that provides us the DepEd curriculum and books. They have an open curriculum though which means you can actually DIY it. Our strategy this year is to do a mix of both, just to see which one would work best. I figure it will also lessen the stress for me because I’m giving birth in 3 months and will no doubt be busy with the new baby, plus chores and work and homeschooling. Haha! But last year when Ziggy was 4, I just downloaded whatever worksheets I could find online and used the Buribox activities and books. We also have collected a whole lot of storybooks that I read to him regularly. 🙂 Don’t worry, you and Yuri will do fine, I’m sure. 🙂
Thank you for the advice! We’re taking it easy din. It’s the middle of our first homeschool week and we’re actually doing well! Would love to know more about your curriculum though. 😀
[…] mentioned in a previous post that I’m as woefully unprepared as I can be. I didn’t do prior research on homeschool […]
WOW! It’s nice that you’re finally able to decide to homeschool Yuri. I don’t think I’d be able to home schooling..isipin ko pa lang ang hirap na.
[…] is the schedule that I was able to plan after being on procrastination mode a couple of weeks […]
I’m a TH home schooling mum. Pero since I’m also working, soooobrang hirap for me. Although my daughter’s only 2 so relax relax lang muna. Main option ko talaga ang home schooling. Sana lang kayanin ng katawang lupa ko. Thanks for this post.