Preschool, Schmeeschool. It's allllll good.

Coolbeans Mom wants to know how I'm going to homeschool preschool. That's a great question, and the answer is that I have no idea. But I do have some advice:

Make learning to read your number one priority and you'll succeed.

Reading? In pre-K? Yes. Here's how:


1. Teach the letters first. The ABC song but also like this: A, aaaa, apple, B, bbb, ball, etc. Create a chart that has the capital letter, the lower cased letter and a picture for each letter. Then chant the chart once a day with your child. Be sure to point to each letter as you say it.

2. Now on to phonics. This book is uh-may-zing. It will teach you the tricks and rules that aren't as plain as the nose on your darling's face. Like schwa. And that ould spells "ood." Crazy stuff that makes no sense will be taught in a systematic and logical way. We did a page a day when Juliet was in kindergarten, and we're still working on it. But she's also moved on to a formal spelling program and is writing sentences.




My only warning is that the book features this creepy, half-drugged looking cartoon worm that's always spouting encouraging advice. There's no reason for the worm to be there. It's actually very disturbing.


And that's it. You might want to get some BOB books (link below) and other readers so they can practice. And, of course, you'll want to introduce your preschoolers to the numbers and colors and shapes. The usual junk.


All of the above should take less than 20 minutes a day. For realz, yo, preschool shouldn't be hard. Get some coloring books, some scissors, read up on some easy crafts, don't let them watch too much tv, and you're good to go. Preschool should be less about stressing out over doing the right thing, more about preparing your child to love the process of learning.