Working from Home with Littles
- wholeheartedmama
- Apr 4, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 6, 2020
Emerson has thoroughly been enjoying "working from home" with mommy over the last couple of weeks. This kid needs to be occupied 120% of the time or the train derails quickly. You know how scientists and experts say boredom is good for children? Yeah, I'm not buying it. Not for this angel.
Week one, day one of quarantine my child successfully gave herself a mullet, complete with one side burn, and she's lucky she still has an ear. I knew IT was coming. I knew it. I was simply just waiting for the moment when she walked in with no hair. It was better than what I expected. And I'm going to throw out to the universe that she will do it again. It was a very enjoyable experience for her.
On a separate note, I wanted to share some of the resources that we are using at home. I'm attempting to incorporate preschool material, some art, outside time, walks, and guided creativity.
Working from home with kids has been nothing short of stressful, but when I had preplanned activities the day went smoother and I was able to get more done. I was twice as tired as usual but not as stressed and frazzled about my inability to get work done. Choose your evil. I would rather be worn thin than frustrated that I got nothing done.
Hopefully, this will help others save some time and frustration...
Educational resources:
I'm a teacher so this is by far my favorite part. We pick one letter a week, I was working through the alphabet but this week we will be doing the letter S. Ideally, you should not teach the alphabet in order. There are many reasons behind this, but the most basic, it teaching the most common letters first is more beneficial for kids as they moving into reading. The first six letters children should learn are usually S, A, T, I, P, and N. Another reason they should learn them out of order is so they do not rely on the song or listing them for recognition. Just like we want kids to move past relying on finger counting for number recognition, you want to move to a more basic cognitive understanding of letters.
Here are some of the resources we love for math and letter work! Really, anything from these two teacher creators is amazing. I really had to limit myself on linking resources. Have fun browsing their shops!
Favorite free resources:
And.... my FAVORITE sight word game Chutes and Ladders.
Outdoor Activities:
First, #chalkyourwalk is an awesome little activity to try at home. My kids usually enjoy sidewalk chalk, but for some reason, this lasted a lot longer than usual. I think having a general outcome and guidance helped them stay focused. It lasted my one and three year old about 45 minutes to an hour of focused creativity.
Second, we are enjoying teaching Emerson about plants and gardening. We chose a few varieties of plants we wanted to grow and ordered the seeds. Then, I saved the egg cartons from all the dozens of eggs John eats on a weekly basis and recruited grandparents to save them too. Egg cartons are perfect for growing plants because they are biodegradable and can be pulled apart and put right into a bigger pot or into your garden. They will fall apart with moisture and be absorbed into the soil.
Indoor activities:
Stringing beads
Hiding bugs and going on a bug hunt
Books we are currently loving:
Activity books that can stretch from 3-6 years old (maybe older!):
Now, I get texts throughout the week saying, I have the resources, what do I do them?
Perfect question. Choose your letter for the week and print those activities. When Emerson wakes up in the morning, she has breakfast and free play. I usually set out these blocks. We do not start school until 9am or I run out of activities and my work day starts at nine, so we cannot be running out of activities!!! This week I set her up and then logged on to my email and zoom calls while she did her school work. This would keep her occupied for a while because she had a few activities including a coloring page and a large plank sheet of paper with markers in case her mind wandered. Cora was usually at my feet coloring on a large sheet of paper. She's obsessed with pencils and is discovering the whole cause and effect reality.
This wears off eventually and it's time for a change. At this point, if the weather is nice, I move my laptop out to the deck and they play in the water table, bikes, cars, etc. If the weather is not nice... hello Cocomelon or Vooks, sometimes both. Other times I can delay tech time with a pile of books and a snack.
Look around your house for things that start with that letter. For example, when we did the letter "b" I pulled out the beads and Emerson's fine motor skill was stringing beads. When we went outside, we worked on riding her bike- she's still learning.
Before I know it, it's lunch and nap time and time for my huge sigh of relief- if they nap. This usually buys me enough time for my afternoon calls and checkins.
What are some tips, tricks, and resources you're loving these days?
XO,
Shelby
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