Finding Your Groove with A Year of Playing Skillfully
This episode is actually the recording from a webinar Lesli and Kathy hosted this week. We hope you enjoy!
Ages and Stages – This is important when working with young children and having expectations of milestones. Resources such as NAEYC provide support to families desiring to learn more about Developmentally Appropriate Practices. You can learn more on NAEYC’s website - https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/dap
Routines and Schedules – Lesli and Kathy believe children thrive on routine. You don’t have to keep a strict schedule, but try and do things in the same order if you can and about the same time. A picture routine is helpful for some children.
Invitations to play – Lesli and Kathy encourage you to create invitations to play throughout your home. Start the day with at least one (sensory activities are always good to wake up the brain) invitation and add more throughout the day. Lesli shared her idea of using small coffee tables to tuck away invitations. Kathy suggested that you see yourself as the facilitator who is responsible for setting the stage and leaving the results up to the children. Remember to focus on the process of the activity, not the end result. Some invitations might stay out throughout the day so don’t rush children if they are busy at work.
Organizing supplies – Organizing supplies can be tricky, but Kathy and Lesli both believe less is more. Kathy suggested you use an old piece of furniture such as an armoire to store commonly used art and sensory materials. This makes it easy to say YES to those requests to paint and explore. Lesli suggested you use plastic bins and organize materials according to the month.
Supplies on a budget – Kathy and Lesli know that supplies can get expensive and they suggest the following to keep you from breaking the bank:
1. Focus on quality – Spend the money on the better paints, wood blocks, and quality art materials.
2. Make a list and ask family members to shop from that list for Christmas and birthday presents. This keeps your home from being full of things you don’t need and supports your educational goals for the children.
3. Create a co-op with friends and share resources and ideas.
4. Don’t be a perfectionist. If you don’t have the exact supplies, focus on the concept and substitute the materials with something you have.
5. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If you can’t afford the materials or time to do it all, don’t! You can always try again next week, next month, next year. This is a no pressure plan!!
Learning to let go – Lesli and Kathy want you to remember that some seasons are going to look different. Things such as budgets, energy levels, chronic illness, adoptions, and pregnancy can change or halt your plans. Give yourself GRACE!
Questions from the audience that we didn’t answer during the webinar….
From Nancy S
I bought this to do with my youngers while the olders do school. Do u have suggestions for how to prep/set it up, or even for my olders to help me set it up?
Nancy, we suggest you involve the older children in the planning and setting up of this program. This will develop leadership skills in them and they will actually benefit from all of the sensory ideas.
You can do this in several ways:
1. You can let each older child pick one activity for the week.
2. Rotate children throughout the day. Some are working with you while some are working with a sibling.
3. Give one older child the responsibility of planning and organizing the entire program for their younger sibling.
From Rochelle
I struggle with getting all of the supplies for each month ... any tips?
Rochelle, we love Amazon and find it alleviates the stress of hunting. We do recognize that the first year can be the most overwhelming, but once you start building your supply closet/bins, things get much easier. On our FB group, one mom created a yearly shopping list and found that worked best for her.
From Jasmyne Sim
Do you have a set or list of invitation questions? my brain is so dead half the time with a infant and 3 year old that I struggle to know what to say during the activity. I find that I just put the items out and that’s it. so feels like sometimes I’m falling a little flat.
o What do you think this is for?
o Why would I put these things here for you?
o What do you see?
o What do you smell?
o Tell me how it feels?
o What else feels like that?
o What happens next?
o What can we add to this?
o What should we do now?
o Where should we put this?
o How many parts does this have?
o Tell me about your picture?
o What colors did you add?
o Who else would like this?
o Let’s write a story about this? What should I write down first? What’s next?
From Becky
I am a pre-k teacher for the city of Seattle and it is SO hard for me to not do the routines and slow things down for my son. I need to remember the fun! Too much worry about his kindergarten year. Had to switch to this curriculum and meet him where he was. He LOVES it and asks to do school:)
Oh, Becky… you are not alone. Most of us worry that we are not doing enough. Thankfully brain research confirms that children learn more through hands on play and their academic careers will be stronger because their foundation was built on concrete concepts and an interest in learning. Keep up the good work.
From Brittni
I used HGP for 3 years with my own kids, and loved it. I am a preschool Director now, and we follow Highscope curriculum. Do you believe HG would pair well?
Yes, Brittni we do believe THGP and Highscope can pair up. Both focus on the child led activities and providing a space for children to discover and explore.
For more information, check out Kathy and Lesli’s book, The Homegrown Preschooler and curriculum, A Year of Playing Skillfully.
Thanks for listening. If you have topics you would like for us to discuss or people you would like to hear from, let us know. Just email us playskillfully@thehomegrownpreschooler.com or shoot us a message on social media.
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