Hard Launch Homeschool
Dedicate a Space
The next time we came over to visit Gigi she had a small corner of her living room dedicated as "the school."
It consisted of a kid-sized card table she's had for 25+ years (I remember her getting this when I was a child. No lie, this thing is that old), a narrow table she wasn’t using lying around, a computer chair for her to sit in, and a plastic set of drawers she got at a garage sale.
Here's a link for a similar kid-sized card table on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TU6qG1
Gigi says you don't have to have a tiny table, but she thinks it helps the learning process because it's their size and they're comfortable. They aren't wallering around in their chairs trying to get comfortable as they do at a big table. When they’re comfortable, they are less distracted, and more confident.
“It’s his learning area, and it’s just better if the area is his size,” Gigi says. “You need somewhere to keep things, too. School stuff needs to be school stuff, they don’t need to think the area is another toy box. You treat this area with respect and it has a purpose.”
Visual Progress Tool
Gigi also had colored popsicle sticks with activities written on them. The idea is to move a popsicle stick to the “reward” cup when they finish a task.
“If I just kept saying, ‘No, we need to do more,’ all the time, he wouldn’t understand. With this, he knows he has to earn four sticks before he gets a treat,” Gigi says.
Gigi now has a pencil divider with a section in the middle and four other sections around it. She has him move an activity stick to each section when they finish a skill.
This is just an example; there are tons of ways to track progress visually!
Repetition
The first few times we came over to Gigi’s to do actual school, she only had five popsicle sticks to choose from: Calendar, Cutting, Pasting, Tracing, and Numbers.
She suggests starting with a daily calendar of some sort because it is a physical activity that transitions them into school time and gives them a little time to talk about the weather and how they feel. It’s important to start the same each time you enter your designated learning space.
Then he moves the calendar stick to the reward cup.
Similar Daily Calendars:
She also used this Toddler Workbook I bought on a whim at Walmart. Here it is on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4yoyY8Q
He uses a pencil with a grip to match items on one page, then moves his “Tracing” popsicle stick to the reward cup.
He uses his beginner scissors to cut the shapes. Then moves the “Cutting” stick to the reward cup.
He pastes what he cuts onto the back of the page. Then moves the stick to the reward cup.
Boom. Four activities done. Party time. Get a Hershey’s Kiss.
Some Rules Aren’t That Important
Sometimes he knocks out four things in 30 minutes. Some days it takes hours because he wants to do one thing and wants to play for awhile.
We don’t make him sit down if he doesn’t want to—another plus to having a table his size.
He sits on the table sometimes, too.
If he wants another Hershey’s Kiss, sure, let’s do four more things for school.
Be flexible.
A Bit of Wisdom: Set the Table
“Let your student come to you. They drive the day. They’ll let you know what they can handle. You don’t want this to feel stressful to their little minds,” Gigi says. “When he loses interest and wants to go play, I’ll put something else out on the table and let him ask me to do it when he sees it later. When they’re this little, three and four years old, they need little breaks and need to know they can take breaks. The main thing is to keep them enjoying their time learning.”
"If you want your child to listen to you and treat what you say as important you have to do the same with them," Gigi says. "Even if they're telling you a pretend story, if they think it's important, you have to treat it as important. To get their attention you have to give your attention."
All Links:
Kid's Card Table: https://amzn.to/3TU6qG1
Jumbo Popsicle Sticks: https://amzn.to/4in2FlE
Pencil Grips: https://amzn.to/4k0AZUV OR https://amzn.to/47V8Szf Gigi says to get a variety. You never know which one your kid is going to like or not like.
Purple Visible Glue: https://amzn.to/4srhQxX
Toddler Scissors: https://amzn.to/4hWYCet
Uplevel Scissors: https://amzn.to/4i3fr7y (Gigi's Favorite)
Jumbo Toddler Workbook: https://amzn.to/4yoyY8Q
