If you are like me...there are mornings when the alarm goes off (or more often, a little face peaks over your bed and says "Mama" startling you awake) and you panic. You panic because you are a Stay At Home Mom. That means it is you and the kids. All day. Just you and the kids. Alllll day. :) You panic because there are a lot of hours in that day, and you dread that many may be spent sending various children to various rooms to contemplate why they shouldn't hit one another, or yell, or fight, or talk back to you. I mean you are the coolest Mom ever. NO reason why talking back to you should ever be a consideration. I recently tried to convey how cool I was to my 3 year old. She stuck her fingers in her ears so she couldn't hear me. That was a new one!
So Daddy is out the door. Breakfast is done. We might have even had a meltdown already, and it is 8:00am. So What now Mothers of Preschoolers and Babies? What now?
Enter Before Five in a Row! The preschool activity guide that you can take your children through "before" the original Five in a Row kindergarten and first grade curriculum. It is considered a "homeschool" curriculum if you will...but can be done with your children no matter what kind of schooling option you choose. And isn't nice that we have schooling options for our children? Always be thankful for that one!
So what IS Before Five in a Row. BFIAR is a collection of classic children's literature, about 26 books. The BFIAR guide lists activities that can be done with your children that complement the story. Yes Mothers! Activities for your children! Awesome learning activities. If you are like me and can't think of fun, educational activities that instill the love of reading and learning in your children on the fly....then this too is for you! The books you can buy, or check out from your library. The guide itself ranges from $25-$35 dollars depending on where you buy. So not tons of investment. To learn more visit Five in a Row's webpage now!
But we haven't even reached the good part yet. The good- no GREAT- part of all this is the absolute trove of free activities that other Mothers, more industrious than I, have all blogged about and pinned. You can choose a book title, say "Goodnight Moon" and type in "Goodnight Moon Activities" into any browser or Pintrest and BOOM! So many free printables, crafts, songs, and kid friendly themed recipes pop up that it may just blow your mind. It may cause you to want to blog about it so all your friends can partake in the party as well!
And the cherry on top? After reading through a couple of the guide's activity suggestions, and doing a couple of web searches you begin to feel very empowered. I can now pick up any quality children's book and begin to think of ways to expound upon all the wonderful topics each one contains. Take "Goodbye Moon" for example again. Well we can learn about the Moon! And practice saying and writing our letter M! We can learn about rabbits (main character is a rabbit). We can learn about rhyming words and play fun rhyming games. The story features mentions of nursery rhyme songs, well we can learn about those and sing them! You can take pretty much any picture or mention of animal, or place, or song, color, or sound in a book and draw your children into the world of learning!
And those little faces! They are just so eager to learn and play with you. And the sobering (ok sad) part is that we all know that won't last for long. So cherish your days with your little flowers. Ignite their love of learning and literature. Make memories! As one of my favorite quotes puts it so nicely "The days of Mothering can be long, but the years go by fast."
I'll post our "Goodnight Moon" activities soon!
Happy Mothering!
