Barbara Curtis - Mommy, Teach Me: Preparing Your Preschool Child for a Lifetime of Learning

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Curtis

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-0-8054-4476-6

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 649

Subject heading: HOME INSTRUCTION \ PRESCHOOL EDUCATION \ CHILD DEVELOPMENT

All Scripture quotations are from the holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

For every mommy busy building
a better world one child
at a time.

ARE YOU READY FOR AN ADVENTURE? Reading this book could be just the beginning of the most rewarding adventure you ever takepreparing your child for a lifelong love of learning.

Mommy, Teach Me! was conceived when Zan Tylerhomeschool mom, lobbyist, spokesperson, and cheerleadercalled me one morning to see if I would like to revise and expand my books Small Beginnings and Ready, Set, Read!

Would I? Well, only as much as I have loved seeing each child grow from infancy to adulthood. Which is to say yes, yes, yes!

Small Beginnings and Ready, Set, Read! were my first two books, published ten years ago. And while they had a unique perspective and I've had lots of good feedback from parents about them, much has gone on in my life and my writing since way back then.

I've adopted three more children (bringing our total to twelve), been blessed with ten grandchildren, and learned so much more as a teacher and mother. I've also published six more books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, which has strengthened my writing considerably.

So, yes, of course I'd love the opportunity to expand my first two books: I've got more to say and am better equipped to say it.

But when Zan asked me if I'd like to write a preschool curriculum for mothers to use at home, what I immediately understood would skyrocket my new books' teaching potential into another dimension was the Internet.

I'd been navigating the Internet since 1998using it for research for my articles and for keeping up-to-date in general. In January 2005 I began blogging at www.MommyLife.net because I wanted a more immediate form of communication with my readers. In traditional publishing, the lag between the completion of a book manuscript and its publication can be a year or more; for a magazine article, three months to a year. I wanted something more. And I got something more. By the summer of 2006 I was getting two thousand visits a day.

Most of my readers were moms with young children, and every day their e-mails kept me busy answering questions on raising and educating kids. A frequent concern of my readers had to do with the preschool question. Mothers from all over the country expressed feelings of isolation as other neighborhood families were jumping on the preschool bandwagon. They wondered if they were somehow selling their kids short by not sending their kids to preschool.

No, I would tell thema thousand times No! What you need are just some simple tools to make the most of the preschool years yourself.

So when Zan called and popped the question, I didn't even need to think twice, I was so ready to write this book. And because of my blogging experience, I knew immediately that this book could offer much more than what you find here on the printed pages.

The minute the title was settled, I purchased the domain name www. MommyTeachMe.net. Anyone who reads this book will also have access to a dynamic and jam-packed resource, offering links to teaching supplies and online support. For mothers who are more often than not Lone-Rangering it with young children, this will be an important support as you begin to make the most of your child's preschool years.

Throughout the text, when you see the icon , that is your signal that there is more information, more resources, more support at the Web site. Keep in mind that the information flow there is two-way, so if you come across resources you think should be included, I'm only an e-mail away.

Please know that I am not the kind of expert who thinks my way is God's way. I simply share what I was taught and what worked for me. If you don't have the time or energy to do every single exercise presented in this book, that is not cause for alarm. Just do what works for you, feeling free to modify and combine with bits and pieces you pick up elsewhere.

Mommy, Teach Me! and Mommy, Teach Me to Read! are meant to be companion volumes. The first covers preschool curriculum in all areas but language. The second covers language development as well as history and social studies, since these are language-intensive subjects.

When I use words like curriculum and subjects , though, keep in mind they are not intended at all to convey that teaching a child under six should take place with any degree of formality we normally associate with school. The important thing in these early years is that parents understand the needs of their child, that the child's natural curiosity be encouraged and fed, and that a foundation be laid that will lead to a lifelong love of learning.

One other small but important note for readers: I'm asking my readers to please understand my use of the word he in the very old-fashioned way it was intendedas a pronoun covering all individuals without regard to gender. It is not a slight on women or daughtersafter all, I am one and have four of my own. I just want to focus on the task at hand and not be stumbling over words.

Also, can we agree that Zan Tyler deserves a big thank-you for the wonderful opportunity she offered me some eighteen months agoas well as her hard work as my editor, Thanks to David Webb and the folks at B&H Publishing Group too.

And thanks to all the moms whose letters, e-mails, and comments at MommyLife have helped me grow into writing this book.

Waterford, Virginia

September 2006

SHE MAY BE ONLY THREE, BUT Kaitlyn loves going to school every day!

I don't know who's happierthe twins or mesince they started preschool. We were driving each other crazy before they began.

Ryan just adores his preschool teacher! She seems to have won his heart completely.

It may be that you've been hearing other moms sing the praises of preschool since your child was born. Perhaps even before your baby took those first wobbly steps, you were wondering about the path that lay ahead of you both.

As your child became more independentand maybe a little headstrongpreschool may have begun to seem a more attractive option than ever, a good way to give both of you a break. Every mom's had those days when the rising frustration level has left her feeling drained and inadequate: Why can't I keep my child happy? And what made me think I could really be a full-time mom?

Right along with our feelings of inadequacy is the forever-nagging thought that perhaps our children aren't learning all they could. According to the moms you see in the grocery store after dropping off their little ones in preschoolshopping in peace while you're multitasking between groceries and potential kid-size meltdownstheir children are thriving intellectually.

And the pressure isn't just local. Several states are seriously considering making early education available in the public schools for anyone who wants it. There are even rumblings in several states about mandatory preschool, so that instead of starting kindergarten at age five, kids would start at three. At the end of a particularly chaotic day with your toddler, you may wonder if the experts are on to something.