Where to Start-Making a Toddler Homeschool Curriculum From Scratch

There are trade offs with everything in life and staying home with a child or sending him to daycare is no different. If you are a working mom, you probably send your child to daycare where he is read to and worked with on various developmentally appropriate skills while mom and dad make money to support him. If you are a stay at home mom then you get to enjoy being the one reading to your toddler and helping him take those precious first steps, but perhaps you have worries about if you are working with your child enough between the laundry, cooking, and other chores. Or maybe you are like me and work from home (in my case full time) and worry that your child is really getting screwed as far as attention goes, but at least you are still there for all the milestones and your family enjoys the benefits of two incomes.  For those of you that want to spend time working with your toddler, but don't know what to work with him on or where to start, this is for you.

Early Learning Cotnent Standards

Each state in the U.S. has something called "Early Learning Content Standards." To find these, simply type in the name of your state + the phrase "early learning content standards." Of the states I've looked up it tends to be within the first couple sites on Google and should be a .gov website. These content standards are not a curriculum, but more of a list of achievements and goals for each age group. They are like more in depth milestones for toddlers and pre-school aged children (there are also "content standards" for upper grades. According to my teacher friend these are used in schools to guide teachers. It sort of makes sure the schools are in the same page).

These standards can seem overwhelming at first. I remember the first time I looked up the content standards, I read through the age range Pumpkin was in, and then completely disregarded everything because Pumpkin seemed light years away, and I remember thinking I could never come up with a routine to work on all of the skills listed. It's ok-these lists encompass a very big age range. I suggest crossing off any skills your child has already mastered, and then looking only at the skills you think your child is close to. You will know what these are when you see them-pick maybe 4 or 5 that you want to work on.

Daycares

Another way to gather ideas for what your child should be working on is to Google local daycares. Most daycares have some sort of website, and on that website they usually tell you a bit about the daycare and what types of practices they use in each room. So find the room where your child would belong in-Pumpkin is kind of at an in between age where some daycares would have her in the infant room, some toddler, or if they offer it the "early toddler" room. When I did this in my area and clicked the page for the room she would be in, there was almost always a list of what skills they generally work with kids on. Stuff like "drinking out of a cup," "tummy time," "walking," "crawling," "sign language".  In the rooms that didn't have infants there might be things like "color recognition," or "potty training." It will probably give you a pretty good idea if the main skills that your toddler's peers are working on-at the very least.

Personal Goals

Chances are that there are some things you feel are important, regardless of what else is going on.  There was, at the very least, a reason you wanted to begin workings with your child, right? My personal goals for Pumpkin are to instill a love of reading, use baby sign language with the intent of building ASL into a second language, encourage Pumpkin to obey commands-especially with regard to safety, and to have fun with her. I wanted a way to make sure I take time everyday to give Pumpkin attention.

Put the Lists Together

Now that you have an idea of what goals other toddlers are working towards, put together a list. I recommend your personal goals being the first priority-you know your child best and what your child is ready for better than anyone else. You also know what your family's individual values and your reasons for even wanting to do this in the first place are better than anyone else, so use it.

Personally, my next priority is the early learning content standards. I have found the list to very complete. If I am ever feeling in a rut, I know I can turn to the standards to find a new goal to spice things up and it is much easier than running through all the daycare websites I can find.

Conduct an Experiment 

Once you have an idea of what direction you want to go in, you are ready to try it out. I'll be the first to tell you that my initial plan is nothing like what we actually do. I was overwhelmed by the early learning content standards and tried to do too much-especially in terms of trying to do things that weren't important to me. For example, reciting nursery rhymes at diaper changes absolutely did not last. I like nursery rhymes, and one day I will teach Punpkin them and maybe read some mother goose books, but it just isn't important to me right now today. Likewise, trying to think in terms of traditional subjects wasn't working for me personally. Through several failed toddler homeschool models, I came to find that we are most productive when I pick a handful of goals and work towards them. Right now a typical day for us consists of daily storytime(s) and Baby Signing Time and something of a block schedule for the goals: Monday will be quantity themed activities, Tuesday night be matching activities, etc.  Then we just play together with whatever other free time I manage to find. It's simple, but fun and effective.

A Few Final Thoughts

My daughter and I love our toddler homeschool time, and to top it off she is truly thriving! She amazes me every day with what she can do, and our bond continues to grow. I attribute our success to how much fun we have together. Toddlers seem to just absorb information, and when I take the time to supply the information, she learns pretty fast. If she doesn't get something right away, however, I know it's because she probably just isn't ready yet. Don't make toddler homeschool a super high pressure thing. Expect your toddler to not get every concept right away, and expect to have to change things up a lot. Even with a homeschool plan that works beautifully right now, in a few months we might be doing something totally different! it's just part of keeping a growing curriculum for a growing tot.