Homeschooling a toddler (18 months - 2 .5 years)

Since my son, Krish, turned 18 months and the world has turned upside down due to COVID-19, I have started homeschooling him and documenting this process through my instagram account.

Due to the pandemic, a big change has happened in our lifestyles namely -

• Teachers have been replaced by parents.
• Schools have been replaced by homeschooling.
• Teaching sessions have been replaced by zoom: online sessions.
• Friends have been replaced by toys/ screen time/ parents.
• Outdoor play has been replaced by indoor play.
• Homeschooling is the new normal and here to stay.

We follow a mixed curriculum with an integrated approach - Montessori : play based approach, Reggio Amelia.

1) Inquiry based approach - a holistic learning approach inquire, interact, and inspire.

Inquiry-based learning is a form of active learning that starts by posing Wh questions : who / why / where / when / what. It contrasts with traditional education, which generally relies on the teacher presenting facts and his or her knowledge about the subject.

Check this product from JoGenii's collection that helps build curious learners.

Edukrish follows a thematic approach which means the we follow themes like-

• me, myself, my school
• colours,shapes and numbers through nursery rhymes,
• farm animals, transportation and wild animals Etc.

Each theme lasts for a maximum duration of 2-3 weeks.

Check out JoGenii's Transport theme collection, if you are looking for thematic play options: https://www.jogenii.com/collections/transport-theme

If looking for human body theme, check out this product: https://www.jogenii.com/collections/puzzles-activity/products/know-your-body-puzzle-boy-girl

While planning our daily activities, we keep in mind the 5 areas of development namely:

• Cognitive
• Communication and language
• Self help skills
• Social development
• Physical development

1) Circle time - We start of our morning session with singing, nursery rhymes along with musical instruments. The nursery rhymes we sing namely:

• Improves Memory and Cognitive Development
• Nursery rhymes are fundamentally patterns which can help children improve their recall and memorization skills
• Rhyming Develops Literacy
• Promotes Language Development
• Encourages Social and Emotional Development

Check JoGenii's collection for Little Musicians https://www.jogenii.com/collections/little-musicians 

2) Structured play : I plan different activities daily depending on the theme - so this activity is integrated into the theme: 🧩/1,2,3 / sorting and matching/ language games.

These activities help to develop Cognitive and communication skills referring to thinking abilities. This will eventually help the child to process sensory information, learn to evaluate, analyze, categories, reason, compare, remember, recall information, understand cause and effect and problems.

Some of the structured play activities that we have been doing are shown below.

Learnings achieved :

Check this product from JoGenii that is tried by us https://www.jogenii.com/collections/numbers-counting/products/counting-apples

Learnings achieved:

- Recognise colour names

- Strengthens finger muscles

- Visual discrimination ability

Check JoGenii's similar product for color discrimination and finger muscle development : https://www.jogenii.com/collections/puzzles-activity/products/colour-wheel

Learnings achieved :

Check this cute i-spy bag for toddlers https://www.jogenii.com/products/i-spy-bag?_pos=1&_sid=a1baa0fc0&_ss=r

Learnings achieved:

• recognize shapes and their names
• logical thinking
• sharpen memory skills
• strengthen finger muscles

Check this sorting board on JoGenii https://www.jogenii.com/products/sorting-board-geo

Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child's senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing.

Sensory play facilitates exploration and naturally encourages children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore.

Make Pretend Mud at home by mixing the following:

• 2 table spoon- melted dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water

• Sort the red 🍎 and the green 🍏.
• Use a spoon to scoop oats into a small bowl
• Explore senses- sense of taste to taste the Apple and sense of touch herd whole exploring the oats.

Check JoGenii's messy play collection https://www.jogenii.com/collections/messy-play

4) An art session: Art is a great form of expression. We plan art nearly everyday. Art depends on the current theme.

Some of the art activities that we have been doing are elicted below.

Easy peasy set up -

• Paint
• Tiger toy
• Paper

Easy peasy set up -

• Paint
• Boiled egg
• Pre cut template of an egg

Check this art kit for young kids that we like on JoGenii: https://www.jogenii.com/products/block-printing-diy-activity-kit?pr_prod_strat=collection_fallback&pr_rec_pid=4617528737880&pr_ref_pid=4617525821528&pr_seq=uniform

Some of the books that we love at Edukrish are shown below.

We create a quick set up of creating a pretend zoo. While engaging with the different animals parents can introduce animal sounds.

Identifying animal - While reading the Book, the child could name the animal on the page and then locate it in the box and place it on the book.

Learnings

• Recognise the animal by name
• Follow 2 step instructions independently

Check JoGenii's book collection here https://www.jogenii.com/collections/books-reading

Fine motor skill - Activities of rescues operation and playdough aids:

• Fine motor skill development
• Strengthening finger muscles

Few of the fine motor activities that I found interesting on JoGenii

Gross motor development : Gross motor (physical) skills are those which require whole body movement and which involve the large (core stabilising) muscles of the body to perform everyday functions, such as standing and walking, running and jumping, and sitting upright at the table.

This activity aids:

• Independence.
• Confidence.!
• Strengthens hand muscles.

The Balance board and Wobble board on JoGenii are great for gross motor skills as well.

Self - help development - cleaning up toys is an important part of self - help development as well as it is a important life skill. You can teach your toddler to clean up with a song -

This activity aids in inculcating responsibility, value and respect.

Edukrish is all about creating a love for learning. My aim is to develop and nurture curiosity in Krish such that he loves to learn and gain from new experiences.

A child must develop a love for learning and the process of learning is important and not the end goal. So go have fun with your child!