A Year of Tot School: All About Apples

Welcome to Tot School 2.0! We’re so excited to share our preschool apple activities and read alouds with you in our Tot School Apple Unit.

Why 2.0? Well, this is our second round of Tot School here at the Oakleaf Academy for Boys. And, to be honest, I didn’t think I’d do it again.

When I first made the decision to homeschool, I wasn’t sure it was something I would do long term. But after teaching in preschools and early education private schools, I knew I wanted something different for my kids than your run of the mill, spit ‘em out ready for Kindergarten program.

However, I didn’t think I was cut out to be the one to do it. But I was determined to give it a try, so I spent hours researching preschool teaching methods and curriculum until I stumbled upon a Reggio Emilia Inspired School.

It was incredible. Kids painting with acrylics, building with real wood working materials, and engineering with clay and natural materials. I saw what a child was capable of doing when someone believed they could, and I was forever changed.

“Children want to be sparked like flames, not filled like barrels.”

Heraclitus

The idea that kids are not only capable, but that their natural curiosity and wonder are sparks to be ignited rather than impulses to be stamped out is what’s missing from traditional schooling. When you have to teach to a test, there isn’t much room for imagination and play.

Newly inspired, I set out to recreate the Reggio schools in my home. I planned and prepped beautiful provocations based around great works of children’s literature and documented every milestone along the way.

I fell in love with teaching as I watched my oldest son blossom while creating, imagining, and exploring his world in a place where he could hear the word “yes” rather than the constant “no” he was used to getting from adults.

His preschool year was full of beauty and wonder, but the messy loose parts, constant prep, and endless documentation became too much for me to keep up with, and I burned out.

Once again I dived into my research, looking for another path forward. I didn’t want to lose the open ended education that we’d begun to build, but with a second little guy in tow, I needed to let it be easy.

It was around this time that I discovered minimalism, and as I purged the clutter from my home, I decided to get rid of the fluff in our curriculum as well.

I discovered Charlotte Mason, and as I read her ideas about living literature, I realized how much my kids were learning simply by my reading to them.

It’s not that what I was doing was wrong. It was just too much of a good thing.

They didn’t need three activities a day to reinforce what they were learning. They would make the connections themselves when allowed to discover them through simple, playful learning.

Another idea that I adopted from Charlotte Mason was to delay formal education until age six or when the child begins to show interest in deeper learning. So as preschool turned into Pre-K, and Pre-K into Kindergarten, we continued a gentle education, but made small shifts into more academic pursuits by adding in early phonics and math.

Because they are so close in age, this delay in formal education meant that my middle son has always been happy joining in my oldest boy’s preschool activities when they inspire him, and doing his own thing when they don’t. I didn’t see the need to do tot school with him because I was letting him lead in his learning.

So why start again now?

There are two reasons:

1. I have a 2 year old who isn’t able to do many of the activities his older siblings are now engaged in, yet he desperately wants to be included. And if he’s showing an interest in learning, I want to meet that need.
2. I need to keep this same precocious 2 year old busy while I’m teaching my older boys.

This time around I’m keeping it super simple with one intentional, play based learning activity each day. I’m going to let the literature do most of the teaching while the activities build crucial thinking and motor skills.

Each activity is adapted from my upcoming preschool curriculum A Child’s Tale – Adventures in Living Literature, which I’m using with my middle guy for his Pre K homeschool curriculum this year. That way I’m not adding to my day. I’m simply going to let my little guy join in with what we’re already doing at his own level.

A Child’s Tale is broken down into seasonal studies consisting of 12 weeks each. This first week of our fall unit focuses on preschool apple activities and books!

I’m so excited to have you along on this journey! Whether you’re a first time homeschool mom trying to ease into teaching your child, or you’re an old pro just trying to connect with your littlest each day, I hope this curriculum truly blesses your family!

Fall Week 1: All About Apples

Monday:

Read Aloud: Apple Farmer Annie

Activity: Apple Tree Playdough Invitation

Present your child with green playdough, sticks/twigs, and red, yellow, and green loose parts (buttons, beads, pom poms etc.) and ask them to make an apple tree!

Tuesday:

Read Aloud: Ten Apples Up On Top

Activity: Poetry Teatime

Serve tea (or any favorite beverage), and slice an apple into apple nachos by drizzling with caramel and topping with chocolate chips and/or crushed peanuts.

Read and act out the fingerplay Way Up High In the Apple Tree.

Way up high in the apple tree

(Stretch both arms above your head, hands open)

Two little apples smiled at me

(Close hands into fists and rotate back and forth)

I shook that tree as hard as I could

(Use both hands to shake the “tree”)

Down came the apples

(Bring fists down)

Mmmm, they were good!

(Rub stomach)

Wednesday:

Read Aloud: Apple Pie ABC

Activity: Apple Pie Sensory Bin

Make a sensory bin with oats, apples, pie pans, cinnamon sticks, and measuring cups. Let your child explore scooping, dumping, and pretending to make apple pie!

Thursday:

Read Aloud: Hello World: How Do Apples Grow

Activity: Cut Open an Apple And Count The Seeds

Take It Further:

Dip the apple halves in paint and let your child create apple stamp process art.

A Year of Tot School will be divided into 12 weeks of playful learning for each season of the year. For a total of 48 weeks. These preschool apple activities are the first week in our fall series.

If you want to check out other tot school themes, you can find them all here!

If you love these preschool apple activities, pin them so you can come back to them again!