I don’t talk about my work life too much on my home blog.  I reserve my home blog for cooking, baking, gardening, organizing, sewing, and fun stuff like that.  I write two other blogs, one for my kindergarten families and one about early childhood literacy.  All of my blogs can be found at http://www.homeiswheremystorybegins.com/.   My literacy and kindergarten blogs are packed with activities and resources for families with young children.  I’d like to share my new adventure with you!  It has to do with my work life, but I think some of you might be interested, or at least can pass it along to someone who may be interested.

I’m starting to offer E-Courses!  Here’s how this idea started:

Every year, in October, we have parent/teacher conferences.  As a kindergarten teacher, it’s a time for me to get to know families better, learn more about the kids, and begin to make connections.  I always ask families to tell me about their child’s background, preschool experience, and homelife.  I have been quite surprised to find out that every year, about 50% of my kindergarten students do not attend preschool. FIFTY PERCENT!  That’s a whole lot of kids who come to me with no preschool background.  Most of the time, parents tell me that preschool is just too expensive and they couldn’t afford preschool.  Sometimes, parents have chosen to homeschool.  Other times, parents have just waited for kindergarten to start to let classroom learning begin.

I could hop on my soapbox right now and tell you all about the benefits of preschool, why I think it should be state funded for all families, and how standards have changed over the past few years making preschool absolutely necessary… but I’ll save that for another post. 

Every year, at our conferences, I could see the need for a low cost preschool option.  I just couldn’t figure out how to make it happen.  Finally, this year, it hit me.  I had recently taken an E-Course and loved it!  I was able to interact with the instructor, share photos with other moms and teachers, and learn at my own pace.  I could watch the videos in 20 minutes, after the kids had gone to bed, and still have enough time to think about how I’d like to use the information. 

So, I’ve decided to offer an E-Course for Parents of Preschoolers.  I’m calling it Enjoying Preschool at Home.  I will share videos each week, provide resources through suggestions and printables, and have a forum for parents to share ideas with other parents.  Each session will last 6 weeks, and cost $49.  It’s a bargain price for 6 weeks of preschool! 

Enrollment will begin on April 1st, and the course will begin in mid-April.  It will last 6 weeks, taking us right to the end of May.  Spring is a perfect time to work with your preschooler.  The swimming pool isn’t quite calling yet,  and there are so many wonderful thematic learning experiences in the Spring!  I’ll be catering this e-course to the preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten crowd. It’s great for parents of kids who are staying home full time, in part time preschool, or part time kindergarten. I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure!  If you have any questions, please let me know.  If you aren’t a parent of a preschooler, but know someone who would be interested, please pass this along!

Registration will be on April 1st, on the E-Course tab of my website.