How We're Doing Flexible Preschool at Home This Year

Fall of 2020 is when I would have enrolled Sam in a preschool, but because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year we are doing preschool from home. Because the older kids (in grades 2, 5 & 7) are also doing school from home, my home preschool time has to be very flexible. 

Here's what Sam and I do together:

1. Read books - Sam loves to read, and we have tons of books. I usually tell him to pick a few for me to read aloud during "Book time."
2. Play Games & Do Puzzles - At a younger age than any of my other kids, Sam loves games and puzzles! One of our new favorite things is this build a skyscraper set. 
3. Play with Toys - Our favorites on rotation right now are Lego duplo, Magnet tiles, and Blocks.  
4. Paint/Craft/Playdough - I'm using the Little Hands Art Book to help me plan some crafts. We don't craft every day, but we have fun when we do it. 
5. Clean up - I am the absolute worst at making myself and my kids clean up. Having someone else teach my kid about clean up time is definitely something I like about preschool. Now I'm bootstrapping it and attempting to teach Sam to clean up myself!
6. Watch a Show - Daniel Tiger, Magic School Bus, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are Sam's favorites. 
7. Starfall - With his siblings doing so much of their learning on computers, and Sam soaking in that example, he is dying to get on the computer himself. Starfall.com is an online learning platform that offers some of their content for free. (Back in 2007 when I first heard of it, it was all free. Different times.) Sam enjoys it, and it is simple and ad free. I let him have about 10 min/day. 
8. Outside Time - Right now with winter in full swing, this is mostly either checking on the chickens or sledding. 

Real talk: I spent a lot of time this fall teaching Sam not to be on camera during his siblings classes. And while I have meant to do music time with Sam as part of preschool this year, I can't honestly say that I have, yet. There was one time, but it's definitely not even part of our very flexible setup. However I did start giving his sister piano lessons a couple of weeks ago, and he often scootches in on those.  

Just recently I wrote down a schedule for Sam. I'm sure we will make some edits and improvements to it, but here's what it looks like right now:

We are really enjoying it, and refer back to it when we need some structure. When we don't need structure, I just don't bring it up. Ha! 

Here are some of the resources I'm using:

Books for Me

Practical Wisdom For Parents by Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum - This book is a great reference to have handy as I'm trying to figure out preschool at home. It discusses in depth what a good preschool should have, and also what parents should do at home to support their kids. Rereading part of this is what prompted me to write down a schedule for Sam . . . I had been meaning to do it, but the authors made a great case for it, which spurred me to action. My full review of the book is here. 

The Little Hands Art Book by Judy Press - I'm just taking projects from this willy-nilly and picking the ones I feel like doing. We don't use this book every day, or even regularly on a certain day of the week, but I have enjoyed the crafts that we've done from it, and some of the older kids have gotten into them, too. 

Books for Sam

I wrote a whole post about the books Sam is loving recently! Add Good Guys 5 Minute Stories to that list, because it is a big hit right now. It is a compilation of a bunch of full length picture books, back to back. 

Games

Build a Skyscraper - I don't know if this set of sturdy cards is more game, puzzle, or toy, but it has elements of all three and we are enjoying it. I received it for review and we have spent a fair bit of time improving Sam's fine motor skills and just building cool towers. Sam especially likes the clock card, which makes your building look like it has a giant clock on the side, and the door cards. I like that it can be put away very small, but yet build towers that are impressively big. 

Count Your Chickens - This is a super simple cooperative game we have enjoyed together. You spin the spinner, and count how many squares you have to go to get to the picture you spun. Then, you put that same number of chicks into the coop. If you spin the fox, watch out! You have to remove one chick and put it back in the yard. If you get all the chicks in the coop by the end, you win!

We've also been enjoying classics like Memory and Hi Ho! Cherry-O. 

I figure playing games together is a good way to teach turn taking and rules, in the absence of a preschool environment. 

On Flexibility:

It's my tendency to be too flexible, rather than too rigid, about a schedule. So, writing down the schedule has really helped me, and Sam, too. The advantage of not putting times on the schedule is that I don't feel "behind" if something comes up. For instance, on Tuesday morning I had to run some errands. Because our schedule isn't attached to times of the day, Sam could just hang out with Dad while he worked. When I came home again, Sam was still in his pajamas and I didn't feel like I was off the schedule. 

Some days we don't do everything on the schedule, but most days we do. And some days we don't do it all in order, especially lunch. Lunch happens by the clock and the signals we get from our stomachs, so the rest of it shifts around to make sure lunch happens on time. 

I do try to get the kid dressed. As the old saying goes, pick your battles. I choose the parts of a routine that are the most important to me and let others move or be skipped to preserve peace of mind.   

Super Snowstorm Setup for the Chickens

Today was our first day getting two eggs -- what a thrill! 

Sprite's first egg

I didn't want to leave you hanging after the end of my most recent chicken post. The chickens are a-ok and nobody got frostbitten. I do think that moving them in was a good choice, so no regrets there. We kept them in the garage for just under 24 hours I would guess. 

What happened was this: two days of particularly cold weather with highs below freezing. The next day, a big load of snow, then some sun. In the night more snow with rain in the morning and temps right around freezing. Then, in the late morning clear skies and cold temps. So, after the cold cold days and before the snow and rain I went out and tried to rig things up for their comfort and survival.

I've got two chickens, Rootbeer and Sprite, in our Eglu Go coop. There's no heat in it, but there's not supposed to be. Omlet does sell an extreme temperature blanket, but I was a little frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find particular temperature guidelines on when to use it. I guess I can understand. I mean, how much cold one chicken can take is different from another and how many chickens you have -- 4 chickens vs. 2 chickens vs. a rabbit or something (the Eglu Go can also be outfitted as a rabbit hutch) is also going to make a difference on when you would need to put on the extreme temperature blanket.

I did a little bit of reading online and found out that adding some extra bedding in the coop could help my chickens stay warm, so I did that. We use pine shavings. And I read that chickens are generally hardy in the cold and snow, the problem comes when they get both cold and wet. So as long as you can keep them dry, you're good. 

One website I read said that the blue tarps aren't that good for keeping the rain off because they do eventually soak through, and contractor's plastic is preferable, especially because it will let light in. I had read the suggestion to move the chickens feed and water closer to them so they didn't have to walk the length of the run (or through the rain) to get to it, but our run doesn't have an access door on the side, though apparently they are available for purchase (I guess it's a business to think of these things!). I had also had the tip from a couple of chicken-keeping friends to buy a heated dog bowl to keep their water warm.  

Heated dog bowls were not to be found on the day before the storm. I tried several stores. And since blue tarps were supposedly not great, I found some bubble wrap and decided it would work as a clear plastic cover. I took it out to the run and safety pinned it together, but it wasn't long before I realized I would need a way to pin it to the coop. No problem, I just ran my safety pins through the plastic and the wires of the run. I didn't quite have enough bubble wrap on hand to completely enclose the run, but it was pretty good. I pinned a black garbage bag to one side, as a waterproof windbreak. 

The snow came and it was accompanied by a lot of gusty wind. I was out there every few hours to make sure the chickens water hadn't frozen and to keep an eye on them.  I had now been a chicken keeper for a whole six days! When Rootbeer's comb started looking more and more white in the afternoon after the snow, I made the call to move the whole coop indoors for a bit. It was not too tough to pick up the whole thing and bring it in to our garage. Jacob and I did it, and had some help from Benjamin for part of the way, too. 

So, the chickens were indoors for a little more snow and some rain and plenty more wind. The next day in the sunny weather Jacob and I shoveled the driveway and moved the chickens back outdoors. 

Since then we had another good strong snow, but thankfully this one was not preceded by two days of bitter cold. 

Between the storms, in a time when they were out of the run, the chickens found a sheltered spot under a bush and gave themselves a dust bath. They loved it!

This time we just decided to use our blue tarp over the run. That was a great choice! Having learned a little bit from safety pinning bubble wrap to the run I knew this time I wanted complete coverage and I wanted it to be easy and less fiddly to put on. So, we used clothespins. We spread the tarp over the run and then pushed clothespins into the tarp until they could grasp the wires of the run. It was much easier to rig up (and to take off this morning). Tomorrow morning we expect more snow and rain tomorrow afternoon, so we let them have some sun today and put the tarp back over them tonight. 

They say chickens need a certain amount of light to lay their eggs. I do feel like getting Sprite's first egg today was a sweet reward for all this diligent chicken care we have been doing. And I'm proud of her! Good job, chickies! 

I'm having fun having chickens. 

Related: Books I recommend for a new chicken keeper.

Four Book Club Books I Enjoyed Recently

The book group I'm in didn't meet from March - August 2020, but we did start meeting again in the fall. For September and October we met outdoors, but for November and January we met online only. Here's what we've been reading.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

I really liked this book. It started off as a family history reminiscence, but wound its way around into being a present day drama, connected of course to the family history. I liked that it was short and succinct. I liked that little tidbits were revealed. I loved little lines like "[Television] seems so two-dimensional after radio." And I loved the parallelisms for instance, the young Jack Boughton being mistaken for a preacher. The time that Lila comforted John Ames "you'll be just fine" and the time she comforted Jack "People can change." I liked how the book shifted from quoting the Old Testament to quoting more of the New Testament, reflecting changes in the spiritual life of the family. 

The book is a letter, or book of remembrance, that John Ames writes for his young son. John is in his seventies, and tells of his life growing up and marrying his childhood sweetheart, only to lose his wife and baby at the baby's birth. In a roundabout way he imparts the lessons of his widower life and the love story that surprised him late in life. Throughout the book John switches from remembering the past -- sometimes remembering stories of times before he was even born -- into the present moment. This switching and the little sections the book is written in work very well to convince the reader that the book was written over the course of a few months, here and there.

Touching moments and astute reflections abound in the book. Our book group discussed many of these! I was surprised by how many people had come with passages marked that they loved and wanted to talk about. 

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This one is a murder mystery (chosen for the month of October). I listened to it on audio, and the swearing bothered me a bit. There was plenty of sex, drugs and violence, too! The suspense was very well done though, and the plot was twisty and had lots of red herrings. It was a nail biter, right up until the big reveal.

The Silent Patient is narrated by a psychologist whose patient never speaks. She is a famous artist, institutionalized after being convicted of the murder of her husband. Did she really murder him? If so, why? If not, who did? 

The interplay between Greek and Christian names and symbols in this book was one of my favorite parts of it. 

We had a great time discussing all of our hairbrained theories about who had done the murder. I found it interesting that the two group members who read the book quickly both suspected the same person, while those of us who read the book over a longer time had various other theories. 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

I had heard of this book, but it wasn't until it was selected for book club that I realized its settings were closely tied to the settings of my own life. Paul Kalanithi, who wrote this memoir as a young doctor dying of cancer, moved to Kingman, Arizona when he was ten years old. About ten years later, I moved to Kingman, Arizona when I was nine years old. Eventually Paul moves to Connecticut to study at Yale. I currently live in Connecticut, about an hour from Yale. I really enjoyed connecting with the settings of Paul's life so strongly. 

I expected this book to be more about dying than it was. I expected it to be like The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, which I had read previously and enjoyed. When Breath Becomes Air is much more a descriptive memoir and less a prescriptive, well, lecture than The Last Lecture. I felt like I got to know Paul a little bit, and that was meaningful to me, knowing that we have some mutual friends. 

This was another book the people marked passages from and shared insights about. Discussing hypothetical situations about death, current medical situations and problems, and tender family moments was the meat of our book club conversation.   

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

I listened to this one on audio, and the narration was excellent. I had never heard of The Good Earth before it was picked for book club, but Jacob had. 

The Good Earth reminded me of The Fiddler on the Roof -- it's a life story. The Good Earth follows Wang Lung from the  morning of his wedding day until his death. There's a lot that happens in between! I feel that I learned about Chinese culture in the late 19th and early 20th century, along with learning about these particular characters. 

I was reminded of Boxers & Saints, a pair of graphic novels that I love, since the books are set in the same time period. 

Our book group talked about Chinese culture, what we loved and hated about Wang Lung's choices, the strength of O-lan, the way nature grounds us, and more. 

For next month's book group I get to pick the book. I've chosen All Thirteen. It's really SO good. It's winning all the awards right now. My review here. 

Books for a New Chicken Keeper

My mom has been telling me for years now that I ought to get chickens, and I would love it. Well, I think she was right. We've had our chickens for 6 days now, and I am loving it. 

The day we got the chickens, it snowed!

I was talking on the phone with mom just before Christmas and she said, "Is this the year that I get to buy you a chicken coop?" I said that this year it was actually fathomable that we could keep chickens. We are now living in our own home and my youngest is 3 year old. Well, she and my dad bought us the Omlet Eglu Go. It's a chicken coop to house 2-4 hens (up to 6 if they are bantams). 

Along with the coop she sent a book, How to Speak Chicken by Melissa Caughey. This was a good move! Reading this book got me more excited than I ever had been to own chickens. The author loves her chickens dearly and just makes the chicken keeping life seem enjoyable and accessible. 

After reading How to Speak Chicken, I started researching chicken breeds in earnest. I had each of my four kids pick out a breed of chicken they'd like. I figured since the coop can hold four chickens and I have four kids, everybody can have their own, right? Sam didn't care, yet. 

We planned to order chicks online, once we figured out that if we ordered from Meyer in the spring then the a minimum order requirement was much smaller, but then we encountered the cost of shipping. I think it was going to be about $50 to ship 4 chicks (who cost about $3 each).  That was just too much for Jacob. So we hung on for a little bit, hoping to find some chicks locally this spring. 

However, I had posted on our local chicken keepers facebook page, asking for recommendations on where to get chicks, and someone wanted to get rid of chickens and remembered my post. She sent me a message last week asking if we still wanted chickens and offering hers to us for free. After doing all the hard work of raising this chicks into hens of about 7 months old, she was finding the chicken keeping life too stressful. Her preschooler was terrified of the chickens, and her neighbors 4 pitbulls didn't like them either. They weren't laying yet, despite being old enough. 

Well! Although my kids had their breeds picked out, this worked out great for us. Jubilee had hoped for a chicken just like this (an Isa Brown, or Cinnamon Queen, or anything that will lay lots of eggs and be nice). And Sam doesn't care. So we adopted/rescued two chickens, about 2 hours later. We don't know exactly what breed they are, they were purchased from a bin that said "brown egg layers."

This is Sprite

This is Rootbeer

Now, on the Facebook group I also got a recommendation from someone to find Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens -- so I put that on hold at the library. I was glad I had it checked out when we got the chickens one unexpected Tuesday! It has come in handy as I have had questions about feed, winterizing, and housing chickens (can we fit a few more in this coop? I think we can, but we might want to extend the run, according to Storey's Guide). 

The only complaint I have about Storey's Guide is that it's aimed at people who want to have more than 2 chickens right now. I mean, I get that. I think it's much more common to have more than two, and we do plan to have four at some point. Four is both the maximum for our coop and the maximum for our property size, according to our town. 

I have also found good info online about keeping chickens. I haven't got favorite websites yet, but I'll let you know when I notice myself revisiting certain sites. 

It sure was a thrill when we got our first egg! I wasn't sure they would lay until things got warmer -- we've had a bad cold snap this past week (and snow and wind, today), and I thought maybe they wouldn't lay until they were getting more light. But I was delighted to discover an egg in the coop on Friday morning, Saturday afternoon, and one on Monday morning before the chickens had breakfast. Was it laid on Sunday? We'll never know. 

Spot the egg...

Today we had a more stressful chicken adventure. With the recent cold, plus today's snow and wind, I was keeping a close eye on the chickens. I looked up what to watch for and this afternoon, as the first signs of frostbite showed up on Rootbeer's comb, I decided to move the chickens and their coop into our attached garage. The sudden move and the completely alien landscape stressed the chickens out a bit, I think. Them being stressed made me a little stressed. I hope I moved them soon enough to prevent permanent damage to the birds! Nothing was turning black yet, so I'm hopeful. 

I'll keep you posted. 

p.s. The other book that made me want to keep chickens was Some Writer, which I read back in 2018.