Talk about SCHOOL READINESS and there will be a long checklist to tick.

For me, the hardest part to prepare is not about the kid, but myself. I am just dreading going through all the hassle for her school days to come. That’s why I haven’t enrolled her in the Nursery yet, and wait until she’s ready to be in the kindergarten next year.

Albeit I’m enjoying our flexible morning agenda by far, but I’m also looking forward to having more “me time”, even for only two hours. It will be a new chapter for both of us.

While waiting for her future school opens the registration, we’re doing some preparation thru semi-homeschooling activities and make the best of our 24-hours-together time.

So this is how we roll the day; we did our morning routine before 11 am when her friends haven’t knocked on our door yet, then Najwa likes to do art session or playtime with friends.

Well, I’m not a creative, nor diligent mother, so I need assistance from experts, and hacks to outsmart mom’s barriers; making a realistic yet effective homeschool planner, stay consistent, and focus on what matter most.

I’m so blessed to be a mom in this era where technology greatly supports my daily life.

Right applications could make an ordinary mom floods with so many ideas, and get guidance from the experts without even need to change her sleepwear. Here are some of my current prime apps & books that help me thru this journey:

Kids Academy

From Baby Center to Cookpad, every application really handy to help me in a different period of my time. Now, my favorite digital assistant is Kids Academy that I subscribed for only 49.99 USD/year *discounted from 129.99 USD. They also offer seven days trial, so kids and parents could try and decide whether this app is what they need or not.

My review on Kids Academy? I LOVE IT !

This e-learning platform, not only user-friendly, fun, gives handy reports but also engaging both in online and offline. Sometimes Najwa could get bored doing worksheets on IPad, but she’s more excited to fill them when I printed the worksheets in color.

Last year I’ve subscribed LingoKids, but to compare, Kids Academy is way more rich in material and engaging. I could imagine this app will stay relevant until Najwa hit Grade 3, or more, if they could extend their level.

Belajar Al-Quran Sistem 8 Jam dari Al-Barqy 

Najwa is an active-learning kid, she can’t sit and keep her focus on the book in front of her more than 10 seconds. So, thinking about teaching her from Iqro 1 to 6 will take years. I don’t know if I have that much patience, and commitment.

I bought this book from a marketplace, bundled with another book (Belajar Cepat Membaca) include CDs and one smaller book. The method is great, I could sense Najwa’s progress is faster than learning from Iqro. But I’m still struggling to teach her about Harokat, and that’s my homework to do some research on this.

Pinterest

Actually, I use this app for everything, not just parenting project. Pinterest is a perfect App to find abundant inspirations in so many fields. I have a dedicated folder for Najwa, curated from many sources that applicable to my condition (no-messy, easy, and affordable activities).

I regularly download scissor skills worksheets, trace the line, connect dots for her messy-free fine motor skill practice. What else do I need? Ooh just type the keywords and voila I could get lots of ideas to choose. I hope more pin for Islamic parenting in creative approach will add on Pinterest soon ^o^

New Experience

Toddlers learn from experience. Najwa and I could do dozens of art projects per week, we also try to do STEM (Science. Technology. Engineering, and Math) daily activities but in a simple way. Thankfully there are many after-school or weekend programs that offer a workshop for toddler start from 3.5 years old.

Since Najwa hasn’t enrolled in school yet, so we have some budget to spend on experience. Her last workshop was “DIY Squishy” from Planet Sains at Bandung. For Rp 100.000 Najwa spent two hours, and together with almost 30 other kids, they taught how to make two types of Squishy. It’s fun, and cute, look at that apron and google! She’s really enjoyed her time there, although seems bit clueless.

We’re interested to try other programs like Ganara Art Studio, Club Kembang, Funletics, and more activities from Kaka Nuri.

One thing I’ve learned is the importance of a dedicated journal for every project. Initially, I mixed records from Najwa’s schedule with other notes. But once I have a dedicated journal, containers, and folders for homeschool materials, I could commit and stick with our daily schedules. Looking at our daily progress surprisingly effective to build the positive mood and feel optimistic about her school readiness.

Oh, but am I ready to share influence with her teachers and friends?