Mommy, Teach Me: Preparing Your Preschool Child for a Lifetime of Learning

by Barbara Curtis

In Mommy, Teach Me author Barbara Curtis, a mother of twelve, shares secrets on how to turn everyday experiences into learning opportunities for preschool children. Designed as a user-friendly educational program, this book is filled with interactive exercises for parents to implement with their littlest ones at home. They will discover that while playing, drawing, and just being a kid, children can also be practicing muscle control, concentration, orderliness, and other basic skills that will help them with later education and all throughout life.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Rebecca The Files of Mrs. E, · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started planning on not sending the girls to a traditional preschool I came across this book and really enjoyed it. A mother of 12, Barbara Curtis has actually had preschoolers in her home for the last 30 years thereabouts. She was trained to be a Montessori teacher when she later felt God calling her to keep her children home and teach them herself. She speaks openly about her faith and believes that parents can teach their preschoolers well in the home. She offers many activities, mostly based on Montessori foundations, to do at home to promote early skills including concentration and fine motor skills. While I don’t do everything she suggests exactly how she says, I do really respect Curtis and found that her values and attitudes were very similar to our family’s.

[Kameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a great resource! I absolutely LOVE Barbara Curtis' outlook on teaching our young children and her encouragement and very practical advice on how to do it! This book opened up a whole new world of ideas for me....and Jack is already benefiting from them! He is soaking up these "Small Beginnings Exercises" like crazy! Thanks, Mer, for recommending this book. I highly recommend it to all moms eager to teach their little ones at home and give them a deep love for learning.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, simple ideas. Of course there's loads of stuff on Pinterest too, but if you find that overwhelming, or unnecessarily time consuming/flashy, then this book does a good job of simplifying a number of worthwhile exercises and habits to use with young children to help them learn to navigate in the world.

[Newt Sherwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ideas on how to make life at home interesting, fun, pleasant for everyone, and educational, all at the same time, by using affordable, mom-friendly adaptations of Montessori tools and ideas.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really inspiring to me as I started to teach David preschool. It really makes the process manageable and gave me lots of good ideas for creating a learning environment in our home--like doing chores (such as putting away silverware) from left to right to prepare for good reading.

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't believe I haven't read this book yet. A few chapters in and enjoying it. A good antidote for preschooler burnout.

[Sarah Browder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent resource for moms of babies/toddlers that will give you some tangible ways to be educating preschoolers at home. Lots of great nuggets of truth and a whole lot of practical steps to take. Enjoyed it.

[Ethan Demme · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to get a parent started homeschooling their preschool child. Written from a Christian perspective and with Montessori pedagogy.

[Becca Garber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource that I will be buying for my library after I return it to my friend! The first half of the book is an apologetic for preschool at home with a Montessori and Christian approach, and the second half is practical activities you can do with your child with bowls, buttons, pitchers, marbles, etc. in your home.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we attempt to make a decision about whether or not to send our daughters to preschool, I'm also looking into the idea of homeschooling. This book provides a Montessori approach to homeschooling that I have so far found very appealing.

[Amanda Lapp kounz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome. It gives you easy and cheap activities to help your child grow. The author is religious so if you are not into that just ignore it because her explanation on Montessouri and how to do it yourself is excellent.

[Mindurs]

The author has some good ideas about teaching your toddler. Some of her opinions and ideas are different, but ignore what you want and take what you need from the book.

[Gae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this as it was so practical using everyday items and explained in everyday language.
I have actually implemented some of the activites quite simply too.

[Patriciapayton]

Great ideas for home schooling a preschooler.

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro to montessori principles. Lots of simple activities w/step by step instructions for home use. Reads like a blog.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, practical resource. This book is unique to similar books in that the author is very encouraging in creating a healthy mindset for educating a child.

[Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful book with great activity ideas for preschoolers!