The last week and a half has been quite a ride! Our family rarely ever gets sick, and both Little Miss and I were feeling under the weather, but she stayed sick for a full 9 days! An old friend of mine texted me last week asking if Little Miss has been vaccinated because she took her daughter to the ER and they said she most likely has whooping cough. Little Miss was playing with her daughter just the past weekend, so of course this was entirely possible she would pick up the illness, especially considering Little Miss has never had a vaccination.
When we chose not to vaccinate, I took a class on how to handle all the diseases the vaccinations are supposed to protect from, so I looked up the old email and sent the message to my old friend. Little Miss was feeling under the weather already, but didn’t get a cough until a few days later, so when the cough came up, I immediately started treating it as whooping cough. Alhamdulilah, large doses of vitamin C liquid for the last 5 days has brought Little Miss almost back to normal! She still has some mucus and a little cough, but she’s definitely making progress.
Meanwhile, I’ve been stewing over how to make Little Miss’s days more interactive, fun, and educational for her. I was searching and searching for an online preschool printable sheet that was close to what I had in mind, but I couldn’t find anything for free. I knew I had seen a cute one at the teacher store, but I really didn’t want to pay for a book, plus I want something I can just put in my Home Binder.
So… I just made my own printable! I wanted to include a Letter, Number, Color/Shape, and Prophet for each week. At this age, I am planning on only rotating new information every 2 weeks or more, but as she gets older, we can adjust this as needed.
Of course, there’s a shopping list, area to write your goals or theme for the week, and notes. The plan is to put this on facing pages in the binder so you can see both at once. Of course, you should do what works best for your family!
I’m using Slow and Steady: Get Me Ready, recommended in The Well Trained Mind, and The Toddler’s Busy Book to get ideas for activities. I can’t wait until Little Miss is a bit older to really verbalize her learning. She was a bit behind the curve until around 18 months when we figured out her food allergies, and alhamdulilah, now she’s picking up steam and making up for lost time! (Though I know there is a wide range of normal, and I accept that she doesn’t have to be at the top of the curve)
Alhamdulilah, the autumn has slowed us down, but I think it has helped us focus on our home life rather than running around. Sometimes it takes being sick to realize that home is a great place to be, too!
Some of my kids have vaccinations (the older ones) and my younger ones don’t. Whooping cough makes me a bit uneasy because we have a few light asthma kids (but we still haven’t vaccinated). Loved that you shared what you did to comfort your daughter!
Also love the printable, that is exactly a lay out I would use, as a letter of the week theme. To keep organized color/number/shape is useful too. And we study a Bible character per letter of the week (not always a prophet ;^). Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you found this post helpful! I was very fortunate my friend told me about her daughter possibly having whooping cough very early on, otherwise I wouldn’t have put the pieces together until much later. She never got the full “whoop” in her cough, which we are so grateful for! Thanks for stopping by!