Joy School Review

As seen in the last post, we're doing Joy School this year.

Jodi asked what Joy School was, and I wrote this huge long comment in response, then decided just to do a post instead.

Joy School is a co-op preschool, in which you have 4-7 kids, aged 3-5 years old(the 2 years before kindergarten). You rotate each week to a different child's home, and the mom is the teacher.

How is this different than any other co-op playgroup or preschool?

Well, the curriculum you use is the official Joy School curriculum- and it's all about teaching your children the joys of different parts of life, before you focus on academics. The idea is that the kids learn about the world, themselves and how to be socially aware, before you start academic things in a structured setting. There is also a kindergarten readiness program that focuses on letters/ pre math skills, but it is optional and is added on to the existing program. I've looked over it, and Sophia's mastered a lot of the skills on her own, so I'm not worried about it. Maybe I'll do it next year with her.

The full explanation of joy school and it's philosophy can be found here at Values Parenting.

We've liked it so far. It's cheaper than preschool($140 dollars for the year, plus supplies, and one time fee of $50). Once you've purchased the curriculum you can use it for all your children. We're doing it with other Mormon moms, which isn't necessary, but just our situation. I like learning how to teach, alongside Sophia learning new things. It's given me lots of ideas for Family Home Evening and it's been a crash course in having more than two children.

Feel free to ask me any questions about it.