Today, Tuesday, August 25, 2026, was our very first day homeschooling my triplet nephews, who are four years old, and I quickly remembered that everything takes more time with younger children, especially when there are three of them. Their older brother joined us for many of the activities, my sister-in-law was here, my daughter helped throughout the day, and together we began what I know is going to be a wonderful season of learning.

One of the first things I am already learning is that everything takes a little longer with younger children, especially when there are three of them. I may have a full list of activities planned, but I am quickly realizing that the experience itself is more important than getting through everything on the list.

We continue with our story, The Hedgehog Leaves Home. We read just a few pages at a time, and this time the children were able to add their newly painted mushrooms into the storytelling. We also included an owl that we felted earlier in our homeschool journey. They love being part of the story rather than simply listening, and that is one of my favorite things about teaching young children. They are so bright-eyed, curious, and completely engaged.

One of our projects was painting little wooden mushrooms. I have a beautiful deck of cards showing different varieties of mushrooms, which gave us some inspiration. Most of the children were immediately drawn to the classic red mushroom with white dots, but by the end we had a lovely assortment.

My mom was visiting this week, and she arrived with a whole bag of seed packets, which made the perfect inspiration for another planting lesson. My older nephew took on the job of making newspaper seedling pots while the triplets filled them with soil. Using a simple wooden pot maker, he wrapped newspaper around the mold, pressed it into shape, and made nearly fifty little seedling pots.

Our main project for the day was gardening. We used a simple tool to make newspaper seedling pots, and my 11-year-old nephew became so proficient that he made nearly 50 of them. My mother was visiting us this week and brought a bag of seeds, so everyone was able to choose what they wanted to plant. The triplets carefully filled their pots with soil, made small holes for their seeds, planted them, and watered them.

This week we made cinnamon rolls. I had already prepared the dough ahead of time, but before the morning was over the children also made another batch of dough that we would use the following day to make homemade pizza. I love when one lesson naturally flows into the next and the children can see that the work they're doing today becomes part of tomorrow's activity.

Our fourth day together centered around one of my favorite parts of kindergarten: working together in the kitchen. Every class includes some kind of cooking or baking because kindergarten is really about participating in the work of the home. Alongside those everyday tasks, we're also doing projects that strengthen fine and gross motor skills, develop the imagination, and meet the children where they are developmentally.

After cleaning up the wool, we moved on to our cooking project for the day: homemade pizza using the dough the children prepared the day before. Each child received a piece of parchment paper, a little flour, and their own portion of dough. They flattened the dough with their hands before adding sauce and toppings.

We began our morning with play before heading into the kitchen for some practical work. Our first project was preparing raw wool for wet felting. Before we can turn the wool into felted balls, it needs to be cleaned and carded. The children carefully picked through the raw wool, removing all the little bits of debris before using small bamboo carding brushes to prepare the fibers.

Today we continued a project we started last week when the children cleaned and carded raw wool. We're using that wool to make wet felted balls. I prepared the cores ahead of time using leftover pieces of felt and yarn, and then the children wrapped their carded wool around them.

I've done this project with children of different ages, and I've learned that demonstrating is much more effective than giving a lot of verbal instructions. I also found that if I get each child's project started and make sure the wool is beginning to hold together, they can continue quite successfully on their own.

I had actually prepared a watercolor activity for them, but they were playing so beautifully that we decided not to interrupt them. My 15-year-old daughter brought out some of the dress-up clothes my own children played with when they were younger, along with some pirate money, and she kept them engaged for quite a long time.

Our seventh day homeschooling my four-year-old triplet nephews began in our kindergarten room, which is really starting to come together. I recently finished building a little shelf and have been filling the space with things from our homeschool room along with a few things I've purchased specifically for the children. We meet twice a week for two hours, although I'm quickly realizing that two hours never feels like enough time.

With the triplets, I am not concerned with bringing academics too early. At this age, we are building the foundations they will need for later academic work through movement, fine and gross motor skills, practical work, imaginative play, stories, poems, verses, and beautiful language. Literacy is already present through the rich vocabulary and rhythms they hear throughout the day.

Each child was supposed to transplant one seedling, but when one of the children selected a little pot containing two seedlings, everyone else wanted two as well. Once the other children had their two seedlings, the first child wanted another pot, which meant he now had three plants. Naturally, the other two children noticed immediately! Everything needs to be either the same or completely different, and they are very particular about making sure everyone has their fair share!

Today was only their second wet-on-wet watercolor experience, and we introduced the color red. During our first painting session, we worked exclusively with yellow, and now we are allowing the children to experience red on its own. My 11-year-old nephew also participated in the same single-color painting activity, although he approached his work a little differently.

Another beloved kindergarten tradition is baking! Today, my 15-year-old daughter led the children in making a delicious apple crumble with cinnamon. I love incorporating seasonal recipes into our homeschool days, especially during the fall when the beautiful aromas of apples and warm spices fill our home. Our sense of smell is strongly connected to memory, and I hope these familiar scents will become part of the beautiful childhood memories the children carry with them as they grow.

Each class continues to remind me that kindergarten does not need to be filled with complicated projects. There is so much development happening through practical work, sensory experiences, storytelling, gardening, cooking, handwork, and most importantly, time for meaningful imaginative play.

We returned to our weaving project. I demonstrated how to work over and under the warp threads, showing the children how the pattern alternates as they move across the weaving. We began with our hands before introducing a needle, giving them time to understand the movement and rhythm first.

The first thing they wanted to do was crack walnuts. I have this beautiful wooden walnut cracker, and each child took a turn cracking a walnut. We tried to keep the shells intact because I would love to turn some of them into little walnut-shell sailboats later. Even something as simple as cracking nuts becomes such satisfying work for young children.

We start into the kindergarten room where we are beginning to establish a really lovely rhythm for the start of our day. We begin with our weather gnomes so the children can observe what the weather is like, and we also use our calendar gnomes to find the day of the week and the season. I love having these simple little rituals at the beginning of class because they create such a gentle transition into the rest of our morning.

After pizza and blueberries, we moved on to our walnut sailboats. The children chose pieces of 100% wool felt for their sails, and we used small twigs for the masts. Next time we go on a nature walk, I want them to collect their own twigs because I already know this is an activity they are going to want to repeat.

The children used Lyra opaque watercolors to paint the base coat of their peg dolls. They are becoming so comfortable with using their paintbrushes, washing them, drying them, and moving between colors independently. Once their base coats were finished, I added the finer details, including a little leaf on the front, and they chose the color of wool felt they wanted for their hats.