OUR STORY
What is "edlah"?
"EDLAH" means EveryDayLearningAtHome. Edlah.com started in 2011 as a blog to give homeschoolers and other preschool teachers like myself some new and fresh ideas to do with their preschool-aged kiddos. It was a simple place for me to share the ideas I was finding for my own class. That was years ago! Since then I have created a complete preschool curriculum used by both homeschoolers and preschool teachers worldwide (which still blows my mind!).
What supplies does edlah curriculum use?
It is my mission to keep preschool education hands-on and fun while also keeping it inexpensive.
You'll need a printer, preferably colored, but most things have a black and white option that you can use instead if that works better for you. Most of the supplies I use are things you already have around your home or classroom. If you happen to not have something, it will be inexpensive and easy to find. All of the books I use and recommend in my lesson plans can be easily purchased at your favorite bookstore, online, or just do what I do and check them out at your local public library. I'm all about keeping this curriculum as affordable as possible.
Edlah has come a long way since it started. I have huge plans for even more fabulous resources in the future. Edlah is growing fast! Thank you for your support and your amazing feedback! It means the world to me!
How did edlah get started?
To be honest, I never intended to design and sell curriculum & resources. I simply had a need that needed to be filled. In 2011 when I accepted my first preschool teaching position I walked into my classroom expecting to be handed preschool curriculum. Call me naive, but I had just spent years teaching 1st grade in a public school and was kind of use to people telling me exactly what I had to teach every single day. I quickly learned that the private preschool world didn't operate that way. When I started teaching preschool, I was given a one-page sheet of paper that listed the themes that I was supposed to teach for the year. The rest was up to me. It was stressful at first, but eventually, I grew to love writing my own curriculum! In fact, it's my favorite hobby and now my side hustle.
Since school started the following Monday, I rushed home to frantically look for 'A is for Apple Lesson Plans'. I found a few cute books, threw together some ideas and completely winged my first week of teaching preschool. It worked out surprisingly well! I spent that whole first year putting together ideas for each of the theme ideas I had been given. Those ideas lived in a messy notebook of chicken-scratched notes. For those of you that know me, you know that wasn't going to work for me long term, so I started developing a complete and holistic preschool curriculum for my own use.
How was edlah curriculum developed?
That first year, I started with that notebook of chicken-scratched notes. I spent countless evenings, weekends, and the whole next summer organizing those notes and all of the random printable resources I had frantically designed as I survived that first year.
When I returned for my second year I had a great first draft of what eventually became edlah preschool curriculum. During this time, I also started writing short blog posts about the ideas I had found and those I had created. I was falling in love with developing preschool resources. I had more ideas than I knew what to do with! That simple blog eventually became this full-blown website. Those chicken-scratch notes eventually became edlah preschool curriculum! I couldn't be more proud.
That second year I spent my teaching hours trying out and perfecting my ideas. I spent my afternoons, evenings and weekends creating more printable resources, games, coordinating newsletters, and more.
By the time I started my third year I had developed a solid preschool curriculum. It was an exciting time for me! I started small selling pieces of my curriculum on TeachersPayTeachers to support my addiction to buying adorable clipart (I'm a bit obsessed with adorable graphics). I received a ton of requests to bundle my resources and sell them along with my lesson plans as a curriculum. So I eventually did and wow... It took off!
I had no idea it was such a need for other preschool teachers and homeschooling parents too! I love that I'm able to share this curriculum and all of these resources that I have poured so much of myself into. I would have never guessed that I'd be able to help teachers and parents like you from all over the world!
Who are we?
My name is Melissa. I operate edlah.com and create all of the fun curriculum and printable resources you see on this website and in my TeachersPayTeachers Store. I am a licensed teacher in the state of Kansas. I earned my degree from MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas (which is a great school with a great education program if you are looking).
When I was little, all I wanted to do was be a teacher! I loved teaching kids! I started out teaching first grade in an urban public school district in 2006. I loved the adventure of working in an urban school, but it took so much of my time and I missed my time with my own young kiddos at home. In 2011 I decided that it would be best for my family and me if I switched to teaching part-time. Doors opened and I was offered a job at a private Christian Preschool and very quickly fell in love with teaching preschool and early childhood education! I wished that I would have started out in preschool from the start!
The curriculum here on edlah.com is what I developed for my own preschool classroom. I love adding to it, tweaking it, and making it even better every single year. But my passion quickly changed to helping teachers teach!!! Teaching and leading kids and those who love kids is my passion and my entire life.
In addition to edlah, I was also the Nursery Director at Grace Church in Overland Park, KS. With 85-90 babies on a weekend ranging in age from 0-2 years old and around 90 volunteers, I learned so much more about teaching teachers to teach and curriculum writing during those 4 years! My love for teaching tiny people is a part of everything I do for work and for fun!
I then was offered my absolute dream job in 2020 as Grace Church's Resource and Early Childhood Curriculum Specialist with our Campus Support Team. In this position, I get to work on the team that builds the curriculum and resources for our multicampus kid's ministry. This is the best job ever! I can't believe they pay me to do what I already do for fun as a hobby! In this role, I learn new tricks of the trade every single day! I love to learn and I love to teach others!
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you teach your kiddos!
Email me anytime at melissa@edlah.com.
My name is Melinda Myers. I assist Melissa in finding curriculum ideas, and classroom photography.
I currently work at a childcare center teaching tiny people all day long. I've worked with many different early childhood ages in both the daycare center setting and the home daycare setting.
Before going back to work in a childcare center I owned and operated my own in-home daycare. It was during those years that we first started testing the edlah curriculum with preschoolers in a homeschool environment, while Melissa was testing them in the preschool classroom setting. We were able to build a curriculum that could be easily adapted for either the one-on-one homeschool environment or classroom environment.
I continue to give feedback and ideas.
