mommatlaw Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I am trying very hard to get into an afterschooling groove. Unfortunately, my greatest success so far is acquiring materials. Materials for math, reading, writing, thinking skills, counting money, journals, pens, reward stickers, etc. I could go on and on. Every day I read about new interesting materials. I am all over the place, and I feel like I need to just pick a few things and stick with them. I am a working mom, and my DD is 5 and entering ps kindergarten this fall. I know that the most important thing at this point is for her to have fun, and I know that I have gotten ahead of myself. I would like to create a simple afterschooling (aftercamping, at least during the summer!) curriculum. Should I pick a few things to focus on (for example, Sing, Spell, Read and Write, HWOT and hands-on math games a few times a week each), and file the hoards of workbooks away for the time being? I am not a natural teacher and this has been obvious to me lately. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am all ears!:bigear: Michele - Mom to 5yo and 2yo DD's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I guess I was an afterschooler for a few years. I mean, we didn't do workbooks or anything...it was just our lifestyle. Lots of books around the house. Fiction, non-fiction, science etc. Lots of reading aloud and reading on their own. Magazine subscriptions, frequent trips to the library (because they had limited access to the library at school and then could only check out one book!!!). Fun toys like lego and snap circuits. Limit the tv time. Did I mention lots of books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 why do you want to work with your child in addition to sending them to school? Once you know why you are doing what you are doing figure out your goals for the summer. You can't do everything so you know that you are going to have to let some things go. Next, what else do you have as far as additional plans (vacations, day camps, arts, sports, daycare etc.)? If they have a lot of this may be able to help you reach your education/afterschooling goals. So, in our house our summer schedule consisted of a lot of outdoor time by the pool, we'd go hiking several times per month, two different daycamp/art programs, lots of library programs -- I really over did these at times :), vacation, day trips to several places, and our book/work academics would usually be the library reading program (I had requirements for particular books that the kids would have to read rather than just anything) and usually a summer workbook/Bridge workbook that was multi-subject that would cover language arts and math since those were the two subjects I didn't want them to lose over the summer. If your child is ready to learn to read and showing reading readiness and you want to focus on introduction to reading -- make that your summer project. Leave the workbooks lying around for them to do when they are bored (especially if they are the cheapy ones from Walmart or BJ's or B&N), leave the games and manipulatives in boxes that they can pull out and play with sometimes and make those family fun times. Figure on spending maybe an hour or two on learning to read (if that is your focus) and let the rest happen in a relaxed manner. Your kids are very young and you can relax. I hope that helps at least a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto5 Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I agree with Mandamom that you should set 1 or 2 goals for the summer and then just work to complete those goals. I would not try to recreate an entire school curriculum. One goal I can suggest is "love of learning." What a wonderful time on the brink of Kindergarten to show your child that learning is fun. Perhaps do a unit study on something he is interested in or you think he may be interested in. For example, order a caterpillar kit and do a unit study of butterflies. Let him keep a journal (he can dictate the words to you and he can draw a picture), do a butterfly craft, go to the library and check out books on butterflies, learn what caterpillars and butterflies eat, make a poster on the life cycle. THere are tons of coloring sheet and craft ideas for this theme on the internet. It would involve printing out a couple of things the night before. I also agree with suggestion to read, read, read. Give him uninterrupted reading time with you every day. Read what he wants as many times as he wants to hear the same book. Ask him questions about the book, if he is interested in a particular concept in the book, go to the library and get books about what he is interested in. My final suggestion - once you've decided what to do, stop looking and reading about programs and curriculum. (I'm saying this to myself as well.) Pick something and do it well. He is lucky to have a mom interested in his well-being. Enjoy your children and your summer. Oh, and keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibrarianMom Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Everyone's suggestions have been wonderful. My dd is just finishing up ps kindergarten. We read a lot, write some, and play games. Let them take the lead. There are some days where you might do a whole lot and other days when nothing gets done and that's OK. Keep in mind that some items your child might enjoy and others that don't do the trick. For a long time, my dd ran and hid if I got out the Building Thinking Skills (now titled Hands-On Primary). Sometimes doing workbooks orally instead of written is important. Now about that curriculum stockpile though, I'm right there with you. I can't resist a good deal. Why buy tomorrow what you can get cheap today? :tongue_smilie: LibrarianMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabrina Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Make up a basket with thematic books - require child to spend a certain amount of time with the book basket each day - books should be below reading level - they can even just look at the pictures - if your child is not reading they may ask you to read something to them but let them pick. I also found Phonic Pathways very helpful for teaching reading with very little time spent each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 I agree with what has been posted already. The first thing to do is to identify your goals for the summer. (Keep this to one or two things.) When my twins were that age, my only academic goal was to help them learn to read. (We used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.) I spent about 15 minutes a day per child working on learning to read. That was it. The rest of the time, I read to them. We read a lot. I was doing SOTW with my older son, so we usually had interesting history books checked out from the library that the twins enjoyed also. I always had a chapter book going as a read-aloud. One of the twins was very into animals, so we always had nature books. I let the kids check out what they wanted, and then I supplemented to round things out a bit. Fairy tales, mythology, poetry, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommatlaw Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 I appreciate all of your wonderful feedback. It has given me direction when I couldn't find it on my own! I may not be a homeschooler, but as a parent who wants the best for my kids, I look forward to checking these boards every morning for the terrific insight and information. :) Michele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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