[teaching evolution and creation theories]

This isn't a teaching resource per say, but I liked what this mom had to say about teaching her kids about both evolution and creation: http://liberatededucation.blogspot.com/2011/08/life-universe-and-everything.html (Now I can't remember if I found this link in these forums. Sorry I'm a newbie who doesn't recognize names.)

 

I basically agree with her. Teach what is known about each side (fairly), state what you believe and why, and allow your children some freedom of thought. Neither religion or science is so weak that they can't stand to be in a mind that has knowledge of the other side. (Does that make sense?)

 

Anyway, props for trying to be balanced.

[What if you don't challenge your kids?]

School was easy for me, even when I got to the honors/AP track in Jr. High/High school. When I got to college, it was a shock. I loved my classes, found them wonderfully challenging,....and almost lost my scholarship because studying was a foreign concept to me. I've heard this is common.

 

I did eventually develop some study skills and I did finish a degree.

 

Amen! I was in the same boat in college. If you don't want to/can't homeschool or private school, you might try a challenging extracurricular/instrument and lots of household chores. Self-discipline is hard to learn if everything comes easy.

[Foreign Language Resources for Toddlers]

My 3yo (-1 month) DS, who loves to read and spell all day, has shown some interest in learning Spanish. (Playing with electronic toys in Spanish mode with me as translator, and picking up a few things now and then.) Now, I took Spanish in high school and passed the AP test, but my spoken Spanish is crap, although I can catch and correctly pronounce most words in a "let's learn spanish" picture book. And of course, DS not able to write much and doesn't have much patience for reading text-heavy pages. He loves to play computer games though.

 

So, what resources would you use to teach a language to a toddler? Is there anything out there that is written for this level, or that can be adapted to this level? I remember using the Muzzy videos in early elementary; I wonder if those would be good. Or maybe I should just make him watch his daily TV in Spanish. I'm looking for things that we can do on an ad hoc basis or that he can do independently, since that's how he like to learn.

 

(Obvious disclaimer: I don't want to push him or introduce too many formal lessons at a young age. I'm looking for resources that cater to his natural desire to learn all-the-day-long. He wants it, not me. :D)

[advice for early readers?]

His idea of playtime was taking apart wooden letter puzzles to spell words like "pharmacy" and "attendance", or sitting on his bed surrounded by books.

 

Thank goodness! I thought I was the only one. The worst part is cleaning up--sorting 5 intermingled sets of letters can take forever!

 

Another hazard is accidentally expecting other preschoolers you're around to read. At playgroup, several four-year-olds have looked at me like I'm crazy when I ask them what a sign says. "I don't know how to read." Oh yes, that's right, not all preschoolers read.

 

My in-laws have suggested holding back on teaching him more reading by going broader and enrolling him in a foreign language preschool or intense music lessons. The idea is to prevent him from getting too ahead in one language to be school-able. (I'm not quite on the homeschool bandwagon, just curious and looking for materials to supplement DS's voracious appetite for learning. And my husband is flat out against the idea. But that's another story, which we'll deal with when we hit Kindergarten, no doubt.) Has anyone tried such distraction techniques? I don't like the idea of purposefully holding him back for reasons obvious to anyone here, but perhaps throwing in a tough challenge would make things more manageable. Thoughts?

[s/o advice for early readers]

I agree about waiting and seeing what happens. My son knew letters and sounds at 2, and in about half a year he had basically taught himself to read without much formal instruction.

 

Three things we did that haven't been mentioned:

1. I bought a set of sight word flash cards. Don't freak out; I didn't drill for hours each day. I would hand him one or two whenever we got in the car and tell him what they said, and that was it. They were his favorite "toy" for a month or two. I personally think learning sight words first helps young readers to not be so frustrated later.

2. You may or may not like TV, but Word World is a great new program about phonics. Totally not painful like some commercial children's TV. I think this is where my son figured out blending. (The first episodes only say the names, then it moves on to phonics.) Three seasons available streaming on Netflix, two on Amazon, or check your local public TV.

3. Buy a moveable alphabet set. We construct words all the time for "playtime", silly words, usually.

 

What I need are ideas of where to go from here. I'm thinking of buying "all About Spelling" because he need help with some more advanced phonics and formal rules, and I know he'd love playing with the magnetic sound tiles. . . . Anyone on what to do with a young reader (almost 3) who wants a challenge? He's getting bored, and therefore restless.