mmpmelmack Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I am unsure what to do with my three year old son. He is really pressuring me:tongue_smilie:to do more school with him. I am not ssure if I should go ahead and move on to what I have planned for next year( HWT K, Opgtr, RS A, and Singapore EB1, also FIAR) or if I should just add to what we are doing. we are currently using evan moor theme units ( stretching them to two weeks for each section instead of one) I do find I have to really supplement these as they are rather simple. also using abc worksheets, math games and doing some simple science experiments. we read for 30 minutes three times a day, we will be adding violin in 2 weeks, that is only 5 mins a day with a goal of 15 minutes a day in the next year. I am adding spanish in January, heres the thing we spend about 1.5-2 hours a day 4 days a week now, and he dosent want to stop, this time dosent include random art and cooking projects. I dont want to be doing too much, and yet if he wants to do more I feel like I should do it, I dont know what else to add, if I should move up to next years stuff, I think he migt be bored with some of the stuff, oh and I tried adding in B4Fiar, and he told me those were baby stories, he wanted real books. which I should have known he would say as we dont read books that simple during the rest of our reading time. also we go on nature walks, go to the library and the park weekly. I just dont knwo what else to do with him. anyways if you made it this far thanks, Hope someone has a good idea. I'm all out of them!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 My son loved FIAR at age 3.5. He still talks about many of the books. BTW (because of you siggy): My son loved Teach Them Spanish at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Sounds like he wants to kept busy, eh? Hmmm... when my first was 3 he had a HUGE lifestyle change (enter new baby sister). EVERYTHING was up in the air for a while and it took us both some time to adjust. My *current* 3 year old loves reading with me, tagging along with whatever the olders are doing, and playing educational computer games. Thankfully, he has his siblings to help him be busy. (And he probably feels like *he's* studying the same topics.) I remember being the sole "buddy" for my first one. AAAAAHHHHH! I could never come up with enough stuff to satisfy him! It was so stressful! How about lots of outings? I remember taking ds out on "field trips" EVERYWHERE! Are you near a major city? (I'm thinking all sorts of museums, maybe one day a week, and classes at the YMCA? It sure sounds like the librarians know you well already!) :) Wish I had more useful suggestions. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Very cute! I have one of "those" too! She enjoys going to school - we do a school at home approach for now. Official school time lasts anywhere from 30-45 minutes where I use the stuff listed in my signature. I have lessons planned for 5 days a week (they all get used) plus extra "school" worksheets and activities for later in the evening when she wants to do more. She should be done with SM EB A next week and when we complete EB B, I bought Horizons K to try and carry her until she's closer to 5 to start SM 1A. Then we do other stuff during the day. Stuff that you listed....library, walks, etc. She keeps me so busy and I have a baby too! AHHHHHH! I recently bought an Easy Bake oven for her to use (with me). We do lots of "foam" projects you can buy at Wal Mart. She is picking up Spanish from Diego and she is learning some German too (but not actively anymore). Do you allow computer usage? My daughter uses readingeggs.com and starfall.com and pbskids.org - limited time of course. What about cutting and pasting? My dd loves to print stuff off her websites, cut them out and paste them to construction paper. Check out The Critical Thinking Company: http://www.criticalthinking.com/ She really gets challenged with their books. I hope to get more ideas from your thread too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I wanted to mention - my kids all hated art and coloring but maybe yours won't. Lots of coloring, drawing, painting, cutting and pasting, playdoh "sculpting", arts and craft projects. These tactile things are great for her age. Don't forget puzzles and legos/building as well. :) I miss the days of having only one child - but they can be demanding! Do you have any kind of playgroup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I have one of those too! At 3 we did FIAR, Singapore EBA and then moved on to EB B, Essential Math A, the backyard scientist books, SSRW K, HO Spanish, and Childsize masterpieces in Art. She loved it! Now at 4 we are doing what is in my siggy. She is almost done with it all (except the math which she just started) and then we will move on after her 5th bday. She loves school and we usually spend about 2.5 hours doing it. My almost 3yo DS is totally different. He wants to school, but only has the attention span of about 15-20 min. I think it is best to just follow what they need, they will let you know when they have had enough:001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbaby Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 :lurk5: Going through the same here but looking for something that doesn't require much planning. Letter of the Week hasn't been cutting for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 How are you with messes? I think one of the biggest challenges of 3 is that they don't have the attention span or fine motor skills to really do much school, but they want to be involved in everything! We love The Toddler's Busy Book and The Preschooler's Busy Book, with loads of projects and craft ideas. I just checked out Mudpies to Magnets and it also looks like it has some great ideas. Do you have a sensory table? Filling that with lentils, cornmeal, water, sand, etc. and toys will keep a 3 year old busy for quite a while! We also drive cars in shaving cream (we do it on cafeteria style trays, but you can do it in the bathtub if you are worried about the mess), build cities of roads and tracks with masking tape, paint with water outside, do fingerpaintings in pudding, apple stamping and other messy type things. www.hubbardscupboard.org has some great preschool activities and ideas. It rains a lot here, so I'm totally with you on finding things to keep the kids busy, but I've learned that they aren't always craving more or harder material as much as activity and fun things to do. Hope you find some great ways to keep ds busy and you happy :)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I would not go ahead with a K program for a three year old. As much as he may want to "do school," there are huge cognitive differences between 3 year olds and 5 year olds. It sounds like what you are doing right now is great. I wouldn't add anything. Imo, the most important thing you can teach your son right now is how to entertain himself. When my dd was that age and wanted more more more, I told her, "You have lots of toys and a good imagination. It's time for you to use them." ETA: You might look at Flip-Flop Spanish and Espanol para los chiquitos for Spanish programs. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Have you started phonics with him yet? My son was much the same way when he was 4, so I started teaching him to read. Now at 8 reading is his favorite thing to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmpmelmack Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 I would not go ahead with a K program for a three year old. As much as he may want to "do school," there are huge cognitive differences between 3 year olds and 5 year olds. It sounds like what you are doing right now is great. I wouldn't add anything. Imo, the most important thing you can teach your son right now is how to entertain himself. When my dd was that age and wanted more more more, I told her, "You have lots of toys and a good imagination. It's time for you to use them." ETA: You might look at Flip-Flop Spanish and Espanol para los chiquitos for Spanish programs. Tara This is my thoughts too, i dont want to "ruin" his fun, and I would like him to play by himself more. Its been a tough couple of months, we just moved from ohio to texas, from 4 acres to an apartment, from 2 cars to one,it been an adjustment for both of us, but really hard on him. I did just find a preschool lap book to add to our next body unit, and I think instead of stretching the unit to 10 weeks we will do it in the five that is reccommended, hopefully this will be enough for him, I am consdiering starting EB A, a friend just ordered it, and is bringing it for me to see, then I can decide. Hopefully starting the violin next week will offer a challenge as well. Thanks for all the ideas, I need all I can get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I have one too. My son is 3. I bought Sonlights P 3/4 and we went through it in just a month. I bought P 4/5 and he is doing 2-3 days at a time. So I have added all the suggestions for WTM PreK-K, and we are blazing through them. I have started collecting 1st items now. We are doing OPGTR, HOP, Sonlight P 3/4, P 4/5, with reading selections from WTM 1st, Sonlight K Science, Handle on the Arts Science for P 4/5. Kumon, Explode the code, Saxon K and EB K, MusikGarten, along with anything and everything else to try to delay him from moving on to Sonlight K- WTM 1st to fast LOL. I don't see delaying much longer than next August though at this rate. Good luck!!!! It is a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Do you have a sensory table? Filling that with lentils, cornmeal, water, sand, etc. and toys will keep a 3 year old busy for quite a while! Ooooh! I love this idea. My 3 year old would, too. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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