Can we talk about age 3?

[PeterPan]

What do 3 year olds do? What does yours do during school time? My ds is almost exactly 2 1/2, and let's just say it's HARD to get school done. Dd wants me right there with her (or life has no meaning) and the toddler wants to play games, cut, and throw. Oh he's great to do things with! It's just you actually have to DO things with him. Or you end up with big messes. And dumped out books every where. And climbing the furniture in ways you didn't think possible. And people being whacked by swords or rammed with trucks. Or... You get the idea.

 

Tell me 3 is different. What will be happening this fall? I'm trying to plan out our school stuff for fall, and honestly it's hard to see how we get stuff done. I mean we get stuff done, but it's constantly disrupted, meaning we work together in snippets. Is he going to his some magical developmental stage? What did your BOYS, active, hitting, whacking, climbing BOYS do at age 3 to 3 1/2?

 

PS. Before things were great. He used to sit in his booster seat with tray so nicely and just work. I'd feed him snacks or books and he'd fiddle with stuff while I guided dd. Nope, no more. Now it's whang, bang, throw, play big or go home. Clearly I'm missing something in my techniqe! If I put him at a kiddee table, he'd walk away. His tray on the booster seat is too small, even though he doesn't mind being strapped in. If I pull him up to the main table, he reaches and gets into everything. Ok, it's a big table (5X7). Maybe I'm not being brilliant enough logistically? Tell me what I'm missing!

 

PPS. Sometimes he naps, and sometimes he doesn't. Is there a normal age to outgrow that?

[....]

I've always said 2 and 3 year-olds are much, much worse than babies. :D

 

For us, 3 seems to be the absolute worse age. My 3 yro is driving me insane. She throws a tantrum at 8:30am EVERY morning. Going through Target or the grocery store is like low-crawling through a minefield with an aerial battle overhead.

 

My 3 yro seems to have abandonment issues (even tho we are together 24 hours a day). If I leave the room without her, she screams, "You LEFT ME! You LEFT ME!" If she wakes up and her sister is already up (they share a room), she screams, "You LEFT ME!" It's horrible.

 

And school, fuggetaboutit! You'll just have to "include" her in your lesson plans. :glare:

 

Oh, another warning - mine wants to change outfits every hour on the hour. Oh, and if that green snowflake dress is dirty...oh, watch out! 35 minutes of screaming is comin' your way!!

 

Let's not even mention the "sampling" and "grazing". Food must be presented in a buffet with a wide variety of finger foods arranged in a Cookie Monster pattern. Any attempt to sit down for a normal meal will be met with resistance! Resistance, I tell you!!

 

And, if we don't want to sit in our carseat...we're going to ARCH our backs! And we can hold this position for hours.

 

 

Sorry, I'm just not very encouraging. Can you tell my 3 yro is driving me crazy?? :tongue_smilie: Mine seem to get better around 4. And by 6 or 7, they are model citizens. When I watch my 9 yro vaccuuming the living room, it's hard to remember her as a 2 yro throwing a gigantic tantrum as we were leaving the mall and slapping me all the way out to the parking lot.

 

Ah, sigh. It's a thankless job, but somebody's gotta do it. :svengo:

[NanceXToo]

Heh. I'm sorry. I have to agree with starrbuck. I always joke that "the terrible twos" are just practice for having a three year old. My son was pretty hard to deal with at two and three. He got somewhat easier at 4, he's easier still at 5... but 2 and 3? Yeah, that's tough. And definitely disruptive. You just have to make the best of it lol.

 

And mine did not nap any longer at 3 (other than once in a while falling asleep in the car or on the couch at dinner time and then being miserably cranky when he woke up).

[GWOB]

I'd rather not. I have a 3yo. She's just...... well, ummmm...... Just be prepared.

[SnowWhite]

(shudders) Next year I will have a three year old.....

 

My approach of choice is to get the older students more independent!

 

I have even experimented with Mommy-videos via my camcorder so I can *actually* get a bit of housework done one day per week. It's amazing how my nearly two-y-o ds loves to wipe windows and bathtubs.

[Osmosis Mom]

OK, my ds is totally different. I thought I'd never say this, though, because his two's were, well, busy. He is a very active boy, who just turned 3 end of December, but suddenly he has become human again. All settled and able to listen to directions, wants to help and just gets it. Not that he wants to sit down and do quiet activities, but he can sit and listen to a story and he is even able to endure Storyhour.

 

So, my wise advice....hang in there! It'll get better. Very soon. My ds also never naps, but my kids are usually like that from 18 months on. When my twins were his age I'd have a box of hands-on that I'd take out during school-hours, but even so they'd wreck my house. Guess I am used to that. He is not that bad, but I also have different kids who tend to play with him on and off during the day. Getting him outside is also key, perhaps your climate is mild enough that you could do school outside while he plays?

[tntgoodwin]

:lurk5:

[sewingmama]

I think it depends on the child's personality - they are pretty much the same at 3 as they are at 2. My DD was terrible at that age but my current 3yo DS is no problem - he has always been low key. The only problem I have with him is that he demands to do whatever his sister is doing and it only causes a problem because my DD gets jealous that he is doing "her work". Truth be told it is a dream teaching my 3yo because he has a long concetration span and is eager and patient and just gets on and does as asked - my 4yo on the other hand :glare:

 

It does get better once the active ones hit 4. My DD has calmed down a lot since she was 3 and now that she is almost 5 I am finally starting to enjoy parenting her ;)

[wapiti]

:grouphug: Right there with you. My ds turns 3 in May, and his sister turns 2 in July. This is so much fun! :glare:

 

The other day she figured out how to climb up onto the wooden kitchen stools (a great core strength exercise!) - and then onto the counter. To get all the off-limits stuff that's in the cabinets. Or, just to terrorize mom. So, now they do it together, and ds is usually the leader. If it's not dangerous, which it usually is, it's messy for sure. Suddenly the cinnamon sugar is all used up, after they seasoned the counter with it and then ate it with their hands.

 

I don't have any useful advice. I might try to anticipate the mess and (1) decide to get up and pre-empt it or (2) (what I often do, being as lazy as I am) call it the price of getting your lesson done. Another option is to choose the messes for him - as soon as it's warm enough, set up a little water table just out the back door while you do your lesson nearby at the kitchen table. Water supplies endless fun around here - pull a chair up to the kitchen sink, and put on a trickle. Soap suds make it even better. I'd also try to build time in to your schedule to get him outside, especially climbing and swinging - after all that OT, I have a new perspective on the sensory needs of toddlers - though it is such a pain trying to get them back inside when you need to get back to work. Sometimes dd will bring her work outside on a clipboard, but it never gets done that way.

 

I feel that 3 is worse than 2, in no small part to the nap issue. There comes a point, very gradually, where they need a nap but having one will cause them not to be able to fall asleep early enough at night to achieve a long enough consolidated nighttime sleep period. Darned if you do and darned if you don't. So they're almost always overtired and ready to melt down, regardless of whether you did the nap.

 

Also, 3 brings ever greater capacity for messes. Ds2 is perilously close to being able to turn the hose on by himself (not to worry, ds4, turning 5 in May, is right there to help him get it right :tongue_smilie: though at least ds4 goes to preschool in the mornings and will be in his Montessori K all day next year). Which brings us to next school year - ds, being 3 by then, will join his brothers at the Montessori school, for the morning. That leaves dd, who will be 2, at home with dd10 and me. So I guess we'll still be dealing with this - I wonder whether it'll be easier or harder when dd's pal is out of the house.

 

The only other thing I can think of is to set out some toys (maybe something that he hasn't used in a while, or some "real life" stuff - empty binders, kitchen pans, etc.) on the floor nearby where you'll be working. And if all else fails, it's never too early for the Letter Factory :D.

 

:grouphug::grouphug: I feel your pain!

 

(and yes, Target, once my true love, is now a nightmare)

[Guest CarolineUK]

My DS3 is quite easy, but I think it's just him/the situation. This is where having three at home actually helps as while I'm doing maths, WWE, or whatever, with one the other can play with, entertain, do pre-school with the 3 year old. DS3 is also very different from his two eldest brothers in that he has always been happy to sit and play quietly with toys, and now increasingly with puzzles, colouring, looking at books - DS11 and DS10 would never have played so constructively (destruction was more their line).

 

He will be four towards the end of May so I have already started him doing a little Rightstart A, at his urgent request, and he also does a bit of 'reading'. His absolute passion is Skoldo French with DS6, which involves lots of colouring and French songs. All that, of course, does involve more work for me, but it is lovely, he's so enthusiastic and so ready to learn so much.

 

We do have bad days, and when we do I'm not at all averse to putting something on the television for him. We have a channel here called CBBC which has no adverts and is very gentle and often quite educational, and not always interesting enough to hypnotise him into sitting there for hours.

 

However, I must say, if it were either of my elder two I had home as 3 year olds at this moment in time then I'd be very tempted to put them in pre-school/nursery a couple of mornings a week to give the rest of us breathing space.

[PeterPan]

Wow, thanks for the encouragement, lol.

 

So what schooly/preschooly activities should I look for? I mean things he can sit, strapped into that chair for. He loves, loves, loves cutting, so he does that for about 20 minutes every day. I have one of those Kumon early workbooks for him. I got the cutting, and now I wish I had gotten others, even if they did look cheesy. He loves the idea of having his own school-work. Sounds like I'm going to be on a hunt for school things for my toddler mission at the convention. I think if I can solve this seating problem and have him strapped down for an hour, that will help. Somehow we got out of the habit, and we need it back. He really doesn't mind. He just needs things to do.

[Wheres Toto]

I am finding 3 years old worse than 2 year old. Sorry.

 

45 minutes of crying over the littlest things....never wanting to go in her carseat.....never wanting to go anywhere except the museum and the park.....eating all day long but never finishing a full meal....temper tantrums....stripping off her clothes at a moments notice right when it's time to leave the house.

 

Old enough to notice everything and either want it or be upset by it but not yet old enough for time out or bribery to work well.

[Celia]

Around here we call them the terrible two's and they tyrannical three's.

 

I read somewhere that their disposition at 3yrs is a preview of the teen years.... (shudder)

[PeterPan]

My DS3 is quite easy, but I think it's just him/the situation. This is where having three at home actually helps as while I'm doing maths, WWE, or whatever, with one the other can play with, entertain, do pre-school with the 3 year old. DS3 is also very different from his two eldest brothers in that he has always been happy to sit and play quietly with toys, and now increasingly with puzzles, colouring, looking at books - DS11 and DS10 would never have played so constructively (destruction was more their line).

 

He will be four towards the end of May so I have already started him doing a little Rightstart A, at his urgent request, and he also does a bit of 'reading'. His absolute passion is Skoldo French with DS6, which involves lots of colouring and French songs. All that, of course, does involve more work for me, but it is lovely, he's so enthusiastic and so ready to learn so much.

 

We do have bad days, and when we do I'm not at all averse to putting something on the television for him. We have a channel here called CBBC which has no adverts and is very gentle and often quite educational, and not always interesting enough to hypnotise him into sitting there for hours.

 

However, I must say, if it were either of my elder two I had home as 3 year olds at this moment in time then I'd be very tempted to put them in pre-school/nursery a couple of mornings a week to give the rest of us breathing space.

 

You know, I'm reading your post and thinking that maybe some kind of playpen/zone constraint would be good. He could rotate from his booster seat (strapped in) to a zone (pen, stay in this range), and then have freedom the last hour. I'll have to think on that.

 

I can't do a foreign language with him, because he can hardly speak english, lol. But that's a good point that he *might* be ready for some things. I'm doing a sightword picture book with him, seeing what that might do for him. Some kids will be hyper-lexic and read before they can talk. He definitely has a lot going on inside of there and loves books.

 

That made me chuckle about the person who said her 3 yo learned to climb the stool and got on the counter. Our ds has always been on the counter and on the stools. Not sure how that happened, lol. Fortunately, we have rather deep counters and can keep the dangerous stuff back. He has his own drawer in the kitchen and has been content (relatively) to leave mine alone.

 

I think the main thing is I want back our little picturesque scene of us sitting at the table homeschooling, and somehow I lost it. Had it, lost it. Or rather had it, and it ran away. :)

 

PS. Yes, I send him down to Grandma's once a week so we can get some work done without him. Good for Grandma, good for us. :)

[wapiti]

For preschool activities, I'd be looking at Monessori-ish things. Usually, there are a number of "sensorial" and "practical life" activities that would be appropriate to age 3, though I don't have them at home, so it's not easy for me to remember what they all are. Tiny pitchers for pouring water, cloths that need folding, anything that he could clean/polish/wipe, sweeping with a smalll broom. A tray with beans covering small objects that he can find - that's a nice seated activity. I'll try to think of more. I'm sure there are threads about these on the k-8 board someplace.

 

In our house, sitting in a chair for an hour, strapped or not, would be rather unrealistic. (:lol: not even dd 20 months has sat in her feeding chair in months - I took it down quite a while ago.) I'd be impressed with sitting (or kneeling) in the kichen chair next to us for 10 minute spurts, scribbling, cutting.

 

Small white board of his own.

[ChristusG]

Thankfully my 3 year old has been a breeze. She plays alone very well and will play and imagine back in the playroom while DD6 and I do school.

 

Now, my 6 year old is another story. She acts more like a 3 year old going through the terrible 3's quite a bit of the time. :glare:

[....]

I am finding 3 years old worse than 2 year old. Sorry.

 

45 minutes of crying over the littlest things....never wanting to go in her carseat.....never wanting to go anywhere except the museum and the park.....eating all day long but never finishing a full meal....temper tantrums....stripping off her clothes at a moments notice right when it's time to leave the house.

 

Old enough to notice everything and either want it or be upset by it but not yet old enough for time out or bribery to work well.

 

Wait!? You've been to OUR house???! :lol:

 

My personal favorite is the "I'm not going to sit in my carseat" game. And there's nothing you can do about it, Lady!! :sneaky2:

[babysparkler]

Wow, thanks for the encouragement, lol.

 

So what schooly/preschooly activities should I look for? I mean things he can sit, strapped into that chair for. He loves, loves, loves cutting, so he does that for about 20 minutes every day. I have one of those Kumon early workbooks for him. I got the cutting, and now I wish I had gotten others, even if they did look cheesy. He loves the idea of having his own school-work. Sounds like I'm going to be on a hunt for school things for my toddler mission at the convention. I think if I can solve this seating problem and have him strapped down for an hour, that will help. Somehow we got out of the habit, and we need it back. He really doesn't mind. He just needs things to do.

 

My ds3 loves cutting too... he has gone through every cutting book on the market, but is still happy to do them again. I also give him toys r us advertisements and such and he is happy to cut out all of the toys in there. Any old magazines will do.

 

He also loves puzzles so we have a "puzzle area" just for him. One of the best toys we have for him is magnetic pattern blocks (I can't find a link to the exact one, but like this). He also likes the magnetic designer and an alphabet stamp board. I have lots of hands-on manipulatives available to him, and a special yellow tray for him to dump them into (to keep them contained while he plays). He is great at knowing to put them away before getting more out, but this took training. Things like magnetic letters, colored counting blocks, tangram pieces, play money, colored links, etc. He likes to play with our math balance from RS, too. We have all of these things set aside in the "Kindergarten Korner" and he knows he can help himself to them. We also have flash cards and a pocket chart up for him to use. He loves that!

 

If you check my profile page, I have a photo album that shows my school room and the Kindy Korner.

Edited March 27, 2011 by babysparkler

[PeterPan]

Actually he will sit in the booster seat with strap (or dinner high chair) quite nicely. We started when he was very young (7 months? I forget) and worked up by 5 minutes every week or few days. He sits for speech, and he'll sit for me. The key is that you have to keep funneling him things to do, lol. And his speech therapist uses a seat wedge with bumps and air (lots of sensory input, look at http://www.abilitations.com ) to chill the wiggles. My dentist even uses one now, hehe.

 

In any case, yes he'll sit. We're good on the real life end. He loves sweeping, has his boy toys like drills and swords, play food, a kitchen, iron, you know the routine. Yes, we've let him do the whole mop the floor, wash dishes in a bin thing. (Great till he poured in the whole bottle of dishsoap, lol.) So those work. I'd like to hang a line for him to clip and hang things. Never got that done with dd either, even though I had intended too. I did get a book at the convention with a lot of ideas like that. I'm realizing my lack now is of seated things or figuring out how that seated dynamic looks. It was easy when the tray contented him. Now he wants to do BIG things.

 

Yes, whiteboards, oh how he loves whiteboards!!! You know, I think I could be cool with that, but he needs a slightly bigger one. See that's the trouble. I know this is whining, but it's logistics. If I pull his booster seat up to the table and remove the tray, he's working directly on my good oak table. Now someone else my snivel at this, but my dh made it with his own two hands and it was the first thing we ever had besides hand-me-downs. So I'd rather than have it turned purple and green and glued and cut and trashed! So that's just a little logistical thing I haven't figured out. Also it puts him close to our vertical holders of all our stuff, within arm-reach of anything lying there. So then we find *our* stuff flying, ugh. The throwing gets so old. I love how cuddly and sweet he is, but the throwing onto the floor I could do without, lol.

 

Options? I could bring an additional small table (plastic, waterproof) and pull his chair up to that, giving him a larger, impervious work space. I could place a layer of some sort down onto the table to protect it and move us down the table somehow. (Don't like that one as well, because we like how we are arranged on the long side of the table.) See if I could get that work surface large enough, I think he would play nicely with flannelgraph figures, etc. I'm starting dd on teaching him flannelgraph bible stories, which he enjoys. That's good for her (narration, expressive language, woo-woo!), but that doesn't help get any school done. But I digress. Gotta figure this out. Should be simple, right? I thought for SURE somebody was going to tell me they have this fandangled seat with a huge tray that solves all their problems, lol. :)

[PeterPan]

Babysparkler--I think you just saved me a ton of money!!! You're so right, the pretty ads would be PERFECT!!! Thank you, thank you!! And yes, we have a pocket chart. I just hadn't seen the potential, hehe. Ds has astounding fine motor skills (it's connected to the apraxia), and it actually makes him rather driven in it. See the brain has to put the energy somewhere, and his goes into fine motor. So he yearns to do things with fine motor. I don't even know what the next steps are for him in these areas. Dd was totally the OPPOSITE, avoiding fine motor. I'll definitely check out those things you have listed. Yes, I have sort of a kindy corner, with sets of drawers in a corner and all his puzzles and color sorters and stuff like that. I think I could make it a little more ENTICING and defined... I'll go look at your pictures. :)

[PeterPan]

Sparkler--What a fun room! What size is your flannelgraph? There's a larger and smaller, so I was just wondering. And I think I saw three pocketcharts (or more? lol) in your room. There was the folding standing kind, a small one on the wall, and a large on the back of your cart. Which is it your 3 yo likes to play with? And what types of things does he like to do with it? I can imagine, but I just wanted to hear.

 

Well that was fun to see your pictures. Thanks! :)

 

Ok, just went back to look at the things you linked to. We have a tanagrams thing like that, and he *does* like them! We just need a larger surface to work on. Maybe I'm making this too hard? I need to think about this. I had seen those other two things at the Lakeshore Learning store, wondered about them, and didn't know how well kids liked them. Now I know! :)

 

So do you set any kinds of parameters on your 3 you during your school time? You have a closed in space (we're in an open basement that connects to the main floor with open stairs, no door). Do you allow him to roam as long as he's in the room? Does he have table time or a defined corner time? And oh, did you make those schedules? Wow. I've been trying to make parallel schedules for my two, hehe.

Edited March 27, 2011 by OhElizabeth

[babysparkler]

Sparkler--What a fun room! What size is your flannelgraph? There's a larger and smaller, so I was just wondering. And I think I saw three pocketcharts (or more? lol) in your room. There was the folding standing kind, a small one on the wall, and a large on the back of your cart. Which is it your 3 yo likes to play with? And what types of things does he like to do with it? I can imagine, but I just wanted to hear.

 

Well that was fun to see your pictures. Thanks! :)

 

I bought it used, so I don't know if it is considered the large or the small... but it measures 23" x 14". Yes, we do have a lot of pocket charts :) LOL. A couple of them are from learning resources and have the solar system and the body themes, with magnets that go onto the magnetic board attached and word cards for the pockets... I got these on huge clearance a year or so ago. The others are just normal ones (the red ones on the wall are from the target $1 section at the beginning of the school year). Right now he likes to do what big brother can do, so he plays with the easy sight word cards (puts word side up and trys to figure out the word, then self-checks by flipping it over to the picture... he gets so excited when one is correct) and he uses letter cards to try to spell words (especially his name!). He also likes to put the alphabet cards and number cards in order. Sometimes I will suggest he sort them... put the animals on the first line, the vehicles on the second line, etc.

[Karen in CO]

My darling nephew at 3 was um... well.... yeah. Just like that. My brother asked me if I thought maybe there was something wrong with the boy. However, he is terrific if he's outside. He loves to play. Big physical play. Exercise is great for them. Hide and seek is an awesome game. My brother actually got a dog for my nephew to chase around to help keep him busy. My sil has been working on her PhD for a long time so she spent a lot of time trying to work/write while he was this age.

 

His favorite activities besides running around and exploring outside were puzzles, hammer and tack toys, his wooden train sets that he'd setup across the living room floor, one of those baseball toys that holds the ball so the kid can hit it, and as a last resort a smart cycle. However, nothing really beats getting the work done during naps or after the little one has passed out for the night.

 

When my dd was 3, ds and I would take work to the park so she could play and he could work. I don't remember the exact reason, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with her being 3 and him being 13.

[babysparkler]

 

So do you set any kinds of parameters on your 3 you during your school time? You have a closed in space (we're in an open basement that connects to the main floor with open stairs, no door). Do you allow him to roam as long as he's in the room? Does he have table time or a defined corner time? And oh, did you make those schedules? Wow. I've been trying to make parallel schedules for my two, hehe.

 

Our school room opens to our living area, so he will many times go there and pull out his train set or little people, and I can see him from my seat in the school room. If he goes upstairs, it is usually with a sibling... my dd9 loves to take him to her room to do "preschool" (she will make a great teacher someday... she even makes her own worksheets and manipulatives for him, and has a little play table in her room that she designates as the "school table" LOL) or he will go play his computer upstairs in the loft area (just outside the school room and up so I can still keep him in sight.) I have an old 1995 computer up there with learning games from forever ago that he likes to navigate through... his favorite is a "coloring/drawing" game. Sometimes he will go out to the backyard with Ds5 (also in good view through the living room and out the window. We used to have our school room in a back room, but recently moved it here for better visibility. Oh, and we have this running mat game that he loves to run on in the living room. This is my one child who really NEEDS supervision... the others I could trust, but this one is my daring one who would have no second thoughts on jumping off of the top bunk or even over the balcony for fun... and has been known to take his scissors to the window blinds and sharpies to the wall... so I really do keep a close eye on every minute (with my big helpers at times).

 

Yes, I made those schedules. I need to have it all layed out before the school year hits or I fall quickly behind :) I schedule in "reading to sibling" time into my older kids' schedules, and playtime for the younger boys as well. We are somewhat flexible with the schedule, but it usually flows pretty easily. I don't really schedule Ds3's time, but it flows naturally with the others... he likes to sit in on story/reading time, and loves to be around while the others are working. Ds3 is very interested in Ds5's work, so while Ds5 is doing his handwriting, for example, I let Ds3 do "his" handwriting (using a clear plastic page protector, some printed out letter and number handwriting sheets, and a wipeoff marker... he works right along side of big brother. He calls his number sheets his "math" and asks for them often.

[wapiti]

Table issue - we have a lovely maple table but I rarely see the wood LOL - tablecloth. I have a plain beige waterproof one underneath a cloth one, but when the kids are busy on it, I take off the cloth and just go with the waterproof. It's just a rectangular piece from Jo Ann - I think it might be called Marine Vinyl, or else it's on the same rack as the marine vinyl, in the back of the store. It has a white felt backing, it's sturdier than "regular" plastic tablecloths, and comes in a small variety of ugly colors. It's thick enough that it doesn't move a whole lot. Downside is that coloring and writing need a harder surface underneath (plastic placemats work for this).

 

Or maybe your idea of the small table/chair would be better - I see these all the time but I have no place to put it (target? costco?). Or a special work area on the floor. My kids seem to really, really like little tables and chairs. (of course, moments ago, I turned around to see little dd on top of the big kitchen table, kid scissors in one hand and AA battery in her mouth - eek!!! seriously! in case you ever wonder why my posts are disjointed...)

 

There was just a thread on the other board about making sandpaper letters - maybe he's on the young side today to be interested or maybe not (how much does he notice letters?), but surely within the year he might find them interesting. I'd take a look at those sorts of more academic Montessori activities because I think they'd be right up your alley. It won't be wasted effort, especially if you're planning on preschool at home for him.

 

OK, I think you just inspired me to get a small table and chairs! We had one years ago that my parents got at a garage sale or something, and it eventually broke, and I've resisted getting another one for so long, though I don't think I really considered it since the time before I had #5 and #6. The only question is whether it would be more of a danger due to the climbing, and whether they'll want to sit at the big table anyway.

[PeterPan]

Karen, I think you were exactly where we're at. He loves his train and baseball stand. (Both of which are great, until they turn into weapons, haha.) Yes, I think we're going to have to do some outdoor school when the weather improves. Right now it's still FRIGID! Somehow dd thinks the nice weather means she gets to play too, hehe. But we'll manage. We've always done school outside for an hour or two once the weather turns nice.

 

That hammer and tack toy looks neat!!! I'm trying to figure out if we could make something like that ourselves. I think we have lots of those little nails. Are the figures pre-drilled with holes, or does the child just nail through them randomly where they will? See I have some pieces of corkboard. If I got little figures from Hobby Lobby or whatever and painted them, we'd be there.

[Karen in CO]

The figures are pre-drilled. Wooden pattern blocks would work if you drilled holes in them.

[PeterPan]

Sparkler--I totally forgot about my old computer!!!! That mat looks neat too.

 

Wapiti--You're cracking me up here, lol. The tablecloth sounds good. I talked with dd, and we definitely think STRAPPING HIM into the chair is an essential component of it. Then she lamented that I'd still have to interact with him. Well duh, of course. I think she's *jealous* and wants me all to herself. :)

 

Sandpaper letters? Ok, I have some early learner Montessori stuff I can look at. I kept all my RS stuff, which of course he loves fiddling with. We do letters with puzzles, singing, etc. to work on his speech, so he's definitely aware of them.

 

Oh Sparkler, I'll play dumb here. When you say wipe off markers, what kind do you mean? We have window crayons, dry-erase markers, dry-erase crayons, etc. I let him use the ones on the dry-erase board, but wow do I always feel a bit anxious about where they could end up, lol. If you have a safer product, I'm all ears.

Edited March 27, 2011 by OhElizabeth

[PeterPan]

The figures are pre-drilled. Wooden pattern blocks would work if you drilled holes in them.

 

Perfect! That makes sense. I think dh probably has drill bits that small. Now to use some creativity. Are the pieces they give in the kits smaller than what would be in the thin, pre-cut wooden figures section of Hobby Lobby? Sometimes when you try so hard you don't save anything, lol. I was just thinking I was awfully close if I could figure it out. Cool. Nuts, he'd probably just like the hammering, irrespective of WHAT he was hammering. And it wouldn't be too loud with those tiny nails.

 

I'm being a goober. I just looked at the pics again, and those figures are all very tiny and intricate. I couldn't replicate that at home without a lot of hassle.

[Tohru]

I've always said 2 and 3 year-olds are much, much worse than babies. :D

 

For us, 3 seems to be the absolute worse age. My 3 yro is driving me insane. She throws a tantrum at 8:30am EVERY morning. Going through Target or the grocery store is like low-crawling through a minefield with an aerial battle overhead.

 

My 3 yro seems to have abandonment issues (even tho we are together 24 hours a day). If I leave the room without her, she screams, "You LEFT ME! You LEFT ME!" If she wakes up and her sister is already up (they share a room), she screams, "You LEFT ME!" It's horrible.

 

And school, fuggetaboutit! You'll just have to "include" her in your lesson plans. :glare:

 

Oh, another warning - mine wants to change outfits every hour on the hour. Oh, and if that green snowflake dress is dirty...oh, watch out! 35 minutes of screaming is comin' your way!!

 

Let's not even mention the "sampling" and "grazing". Food must be presented in a buffet with a wide variety of finger foods arranged in a Cookie Monster pattern. Any attempt to sit down for a normal meal will be met with resistance! Resistance, I tell you!!

 

And, if we don't want to sit in our carseat...we're going to ARCH our backs! And we can hold this position for hours.

 

 

Sorry, I'm just not very encouraging. Can you tell my 3 yro is driving me crazy?? :tongue_smilie: Mine seem to get better around 4. And by 6 or 7, they are model citizens. When I watch my 9 yro vaccuuming the living room, it's hard to remember her as a 2 yro throwing a gigantic tantrum as we were leaving the mall and slapping me all the way out to the parking lot.

 

Ah, sigh. It's a thankless job, but somebody's gotta do it. :svengo:

 

OH ROFL!

Thank you for such humorous honesty. I really needed to read that I'm not the only one. Your words are going to make me laugh as I drag my 3yo through the grocery store today and explain, yet again, that the penny pony ride-on is still tired (aka broken) and can't give her a ride.

[PeterPan]

OH ROFL!

Thank you for such humorous honesty. I really needed to read that I'm not the only one. Your words are going to make me laugh as I drag my 3yo through the grocery store today and explain, yet again, that the penny pony ride-on is still tired (aka broken) and can't give her a ride.

 

With my dd11 I never put the pennies in, just acted like it was there to sit on and pretend. So now she thinks ds is SPOILED because I put the penny in. :lol:

[merry gardens]

What do 3 year olds do? What does yours do during school time? My ds is almost exactly 2 1/2, and let's just say it's HARD to get school done. Dd wants me right there with her (or life has no meaning) and the toddler wants to play games, cut, and throw. Oh he's great to do things with! It's just you actually have to DO things with him. Or you end up with big messes. And dumped out books every where. And climbing the furniture in ways you didn't think possible. And people being whacked by swords or rammed with trucks. Or... You get the idea.

 

Tell me 3 is different. What will be happening this fall? I'm trying to plan out our school stuff for fall, and honestly it's hard to see how we get stuff done. I mean we get stuff done, but it's constantly disrupted, meaning we work together in snippets. Is he going to his some magical developmental stage? What did your BOYS, active, hitting, whacking, climbing BOYS do at age 3 to 3 1/2?

 

PS. Before things were great. He used to sit in his booster seat with tray so nicely and just work. I'd feed him snacks or books and he'd fiddle with stuff while I guided dd. Nope, no more. Now it's whang, bang, throw, play big or go home. Clearly I'm missing something in my techniqe! If I put him at a kiddee table, he'd walk away. His tray on the booster seat is too small, even though he doesn't mind being strapped in. If I pull him up to the main table, he reaches and gets into everything. Ok, it's a big table (5X7). Maybe I'm not being brilliant enough logistically? Tell me what I'm missing!

 

PPS. Sometimes he naps, and sometimes he doesn't. Is there a normal age to outgrow that?

Three is different. It is one of my favorite ages! I love three. A three year old's communication skills are significantly more advanced from a two year old's. They can use words to say what they want. They can play for longer periods of time. They begin to use their imagination and the world is magical. Three year olds still get into everything, but they can remember that some things that they've gotten into in the past are unpleasant.

 

I enjoyed Starrbuck's post too, but she wrote about a three year old girl. Yes, my three year old girls wanted to change their outfits hourly. My three year old boys? I had to prey their favorite dirty, crusty clothes off their bodies. If given the option, they would never change their clothes. I know that response seems stereo-typically--but my girls and boys are stereo-typical. Most are, hence--the stereo-types. My three year old boys were entertained primarily by building toys, cars, trucks and trains, balls and sports, knights and castles, etc.

[babysparkler]

 

Oh Sparkler, I'll play dumb here. When you say wipe off markers, what kind do you mean? We have window crayons, dry-erase markers, dry-erase crayons, etc. I let him use the ones on the dry-erase board, but wow do I always feel a bit anxious about where they could end up, lol. If you have a safer product, I'm all ears.

 

We use dry-erase markers... I like the ones with the magnetic lid & built-in eraser so that they stick back on the board when they are done and are easily accessible. Like these but we have a different brand.

[cjzimmer1]

Well I've always said whoever invented the phrase "terrible twos" never had a three year old. Really I think the worse stage is from about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2. My 2 youngest are only 20 months apart so we have been/will be in this phase permanently for about 3 years by the time they get the kinks worked out. What has worked for us. Number one the older kids absolutely must be able to do the majority of their work independent of me. That is my number one criteria when picking curriculum, can the child self-teach with this? Sure I would love to sit and work with each child individually and explain each subject but really with 2 little ones, I might get 30-60 minutes of one-one time with each older child (actually that's only 2 of them the oldest truly doesn't need me for anything) and that's not enough time to teach and help with troubles so one-one time is reserved for trouble spots and teaching is done through well selected curriculum.

 

As far as keeping little ones busy, we have a large selection of things that are totally off-limits any time except during school time. These are rotated with a few options each day being available. The newness helps significantly. Markers, crayons, specially coloring pages, color wonder, dot art paint (it's a huge hit around here since paint is normally off limits completely in this house but the dot paints really keep things cleaner), foam stickers, glitter glue, playdough. You could even have some trucks or special building toys that are only used during school.

 

We have a mandatory quiet time in our house. Until a kid is five they have to stay in their room for 1-2 hours. They are disciplined if they run in and out ( and a 2 or 3 year old would be disciplined if they don't stay in the bed. I just went through this with my 2 year old and 2 days of punishment and she no longer gets out of bed and nicely takes her naps every day). Nine time out of ten any of my kids in that age will fall asleep even though if normally they are able to go the whole day without a nap. This is usually when I get the one on one time with the other kids.

 

It's a tough age but it doesn't last forever even though it feels like it.

[Mom in High Heels]

OMG, 3 is sooooo much worse than 2 ever thought about being. Three makes 2 look like a cake walk. We never had a terrible two stage, but I swear the day the turned 3 it was like he was a different child. He was never a hitter or a daredevil or anything (thank goodness!) but he became very opinionated and wanted to do things for himself that made EVERYTHING 10 times more difficult for me. I was so happy to see 4, nearly cried.

I can't believe I'm going to have to do it all over again with this baby! I don't even want to think about it. HUGS! The only thing I can say is that it won't last forever. Until then, there's always wine. ;)

[babysparkler]

My three year old boys? I had to prey their favorite dirty, crusty clothes off their bodies. If given the option, they would never change their clothes.

 

Isn't THIS the truth! Mine grow attached to their clothes... almost literally :lol::lol::lol:

[KLA]

I'm right there with you and it is hard.

 

I went to David Hazel (MFW) l's lecture on this very topic at the convention in Greenville. I did end up buying a lot of the MFW toddler/preschool toys (most are made by Lauri) because the are versatile and seem right up my 2 year old's alley. They will go into a preschool box for only school time. You can see them in the MFW catalog/website. Much of them have to be done together but hopefully she will grow into understanding how to play alone with some of them. They seem like toys that will keep her busy (particularly if rotated and alternated).

 

Oh and, mine will actually play a lottle better by herself if there is a kids music CD playing, especially if it has children's voices. Don't know why, but it helps.

 

I do use some TV time when necessary and have thought about pre-school a bit for next year. However, a friend of mine ended up pulling her child out of pre-school because it required way too much of her (class programs, parties, cupcakes needed etc) and defeated the entire point :).

 

KLA

[8circles]

My current 3 yr-old might be the death of me.

[PeterPan]

Sparkler, yes, those are the dry-erase markers I use with dd. Ds2 found them and adores them, which is what was scaring me. But if that's what yours uses, then I'm gonna chill.

 

KLA, thanks for the heads-up on the MFW toddler stuff! I got their catalog and hadn't even had a chance to look! And you're right, I'm going to have to keep my eyes open at the convention next week. Timberdoodle will be there, and they have amazing stuff too. There's this flip thing (Luk, baby luk?? I forget) that I think he'll be ready for. I totally forgot about that.

 

Well ya'll can keep the ideas coming. I really do appreciate it. Oh, on the music you're right he LOVES having music playing. Drives dd batty (working memory) and he loves it, go figure, lol. We try to compromise and keep it soft. I just thought he was eccentric, didn't know others did it. He'll even turn it on while people are watching tv, hehe... Oh, oh, I should get him some books on tape!!!!!!!! Why didn't I think of that!!! He could turn the pages and listen. Zing!

[8circles]

Oh, oh, I should get him some books on tape!!!!!!!! Why didn't I think of that!!! He could turn the pages and listen. Zing!

 

My 3 yr-old monster loves these!

[KLA]

Oh, I found 2 board books at Barnes and Noble in the discount section - one is Elmo animals and one is Mickey Mouse counting. They both came with the book read on CD's with a couple songs too. These have been awesome!

 

What about Color Wonder stuff too? My daughter was not that impressed but she is not even 2.5 yet so maybe later. Playdoh works too if I sit next to her and make a few things for her now and then too.

 

Oh and...if you can on Pandora you can make a "toddler radio" station that plays all the favorites too.

 

Great thread - I need more ideas too!

 

KLA

Kerry

[PeterPan]

I have some color wonder stuff and he didn't get into it. It was sort of slow to colorize as he swiped it. Maybe we were doing something wrong? He wasn't impressed. We bought flour and koolaid last night to make more playdough. :)

[LynnG in Arizona]

I am finding 3 years old worse than 2 year old. Sorry.

 

45 minutes of crying over the littlest things....never wanting to go in her carseat.....never wanting to go anywhere except the museum and the park.....eating all day long but never finishing a full meal....temper tantrums....stripping off her clothes at a moments notice right when it's time to leave the house.

 

Old enough to notice everything and either want it or be upset by it but not yet old enough for time out or bribery to work well.

 

Ok, I just have to say that I feel oddly encouraged by this and similar posts. While I definitely feel your pain - and wouldn't wish it on anyone - I am just glad to know I am not alone.

 

My 3.5 year old son has been acting like he has a permanent case of PMS lately. :lol:

 

He has lately given up his nap - so painful after having three daughters who napped till they were 5 - and is pretty much an unholy terror from around 1 pm until bedtime. :glare:

 

And I have certain people in my life who look at him like he is an alien and assume we are working very, very hard to mess him up in this way. We are not.

 

So, yeah, I find this thread to be very heartening. :)

[Giraffe]

I can't wait for age 4.

 

I really am excited for age 5.

 

Enough said. ;)

[LynnG in Arizona]

To the person who posted about their 3 yo arching their back and holding it for hours . . .

 

Oh, that brought back memories of my oldest doing that exact same thing to me every morning. When I was pregnant. When my husband was out of town. When I had to get to work at a professional, stressful job.

 

And now that soul is a 19 yo college sophomore, doing well at university and just a pleasure. They do change . . . it just takes a while.

 

And I try to tell myself that I shouldn't be wishing my 3.5 yo's childhood away. But . . . I gotta tell y'all . . . 4 and especially 5 look really, really appealing right now. ;)