Ecclecticmum Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Hi, Rather a newbie to "formal" homeschooling, and quite new to the forum (although have been lurking for quite a while) We are currently doing p3/4 & P4/5 with some supplements. We are usually finished by lunch, and I originally thought the kids would be happy to have "free play" till Daddy gets home, however, its not working, they are bored with a capital B lol. We have a toy shop worth of toys and games etc, but they want something more interesting, more like the school we do in the morning.... They like scheduled days, so okay now that we've done this, now we do this etc. We've tried a lot of books like tv free for toddlers, kids etc, but they are more trouble then they're worth. Is there some sort of box/pre-planned curriculum for games to play, activities to do, stuff to paint etc? We have artistic pursuits coming, but I wasn't planning on doing that every day all afternoon lol. So is there a curriculum that just concentrates on "non-learning" fun stuff to do? I am at my wits end and the state of my house will thank you, as they tend to make a "mess" when they are bored lol. Thank you very much for any help xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorrainejmc Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 You could try Artistic Pursuits one day, cooking one day, maybe Music for Little Mozarts if you have a piano/keyboard, or some other music/action rhymes activity. There are lots of craft/activity books from Amazon for this age group, maybe seasonal crafts on one day? You can also get craft boxes, my dd had the Alex Toys Giant Busy box available from Amazon, as well as a Crayola crafts box. She spent a couple of hours a day at that age doing crafts while ds was napping. I am not aware of a boxed curriculum for this type of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Have you looked into the Five in a Row series? It's lots of fun and has plenty of activities you can choose from. You can go as in depth as you like. I blogged about a few of the FIAR lessons we did. You can see them in action here. I'm glad I started with FIAR as a gentle introduction to homeschooling. It was a great springboard to start out with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I definitely recommend FIAR. Lots of fun learning. I used it as a supplement with my first, but I will use it as our main curriculum for my next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I have three little ones, too, and I've learned that they usually don't play well until I let them get "bored". It's not until they're sure that I'm not going to entertain them or turn on the TV for them that they start the really fantastic imaginative play. But then once they get a good game going, they can go for HOURS. Before you try scheduling more "school", I'd let them be a little bored. ;) We are going to be doing some loose (no writing component) preschool in the fall, and I think our daily schedule will be something like this: get up, dressed, eat breakfast do our work--Sonlight P3/4, bible stories, songs free play around the house or go on an outing/play date lunch outside time (backyard or take a walk) rest time in rooms art, playdoh, or the like (max 30 minutes) free play until daddy gets home I'm going to try to leave the TV off until the late afternoon, and only then turn it on if they're making it impossible for me to get dinner started. As you can see, that's pretty loose--no "times", but I think it'll work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Another thing I've done is make a visual schedule with the sorts of things we do during the day (lunch, rest, play outside, go to the library, etc--as many as I could think of). Mine seem much more accepting of "play with toys" time if it's got the same weight on the schedule as "art" or "school". If I can make it an event on the schedule, they'll usually go for it. I have the various activities printed out and on magnets, and I put them in order on a magnet board. In the morning, we gather up and discuss what's on the board for the day. They love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Thanks :) My friend let me "borrow" her scanned in version of her FIAR volume...and it sent me to sleep :lol: But maybe I had the wrong version, or something, so I will re-look into that. The get enough books, daddy reads to them copiously of a night, every single night, The get sonlight readers of a morning and go-alongs, we have the rock n learn stuff and similar dvds. A says she wants more painting, shes obsessed with painting, E wants more puzzles like the ziploc preschool baggies (I still had some of the preschool activities in a bag stuff) and C...well he just wants to destroy stuff and watch Phonics Vol1 of rock n learn all the time rofl. I am just really completely useless at coming up with ANY ideas in regards to ANYTHING lol. The preschool activities in a bag was okay....just too much time to setup and too "formal" iykwim? I'd prefer something similar thats more about sorting and general play, like the small few I have found on the many many many preschool bag blogs I have visited (and I mean I have visited a LOT) I guess its just another one of those things where I will have to do heaps of research, gathering, and making my own loose schedule/bucket of activities. My kids are good at making a HUGE mess of nothing too. So those sorting games with the beads etc, the beads would just be dumped everywhere, and I'd be finding them for weeks. I'm still finding pegs from the mosaic peg board around, the cats think there mice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I have three little ones, too, and I've learned that they usually don't play well until I let them get "bored". It's not until they're sure that I'm not going to entertain them or turn on the TV for them that they start the really fantastic imaginative play. But then once they get a good game going, they can go for HOURS. Before you try scheduling more "school", I'd let them be a little bored. ;) We are going to be doing some loose (no writing component) preschool in the fall, and I think our daily schedule will be something like this: get up, dressed, eat breakfast do our work--Sonlight P3/4, bible stories, songs free play around the house or go on an outing/play date lunch outside time (backyard or take a walk) rest time in rooms art, playdoh, or the like (max 30 minutes) free play until daddy gets home I'm going to try to leave the TV off until the late afternoon, and only then turn it on if they're making it impossible for me to get dinner started. As you can see, that's pretty loose--no "times", but I think it'll work well. :iagree: This is how our day goes, except we do rest time before outside time otherwise they're all riled up before quiet time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in WA Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 ...I've learned that they usually don't play well until I let them get "bored". It's not until they're sure that I'm not going to entertain them or turn on the TV for them that they start the really fantastic imaginative play. But then once they get a good game going, they can go for HOURS. Before you try scheduling more "school", I'd let them be a little bored. ;):iagree: It is so good to let children figure out how to play on their own. I actually think we do a disservice to our children when we plan and orchestrate every bit of their time. Just a bit of encouragement - With a house of little children, your house will probably be a mess (as OP said in her original post) until everyone goes to sleep. My friend calls this a "working house" and I love that phrase! Do you have any type of rest time in your day? If not, I highly recommend it! Put your three in a place all alone (unless they have great self control and can not talk/bug each other) and give them a stack of books or quiet toys (PlayMobil, puzzles, paper dolls) they can play with on their very own. Books on CD or special music CDs are perfect for this time. In our house (until this last year), rest time/quiet time/reading time/mommy's sanity time was 1 to 3 pm. My friend put a smiley face on the inside of their doors to tell the kids it was time to get up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 We've been using the Rod and Staff 3/4 year old books, and we'll go into their PreK series (the ABC books) next. It's pretty much busy work at this point for mine, but it keeps him quiet while the big kids do school. Mostly. Sometimes. :glare: It is teaching him how to color nicely, though, which is something my big kids never mastered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Thanks again :) I am letting them have lots of free time, and free play, for instance we did noahs ark book, and put a blanket over the tables and saved the animals, we finished that about 15 minutes ago, right now they are having dinosaur wars, and eating snacks in their ark, as well as generally running around with the "got loose" animals rofl. I should edit my original post to be more specific. I just want a curriculum/book of activity bags & ideas to use as jumping off points for their play, so many things seem to be number this, match letters etc, which is not what we're after. I'll porbably just make my own activity book with ideas gleaned from everywhere some tot/lapbooks, painting ideas, and bind the thing myself lol. I was just hoping there would be a place that would have what I want so I could save time, but as with everything good, it always requires numero uno doing it. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Have you thought about using Miquon with your DC5? That is a great age to start. You will not believe what they will pick up with Miquon. Also, my kids love math manipulatives. My DD3 loves tangrams and counters. My DS5 especially loves the 100's board. My DS5 also loves Hands On Thinking Skills from Critical Thinking. Sorry I don't have time to add links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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