Lori D. Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I have a friend who has 2 DSs: older is 2.5yo, younger is a baby. She is thinking of homeschooling, and wants to start older DS when he is 3yo with formal preschool learning. I would like to steer her towards informal learning -- read to him, do fun activities, field trips -- no formal curriculum until at least 5yo. BUT, it is her decision, so I would like to also have options (and wisdom from BTDT moms!) to suggest to my friend as she researches. (Interesting side note: my friend was homeschooled by her mom, all the way from Kinder through high school! We haven't had a chance to talk further for me to know more details.) While our own family has homeschooled for 12 years, we started with 1st & 2nd grades, and so did not do preschool or kinder activities at home. So if you have homeschooled those ages, I would really like to know what you all recommend. Thanks so much in advance! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 While I like to keep learning informal during the preschool years, I do like materials that guide my boys. *MFW's Toddler and Preschool sets (mostly a bunch of Lauri toys) *SL P3/4 (a bunch of great picture books) These two make up my perfect preschool but I have had some preschoolers ask, "Is it my turn to do maf?" I've found that the Rod and Staff About Three series and the ABC series work great for that. I also start Singapore Essential Math A and Developing the Early Learner books when they are ready. That's usually around 4-4.5 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikdeb Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 For me, it has depended on the child a bit. My workbook lovers all enjoyed the About Three series of workbooks that is sold by Christian Light and Rod & Staff. Some of them have also enjoyed R&S's ABC series, or the Explode the Code Primers. I'm not good at projects, so we have been enjoying Carol's Affordable Curriculum with my 1yo and 4yo recently. Super duper easy for us, and fun. We tried LHTH, and ended up pretty much just reading the children's Bible storybook and the ABC Bible verses, but we've really enjoyed that, too, and my 4yo is learning the ABC verses very well with the repetition. I like to have organized preschool stuff to do, so the little ones don't get lost in the shuffle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 This is very helpful! I suspect my friend would like this type of gentle structure, plus the variety. Also, thank you for including how/when you use these items. Thanks so much! Warmly, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 We tried LHTH, and ended up pretty much just reading the children's Bible storybook and the ABC Bible verses, but we've really enjoyed that, too, and my 4yo is learning the ABC verses very well with the repetition. Yes, I think my friend would like some variety, and these look like great resources, too! But... what is LHTH? Thanks so much! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Timberdoodle has some fun stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My oldest didn't need it, but for my 2nd (who was a late talker) and 3rd (who has autism) I used/am using the Core Knowledge What Your Preschooler Needs to Know Activity Book. It is inexpensive and can be done in 10-15 minutes per day. It may be too basic for many HS children, but it's really good for those who need something a bit more explicit and systematic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Around here we are using: MEP Reception (dd likes this because it has squirrels, which we don't in Australia, not even at the zoo, sadly!) Some of the Kumon workbooks (she has a thing for workbooks) A few dvds- The Mr Men Alphabet Hunt (the English version of your Letter Factory, I think) and 'We Might be Giants' numbers and science. Lots of puzzles and beginners board games from the toy library (oh how I love the toy library!) We do a few other things, a bit of phonics using fridge magnets, random art stuff and I read while she's doing the puzzles; both picture books and chapter books. At the moment we're reading a Mr Men book per day and we've just finished the last chapter of Heidi. Oh yeah, and we have some posters we rotate whenever she stalls out on a topic. I use a lot of Dover stained glass colouring books (usually coloured in by myself) as focuses for vocab units, since dd is several years speech delayed. Pic of violin/squirrel/tulips stuck up on the window, themed jigsaw puzzle perhaps, watch a clip of violin players/squirrels/tulips on youtube, read some books or watch a documentary, yadda yadda. There are heaps of tot school blogs. Your friend could easily lose herself in those for several hours. They weren't much use to me because of dd's speech delay, but I think most people would find at least a few good ideas in there. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I like Sonlight's P3/4 and FIAR for a reading list. For "academics," we just do a letter of the week type thing at 3. When kids are 4, I start ETC primers, Saxon K, HWOT and OPGTR. I'm not sure how much of that could be done by a 3 year old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 LHTH is Little Hands to Heaven, a program from HOD. We have used Sonlight P4/5 and LHTH for Preschool. We have also collected a lot of Lauri toys and love those. My ds3 right now is working on R&S ABC Preschool workbooks and listening to all of the other books we read. I'll start him with McRuffy math when he seems ready. He is very eager to learn- my older two were a little older before we started much formal learning. It really does depend on the child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ednkirstin Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I used "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" with all my preschoolers. I only had one child who wasn't ready to learn to read until she was 6. The rest of them began the book by age 4. My youngest, who is now 5, reads at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. Every child is different, and I'm one to give my preschoolers LOTS of free play time, but if they're eager to learn I'm not going to hold them back. I will say I made a point of teaching my kids to read before I did any other formal schooling with them. If they hadn't learned to read, we didn't start any math books. Maybe this wouldn't work for all families, but it has worked well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaBear Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LearnLaughLove Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Seasons of Joy has been great for my preschoolers! I add in a little math (through play) and alphabet/letter sounds and its perfect. http://www.ourseasonsofjoy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Seasons of Joy has been great for my preschoolers! I add in a little math (through play) and alphabet/letter sounds and its perfect. http://www.ourseasonsofjoy.com This looks great! I'm definitely getting the advent one at Christmas. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmomjacquie Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We are using the about three series next.year for my littles. Also putting together mu own lotw type thing with lapbooks/units from homeschool share and themes to go with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Could you steer her toward a routine rather than a curriculum? When my oldest two were 3 & 2 and then 4 & 3, we had a pretty set routine. The baby would always take a morning nap around 9 am, so we would sit down to read stories and then do little art projects together. It kept the big kids quiet while the baby napped and it felt like I was doing something productive with them without pushing them into academics. After the baby woke up, we would go out. We had a whole routine for where we would go each day. Monday we went to the zoo or the botanical gardens with a picnic lunch, Tuesday we went to library storytime, Wednesday we went to the free preschool class at the Museum of Art or to the Children's Museum, Thursday we did our grocery shopping, and Friday we went to our park playgroup. We would usually invite friends along to the zoo and museums. Those years were so much fun. They learned so much, but it was all very appropriate for preschoolers and never required any kind of formal curriculum. If your friend is really wanting to teach, I would steer her towards manipulatives and learning toys rather than a curriculum. I think counters, pattern blocks, HWT manipulatives, a science table (the kind that can be filled with water or sand), and lots of art supplies are always a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Love MEP Reception. We had fun with parts of Letter of the Week. My kids enjoyed Get Ready ..., Get Set ..., Go for the Code books (Explode the Code Primer A-C) They liked that better than the regular Explode the Code books. Artistic Pursuits preschool "The Way they See It" has some fun ideas and is easy to adapt and extend. The Lauri shape/color sorter, Mighty Mind puzzles, and pattern blocks are things my kids have enjoyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Thank you so much, all. :) Wonderful ideas and suggestions! I am printing out all of your responses to pass on to my friend. Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I used Sonlight P3/4 with my 3 year old because it was just great stories. We did add some activities for her because she enjoyed them. She started reading beginner books at 3 so at 3.5 I started OPGTR with her but the rest of the learning was just loads of read alouds, counting and doing play word sums (she loves make believe and loves to imagine things so would do addition in her head just by imagining the stories) Since she turned 4 I have started curricula with her. Maybe send your friend to www.1plus1plus1equals1.com to look at what many people do with their tots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) My kids loved Starfall.com when they were younger. They learned their alphabet and sounds through it. It is fun and free. They also have a more extensive area you can pay for but we've never done that. I plan on doing a mix of Starfall, Before Five In a Row and freebies with my delayed 3 year old. I love confessionsofahomeschooler.com's preschool and K4 stuff. You do have to print it yourself. Most of it is free on her website or you can buy a huge download of her pre-k and K4 for $10 each. I also love 1+1+1=1's free preschool stuff. She has numerous programs available. They are free but you can buy them each separate in huge downloads with extras for $10. I love homeschoolcreations.com free preschool stuff. Some other companies to check out with freebies are: http://www.3dinosaurs.com/ http://prekinders.com/ http://www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/ http://www.2teachingmommies.com/ Homeschoolshare.com has a TON of preschooling freebies. I adore their site. Edited April 25, 2012 by teeniebeenie6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 How To Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way has given me so much inspiration and food for thought. It's a broad introduction, not a specific how-to, but so important to my relationship with my kid, as both a mom and a "teacher." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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