Y'all are making me panic

[UmMusa]

I've seen lots of preschool topics in the past few days... my youngest is 3.5, will turn 4 end of December.

 

I honestly didn't think to do anything structured with her besides what we naturally do..... so when do you introduce real letter recognition? reading?

 

OPTGR or 100 EZ Lessons??

 

This caught me off guard!!!

 

FTR, she counts, sings, looks at books, recognizes shapes, jumps, hops, paints, rides a bike, hula hoops, and does tons of stuff with us. I think I'm just wondering about reading stuff.

[Lily_Grace]

We'll introduce formal reading lessons here when there's an interest. I have a box of lowercase plastic tactile letters to play with and when my now-2.5yo starts trying to make words and figure out what his books say, then we'll start lessons - probably 100 EZ Lessons with our own twist to it instead of using the script.

[blondeviolin]

I haven't actually taught letter recognition to any of my kids. I just stick them in front of LeapFrog's Letter Factory until they know them. LOL

 

As far as learning to read, I taught the older two when they could blend sounds into words, were beginning to rhyme, and started asking me how to spell things...

[spaceman]

I tend to start early, but I certainly don't think everyone *has* to.

 

Do what works for your family.

[sewingmama]

Around 4 is when I start testing the waters to see if they are ready. When they can complete the ETC Get Ready books without help I start introducing them to blending.

 

That was my plan anyway ;) My DD took aaagggesss to figure out blending - I think she got it around 5 and then after a year of lessons is now reading at 1st grade level.

 

With my DS1 - well I bought him the first book in the series and realised it was useless to teach him his sounds because he had already taught himself to read :001_huh:

 

My almost 3yo - can't even say the ABC's yet. He can recognise 2 letters. I won't be starting him for a long while :D

[Ellie]

Please don't panic. The words "preschool" and "curriculum" would not have been said in the same breath by many of us. It certainly would not have occurred to *me* that my dc needed anything other than what parents have been doing with their very young children for thousands of years.

[MomatHWTK]

My youngest is my first pre-schooler that has been ready for anything really structured. (Or maybe they were and I didn't push? Who can remember?) Anyway, this particular child watched the LeapFrog videos early and is fascinated by letters, etc. so we are doing more of that with him. I think the fact that everyone else goes to the "school" room and does stuff each day makes him more interested as well. He's not reading though! He just likes saying the letters and their sounds. Over and over and over and over... ;)

[Amy Jo]

I don't do structured at all. My just turned 6 yo knows some letter sounds, can recognize/write numbers and family members' names, has done some science (BFSU), and we've been working on pencil grip. We'll be doing more this year, but I'm pretty relaxed for little kids. I'll work on character, but unless they want to we don't do much academics. DD may be different, who knows. :P

[chepyl]

I did not start with my older son until he was 4.5. I purchased a basic skills kindergarten workbook for fun. It was mazes amd matching and sequencing. He absolutely loved it! We started 100 ez lessons because he genuinely wanted to learn. We sped through the book because he was motivated AND ready.

 

DD has been doing "school" since she was 3. Only because she wanted to be like her brother. I gave her coloring books, mazes, and some very basic preschool stuff. We used part of brightly beaming's preparatory curriculum. She wants to read now, but I don't think she is quite ready. We are doing 100ez lessons as she asks for her "letter book."

 

Don't stress over it. You will know when your child is ready.

[boscopup]

No need to panic! You don't need to do anything. :D

 

My youngest "does school" because he wants to be like his big brothers and insists on school. I mainly give him things to occupy him and make him think he is doing school. He knows his letters (learned them on his own) and can blend, but I have no desire to sit through phonics lessons with a 3 year old! I'll wait a bit and see if he teaches himself to read (he probably will - my oldest did also). Why create more work for myself when I don't have to? :confused:

 

I started working with my middle son (who does need to be taught reading) when he was just about to turn 5 and was insisting that he start "K". So we did a "K4" on a "when he asked to" basis. Now that he's real "K", school isn't optional anymore, but it's still super short - 10 minutes phonics/reading, 15-20 minutes math, 10 minutes handwriting, and then some read-alouds (Sonlight P4/5).

 

You absolutely don't need to do anything with your 3.5 year old. When my oldest was 4 and was clearly ready to read, I tried to do "school" with him. He resisted me so badly! :lol: He was ready to read, but NOT ready for anything formal. I stopped trying to teach him anything and just continued living life, involving him in chores and talking about what we're doing, answering his questions, etc. At 4.5, he picked up a book and started reading on his own, and by time he started "K" (at school), he was reading at a 2nd grade level. He needed me to back off so he could learn! So unless your preschooler is clamoring for formal work (and some do, but some just want Mom to do *anything* with them), I recommend not worrying about formal school work at that age. Just continue involving them, talking to them, and teaching casually. Read some alphabet books and watch Leap Frog Letter Factory (that video is worth its weight in gold... the one child I did have to teach letters to, we spent 3 weeks learning a good portion of letters, then did LFLF and he was rock solid on all the letters within a couple days... I should have started with LFLF! :tongue_smilie:).

 

My goal is always that they learn their letters before they start K, so they can learn to read during K. If they do it on their own before that, GREAT! But if not, I'll teach them in K or around 5 years old. :) My oldest's school didn't expect kids to be reading before K. They taught letters, letter sounds, and how to read during K. That was mostly the point of K - to get them started on reading.

[kalanamak]

 

FTR, she counts, sings, looks at books, recognizes shapes, jumps, hops, paints, rides a bike, hula hoops, and does tons of stuff with us. I think I'm just wondering about reading stuff.

 

Plaid Phonics very first book is more of a cut and paste affair that just guides the eye to letters. Kiddo liked it. I did that and plastic letters on the fridge. Sometimes I'd bring up a word: HAT, where is your /h/ /a/ /t/? and point at the letters as I said them. Until he was 5.5, the only words he was interested in were the words on cars (Kia, Ford, and he loved to read the letters and numbers on the license plates of Jeeps ... only Jeeps :lol:), so we did 98% of our word study in the parking lots. I moved onto pre-ETC when kiddo was holding pencil happily (4.5).

I tried 100EZ but kiddo didn't take to it like a duck to water, and I wasn't going to make reading un-fun at 4!

 

At that age, really, I would be child led, and just keep the environment rich. I was hoarse for nearly 2 years, reading for hours a day.

[ednkirstin]

I just stick them in front of LeapFrog's Letter Factory until they know them.

:iagree: That's what I do too! Leapfrog Letter Factory followed up with 100 EZ Lessons when they know their letters and I think they're ready. No need to panic...it's early yet! :)

[AimeeM]

No need to do book work at this age (so don't panic)... unless your child wants to. Our son is 3 and wants to do work, so I'm ordering Catholic Heritage Curriculum's preschool letter and number books for him, as well as their phonics program.

 

We "taught" letter recognition by playing with wooden letter blocks and Starfall.com. Lol. Eeboo has some great sight word games/puzzles too.

[tabrizia]

Honestly the only reason I am doing anything with my 3 year old is she insists. I never did any formal curriculum with DS when he was 3, I likely won't do one with DS2 when he is 3 unless he insists. DD on the other hand gets out her "school books" and sits and does them for 30+ minutes and then asks for more. I can't stop her from wanting to do them, so I figured I might as well follow her lead in this and let her do school.

[edeemarie]

It seems to be a common theme, but we only started ds3 doing school work because he was begging (very persistent:)) to do work like the older kids do. I had no intention of working with him yet, but he understands it and loves his school work. If the interest wasn't there I wouldn't be doing it. The older 2 didn't start until they were closer to 5.

[Nestof3]

I didn't do anything structured for preschool or kindergarten. They had lots of beneficial toys, and I read to them a lot, but I knew school would come soon enough. ;)

[sparkygirl]

I have an 18 month old who likes to "play reading" We have SL P3/4 not for the formal lessons but more for the classic books and activities. Right now she is too little for the activities so we are holding those until she is older. Yesterday I was going through our collection of the Scholastic Story Treasury DVD. She picked up the Make Way for McCloskey and was flipping through the Make Way for Ducklings story so I put in the video of the same story. She was mesmerized looking at the screen and pointing in her book of what was on the screen. We made duck sounds when ever there was a duck on the screen. That is what she is ready for at this point.

 

We love leapfrog DVD's, DD is being seen by an occupational therapist for her lack of speech so we watch the leapfrog phonics farm on netflix to reinforce letter sounds with her. Scout and Violet are much more entertaining then mommy and daddy and she will mimic the sounds from them but not for us.

[craftyerin]

I'm another whose kids learned their letter names and basic sounds with Leapfrog Letter Factory, a wooden ABC puzzle, and ABC fridge magnets. In January when my twins were 3.5 and my oldest was 4.5, we started AAR pre-level 1 for phonological awareness, and really I started it for my 4yo, but my twins tagged along and are doing just as well with it as he is. We use the Handwriting Without Tears PK materials along with a salt box for making letters, but we don't do the HWT tears workbook (yet). Really, we've been VERY low key, maybe an AAR pre-1 lesson 2-3x a week. We read TONS of storybooks. IMO, that's the most important thing we are doing. The Sonlight P3/4 and BFIAR lists are good resources. No need to panic. She sounds perfect!!

[myfatherslily]

No structured early work here, either. I started teaching my DD to read at 4 1/2 because she was reading (knew all the letter sounds and was able to understand the concept of blending). My DS was not ready for that until 5 1/2. We just kept casually working through letters sounds up to that point (and counting objects, number recognition). My other DS is 4 1/2 right now and I think he will be ready to start simple reading this year, but it's thanks to Letter Factory and his own readiness.

 

Don't worry about it - casual preschool works great :)

[Farrar]

Your 3.5 yo can hula hoop! I'm completely impressed. :thumbup:

 

Oh, and agreed with others - don't worry too much about preschool "curricula." :D

[PeterPan]

When dd was in that 3 to not quite 5 range we did letter of the week stuff with the Alphabet Art book, took nature walks, looked at field guides, read aloud and listened to great audiobooks, did Kindermusic. My ds3 (4 in the fall) ASKS for school, so I give him stuff. However, in reality he gets Alphabet Art, letter of the week, science via great read alouds. This time it just looks fancier because it's coming from a MFW K5 tm. (where I have no compulsion to have him do the reading, if it happens to click, fine, if not, skip)

 

I taught my dd to read in K5 with SWR and when she took off, she flew. So no, I don't think there's some window or appropriateness or that you're late or something. If you do something that is essentially a checklist of play (because of course moms with teens get busy and like reminders of what to do and having the stuff all there and ready!) then that's cool. They love to be interacted with. I think anything you do in the phonemic awareness camp is good (learning letter sounds, reading nursery rhymes, playing rhyming games), but it's the kind of stuff that is really just informal, it's stuff you do throughout the day. You read poetry and nursery rhymes for nap/quiet time. You give them an alphabet craft to keep them occupied while the others work and sing the alphabet song while you brush teeth. Or you stick them in front of infamous Leap Frog, hehe. Nuts, I skip count with ds when we brush teeth. But it's just all very informal and natural.

 

My ds is really enjoying the preschool activity cards from MFW. I was hesitant, but they're actually very nice. It's just enough when we want to do something and I don't want to have to think it up. :)

[sagira]

In this house we don't start formal reading instruction until the child turns 5. Dd is turning 5 in less than 2 weeks, and in the first week of September she'll start phonics and stuff with me. I use Tanglewood Phonics (free from Tanglewoodeducation.com) and I'm going to be adding Progressive Phonics (online, also free).

[Jess4879]

I have an 8, 6 and 3 year old...the 6 year old wanted to start "doing school" around 4, my 3 year old is starting around now. Basically I have things like beads, art stuff, etc to give them at that age. Or I will give them an alphabet coloring page -- This says "a", end of lesson. We have not started formal lessons of any kind until age 5 - not because I'm opposed to it, but it's what worked for our family. If your kiddo is ready for it, I don't think it's fair to deny them simply because of their age..but don't feel pressured to start. They have so many years for formal lessons, this is the time to enjoy all the fun stuff! :)

[Hedgehog]

It's entirely up to you whether you want to "do" anything schooly with your young kids. Some parents and kids enjoy it, and some kids aren't ready.

 

My 4 dc have all been different.

 

Moominmamma knew all her letters by 2yo, using magnetic letters on the fridge, but she wasn't ready to read CVC words and blend until she was well on 5yo.

 

The Snork Maiden didn't get her letters until 4/5yo, and wasn't really reading at all until she was nearly 8, and then it was a struggle. She's recently been diagnosed dysgraphic.

 

Sniff has ADHD; he tried desperately to learn - wanted to read - from 5yo, but nothing stuck until after his 6th birthday. Couldn't remember his letters, or anything. He is now (just turned 7yo) reading reasonably comfortably. He seems to have done in one year, what my eldest did in 4 years.

 

Little My is 4.5, and she knows almost all her letters. She doesn't "get" blending. I'm not in the least bothered. She will get there when she's ready.

[ChandlerMom]

Read to dc, color, do crafts, etc but don't PUSH or you'll be paying for it for YEARS.

 

My first dd picked up her letters around 2.5yo, so around 3yo I picked up a copy of 100EL and she made it thru about 15 lessons before stalling out. I'd keep pulling it out and trying it and different phonics programs. Right around her 5th birthday she was finally REALLY ready and ate 100EL up. Finished it in 4.5mo and was reading at 2nd grade level. By her 6th birthday she was reading chapter books.

 

I taught her numbers early on "for fun", but didn't teach her addition (2 beads plus 2 beads is 4 beads) until a couple months before her 5th birthday. By 6 she was doing multiplication, and by her 9th birthday she was doing algebra.

 

My 2nd dd started 100EL right around her 5th birthday as well, and by 7yo is blowing thru the MTH series 2 books a day. Their brother started teaching himself to read at 2yo (sounding out).

 

My point isn't about what is "typical" (no such thing as a typical kid), but just that in these early years if you read to them and engage them (notice I'm not using the word "curriculum" and never used one before 5yo), they will learn and flourish at their own pace. It was a bit humbling to realize the less I *did* (or tried to do) the better they learned. I just have to provide the environment and then stay out of their way. :D As they get a bit older, that changes. I can't say whether your kids will be ready to learn to read at 3, or 5, or 7...and it's good to think about it, but *most* kids will in their own time. Some need a nudge. But not at 4yo. ;)

 

Good luck! Relax and Enjoy! HTHs.

[fractalgal]

I've seen lots of preschool topics in the past few days... my youngest is 3.5, will turn 4 end of December.

 

I honestly didn't think to do anything structured with her besides what we naturally do..... so when do you introduce real letter recognition? reading?

 

OPTGR or 100 EZ Lessons??

 

This caught me off guard!!!

 

FTR, she counts, sings, looks at books, recognizes shapes, jumps, hops, paints, rides a bike, hula hoops, and does tons of stuff with us. I think I'm just wondering about reading stuff.

 

My PreK (now 4 years old) son really WANTS to be involved. I do not push him towards schooling so young. He was reading at 3, but that was mainly because he was strongly influenced by wanting to be like his older brother. He also learned his phonograms by sitting in on his older brother's SWR lessons.

 

The only thing I would do if he did not want to be involved in school at all would be to read to him often and maybe practice counting...but nothing too much.

 

If your child shows a strong inclination to start young, then I would not hold her back. But I would also not panic nor push her in to preschooling if she does not seem interested.

[tammyw]

Read to them!

Play games!

Do puzzles together!

Draw (paint if you're brave)!

Go for nature walks!

Go to a fun children's museum!

 

It's just living really!

 

If you want some idea books, there are plenty out there (we had many, but rarely used them):

 

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Me-Myself-Montessori-Activities/dp/0764127896/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342368191&sr=1-6&keywords=i+want+to+do+it+myself

 

http://www.amazon.com/Preschoolers-Busy-Book-Creative-Activities/dp/0671316338/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

[Ecclecticmum]

My version of Letter recognition is .....

 

dum dum dum.....

 

Leapfrog Letter Factory :001_huh: :tongue_smilie:

 

I have "curriculum" for the little ones, yes, but thats just so they don't yabber on at me whenever I am doing school with Atlas. And they do...yabber, constantly, about wanting to do school.

 

As listed in the pre-k thread, we just use letter of the week by Confessions of a homeschooler (very loosely, I just print the stuff I like, and mix it up).

 

If I just had one child and she was pre-k, I would just sing, play with them, do crafts, and have lots of outside messy activities. I'd probaby go out more too. Unfortunately with 3 littlies and only two hands, my options get limited quickly. :lol:

[TranquilMind]

I've seen lots of preschool topics in the past few days... my youngest is 3.5, will turn 4 end of December.

 

I honestly didn't think to do anything structured with her besides what we naturally do..... so when do you introduce real letter recognition? reading?

 

OPTGR or 100 EZ Lessons??

 

This caught me off guard!!!

 

FTR, she counts, sings, looks at books, recognizes shapes, jumps, hops, paints, rides a bike, hula hoops, and does tons of stuff with us. I think I'm just wondering about reading stuff.

Oh my. I've read all these panicked preschool threads lately, and had to just smile - since I have teens!

 

RELAX! If you did nothing at all but spend time with your child, teaching her naturally on a daily basis as you go about your business, you'd be doing more than 90% of the population! My generation grew up with no preschool, and no kindergarten. I went into first grade at age 5, having been taught to read by Mom, because I was insistent. I have three degrees now. Lack of preschool or Kindergarten didn't hurt me. I didn't really do anything with my kids, who are both stellar students now.

 

Your kids will be fine, Moms of young ones. Just do what you do. Read lots of books to them. Use funny voices. Talk to them all day about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Let them help. Let them build things across the living room for several hours a day without interrupting them every ten minute to do a new activity, like I hear they do in some day cares. Go outside. Go to parks and let them play and get exhausted. Go to bookstores. Just do things and talk to them in normal, adult vocabulary all the time.

[TranquilMind]

Read to them!

Play games!

Do puzzles together!

Draw (paint if you're brave)!

Go for nature walks!

Go to a fun children's museum!

 

It's just living really!

 

If you want some idea books, there are plenty out there (we had many, but rarely used them):

 

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Me-Myself-Montessori-Activities/dp/0764127896/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342368191&sr=1-6&keywords=i+want+to+do+it+myself

 

http://www.amazon.com/Preschoolers-Busy-Book-Creative-Activities/dp/0671316338/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

Yes, this!

[AHASRADA]

If you are looking for something "curriculum-y", but not too bookish (more hands-on), MFW and Timberdoodle both have great preschool packages. I didn't use any such thing with my big kids when they were little, but these are what I'm planning to use with little dd.

 

Oh, and for reading, don't forget Starfall.com. It's free and excellent!

[Mom-ninja.]

I've seen lots of preschool topics in the past few days... my youngest is 3.5, will turn 4 end of December.

 

I honestly didn't think to do anything structured with her besides what we naturally do..... so when do you introduce real letter recognition? reading?

 

OPTGR or 100 EZ Lessons??

 

This caught me off guard!!!

 

FTR, she counts, sings, looks at books, recognizes shapes, jumps, hops, paints, rides a bike, hula hoops, and does tons of stuff with us. I think I'm just wondering about reading stuff.

 

If you noticed my post I said he does things like playing, learning not to eat glue, and learning to put marker caps back on. That's about the extent of it.

[Lily_Grace]

Having had the day to think over this, I remembered an article I read a while back that I thought you would enjoy- What Should A 4yo Know?

[ednkirstin]

My PreK (now 4 years old) son really WANTS to be involved. I do not push him towards schooling so young. He was reading at 3, but that was mainly because he was strongly influenced by wanting to be like his older brother.

:iagree: Most of my younger kids started earlier because they were watching their older siblings and really wanted to learn. Not only that, but their siblings had already taught them lots of things through play. When child #5 was 4 years old, she knew how to count to 100+, skip count by 2's, 5's and 10's (acknowledging that she is very mathy), her letters, colors, etc. The kicker is, I hadn't done ANYTHING formal with her! WooooHoooo! This is one of the benefits I see of homeschooling. Younger kids actually learn things from older kids because they get to spend time with them. :) I TRIED to slow down child #3 because I wasn't ready to teach him. I was quite occupied with his older sisters that I was obliged to teach, and I had 3 babies to take care of. So he decided he didn't need me. He just grabbed 100EZ lessons and started teaching himself...lol! He was 4. Every now and then he'd hit a sound he didn't know and he'd run to me..."What does this say???" I'd tell him and he'd run off to go practice. :)

 

Some kids aren't ready at these ages, but if they are there's no harm in them learning. One of my daughters is very artistic and wasn't at all interested in words. She just wanted to make up her own stories by looking at the pictures. She didn't really learn to read until she was 7, but once she did, she loved it! I think it's because I didn't push her too hard. My goal for every one of my kids was that they would love to read. And that means you have to learn to read your kids because they're all different. :)

[kirstenhill]

My version of Letter recognition is .....

 

dum dum dum.....

 

Leapfrog Letter Factory :001_huh: :tongue_smilie:

 

 

:lol: And I thought I was the only one who did this... :lol:

 

DS3 has been telling me he wants to learn his letters...time to pull out the DVD!

 

I tried and failed at a couple preschool curricula when DD and DS5 were younger...I now do what a lot of other people in this thread are doing them and just only teach my preschooler as he has interest. I may "plan" a few special things (craft/activity books, classic picture books to read, etc)....but mostly just to keep him happily occupied while the older two are doing "real" schoolwork, and so that I don't forget to read some of the classics or do some fun things at his level just because I'm too focused with the older ones.

[ednkirstin]

 

DS3 has been telling me he wants to learn his letters...time to pull out the DVD!

:lol: Letter Factory really is IMO the best resource out there for learning basic phonics. I've found it's really helpful later when using 100EZ lessons. If they get stuck on a certain sound, I just start singing..."The h says...?" and it usually jogs their memory. :)

[kristinannie]

All I did with my DD when she was 3.5 was let her play with some Montessori stuff and listen in as she wanted to. We did work with sandpaper letters (tracing and sounding them out) a couple of times a week. I would never want anything formal for a 3.5 year old. That is the time to play, sing, fingerpaint, etc.

[El...]

I made my 3.5yo daughter some homemade coloring sheets of the letters (upper and lower case) and showed her one a day. She quickly learned their names, and that was that.

 

She also had some magnet sets of the alphabet.

 

She started writing capital letters all the time for fun. Then one day she brought me a paper and said, "Look Mommy! "T", "O"!" She paused for a moment and said, "TOE!"

 

So I began teaching her phonics because I don't want her to start spelling things incorrectly. I guess that is "readiness"!

 

She may be a tad early, and has pretty neat handwriting already. She now knows all the sounds of the single letters and some double-letter combinations. She has not begun reading on her own yet. We'll see.

[happycc]

regular play time with blocks, legos, dolls, sandtoys, watertoys, chalk etc will suffice with some reading of books and listening to books on tape. They just learn via osmosis listening to the older kids' lessons I have learned.

 

1) now if your child has special needs or is slow and requires extra stimulation then you MAY have to use something depending on the needs of your child.

 

2)If your child is gifted and wanting more stimulation I guess you have to give it to them. But really even with the gift one--the library card is your best friend. Some good books.

 

3)If your older kids are working and your younger one is chomping at the bit to be like them you can use whatever you have for the older ones. Magnetic letters etc.

 

4)If you have older kids to teach and you assign an older one to rotate with your younger and want something they can do together quietly, then you may need find something.

 

I have been seeking "a curriculum" for mainly reason number one...my child has some special needs and need the extra simulation and to keep him quiet while working with another older child so I can work with another child.

 

I don;t have the brain power right now to sit and plan a ton of stuff or to collect materials and make stuff so I hate reinventing the wheel every single day thinking of what I am going to do with my mess making loudmouth toddler. So my easiest way to solve that is to find a "curriculum" purely for ideas day to day. Open to page one and an assign a child to do that activity. Simple as that. So far the only program I have seen that truly can be done with an older sibling without much material collecting is that Flowering Baby Curriculum. I have a newborn coming in November and will use the newborn stuff and again have a sibling play those games in between nursing, diaper changes, etc. Wow things are going to go even slower if I have one child with toddler and another child with newborn while doing direct instruction teaching to the third child. UGH!

 

Now for activities specifically for my special needs child...I plan to use Straight Talk and a few Super Duper Publication stuff as well as some good books and it will be "our mommy and me" time. I haven;t figured out how to schedule that in yet but will find out once the newborn comes. I am thinking first thing in the morning right after breakfast while the olders are getting chores done.

 

Right now I am suffering from the pelvic bone pain syndrome when pregnant (which means I can;t walk, roll over, get dressed without a whole lot of pain and with slowness) and I am getting an idea of how things will be when the baby is here..which is nothing will get done!!!

[Brenda in FL]

Please don't panic. The words "preschool" and "curriculum" would not have been said in the same breath by many of us. It certainly would not have occurred to *me* that my dc needed anything other than what parents have been doing with their very young children for thousands of years.

:iagree:

 

My kids were always home with me while all their same age friends were off to preschool at age 3 (or even 2).

 

About 6 months before they would traditionally begin kindergarten I started teaching them to read using 100 EZ lessons. When K started I added handwriting and math activities. We continued with 100 EZ or the child reading aloud daily and me reading to them from children's literature. Oh - and usually started Spelling Workout A half way into the kindergarten year.

[AdventureMoms]

I wouldn't panic!

 

My DD started doing phonics because she begged me, every day, for a week straight. She was 3. Otherwise my plan had been to wait until she was 5, or close to it. She did great for awhile, then suddenly hated it, cried if I got it out, no interest at all. I was worried we'd lose the progress we had made. A few weeks later, I started writing sentences on a white board, and she'd read them! (short tiny sentences with only CVC words). We kept going and did some phonics for awhile, but suddenly this week she's crying over phonics again (we don't push, this kid cries rather easily...) So we're going to drop it. I'll try to keep a few games going to make sure she keeps her letter sounds, but otherwise we're just taking a break for a bit. She'll pick it back up when she's ready. I'm learning that she is just not going to learn stuff at a steady pace. I'm a planner, I'd really like to be able to plot out a nice, steady learning curve...but that's not going to be my reality with this child!

 

Anyhow, she's 4 now, and a month ago she could read sentences, but this week she can't manage to read "hat". Honestly, I think if I had taught her nothing and started her at 6yo or something, she'd just learn it all in a week. Unless they show a clear interest, I do not plan to teach my boys anything formal until they are 5.

 

And she cannot hula hoop. Neither can I, so I can't teach her either!

[FO4UR]

Don't panic. It sounds like she has very full and enriched days as it is.

 

 

My middle child "audited" her big brother's lessons and learned to read and write in that way. (I've yet to give that child a phonics/spelling lesson specifically for her, and she's my best reader/speller. Go figure!)

 

 

My youngest is just now (at age 6) to the point where he will cooperatively sit for a 10-15min lesson. 75% of what academics he knows he learned by playing school with middle child.:lol:

 

 

LeapFrog Letter Factory!:iagree: Happy Phonics, fridge letter magnets, Lauri puzzles, and play with Cuisenaire Rods. She would probably enjoy some "workboxes" just for her (filled with things like the Cuis. rods & puzzles, crayons/paper, playdoh, etc...).

[tomandlorih]

:iagree:with PP.. It's not so much that I'm trying to push a curriculum on my 3.5 year old, he just wants to do school like his big sister. He knew some letters before I found Leap Frog Talking Letter Factory at the Library and now he's hooked! LOL He also LOVES Reading Eggs.. although big sister helps him some. It's for my own sanity that I am writing down a plan to keep him busy while I school big sis..

 

It's mostly

1. Books I want to have read to him

2. Videos for him to watch that kill time but teach him something(Magic School Bus, etc.)

3. Worksheets for school work like a "big kid" =D

 

These roughly arranged by subject and if they can coordinate with sister's lessons so much the better!

 

Your child will let you know when they want to learn.. (and if they don't just start slowly around Kindy/First Grade age). Incorporate learning into life(love the skip counting while tooth brushing! LOL) and have fun!

[Pamela H in Texas]

My 13month old knows a handful of letter sounds and I've sent two 19month old foster sons home with one knowing almost all and the other knowing ALL the letter sounds. So *I* believe in early learning. I can't imagine why NOT to do it. We aren't even very formal about it (though the one who knew all the sounds did ask for a lot more...constantly). I don't really see letter sounds much different than colors, counting, shapes, bike riding (we take training wheels off early too), etc. Just exposure and give them what they can handle. Have fun with it.

 

Anyway, I see NO reason you need to worry too much about it though. As you may have seen in some threads, different families do differently. And in the end, I'm sure all our kids will turn out just fine :)

[PeacefulChaos]

I don't plan on starting any reading type stuff til Pink is at least 4.

I don't do anything 'preschool' with her at all. I just don't think it is necessary. :)

[OneLittleWindow]

Hi! I'm a panicked preschool parent too. And I've gotten lots of different sort of curriculum, phonics, manipulatives-y kinda things, activity book ideas... but honestly mostly just to keep him from being bored. Just to help myself I organized the stuff I had and sort of made a "schedule" for the week. But it's mostly just so that during our crazy busy lives (it's been a doozy of a year) I don't forget to take time to play, and expose him to enriching activities/learning activites. He was getting bored and ornery, and it helps me to have some structure and ideas/activites planned out ahead of time just so if I'm tired I don't have to come up with them on the fly. I follow his lead and just do whatever. Last week one of our "school" mornings consisted entirely of drawing a map about how to get to the mailbox, going to get the mail, then coming back and bouncing a ball up and down the stairs. Then we came inside and read.

 

If I had to nail down what our curriculum is?

1- build an awesome HS library and get mama organized for the future

2- Read. Read aloud, read by looking at pictures, read by listening to cassettes, read in teh morning, noon and night. Read on the potty, read on the couch...

[kristi26]

Honestly, for preschool, we tend to do exactly what you're already doing. I just let my kiddies play and work on different things with them in a fun way. We watch "movies" about letters like the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD. He plays on his sister's explorer sometimes. We have letter, number, and shape puzzles. We have some fun with patterns. And he's 3. We likely won't start trying anything to do with reading until he's five. If he's ready to start before then, great. Otherwise, I'll work with him on it in kindergarten.

[UmMusa]

Thanks for the reassurance! I think that a homeschooling lifestyle tends to be so enriching for little ones anyway so that's why I hadn't thought about things to get her this year. And you're all right that it's mostly about reading and playing. We can't discount outdoor time and playtime at this age.

 

Thanks for the recs for the Leaptime thing.. I'll have to get that now after all of you say you use it :D

 

Just a few months ago I was more confident in my 3yr old's daily life, so I don't know why I panicked just now. She gets sooo much input each day about all things, so I know she's find. I need to have my plan ready for when she shows signs of wanting to read, and that's what I hadn't thought about yet b/c all my other kids were in private school at this age learning to read and write.

 

Thanks!