Moxie Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 My DD will be 3 in Oct. What can I do with her during school?? She is a master at distracting the other kids :glare:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 My YDS is almost three. Right now, he is finishing up the preparatory curriculum from http://www.letteroftheweek.com and will start the main LOTW stuff shortly after he turns three. He wanders back and forth from the table, but when he wants to do "cool work" as he calls it, I've got coloring pages and crafts and activities related to a theme for him to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I suck at using the search on here, but there is a couple threads with ideas if you can find them. :) I am in the same boat this year. I have tried setting up different activity boxes and all I ended up with was a mess exactly 5 minutes later and a little boy asking "what I do now?" *sigh* I've also tried scavenger hunts - which work great for him, but is very distracting for the other two kiddos because he gets excited and brings me everything he finds and then they get upset that they can't particpate too. Same scenario with toys in the school area. He keeps quiet for short spells, but the other kids pay more attention to him then they do to the material I am teaching. :( Sadly, he ended up with far more tv time then I would have liked. I will be paying close attention to this thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 My kids loved Kumon workbooks, Brio train, playmobile, space sand, colored rice, sand tables, bath tub play, Usborned Cat and Mouse books and Usborned early readers, books on tape (CC memory CD' s; ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 This thread might help: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=276793 I used a lot of these suggestions last year for my 3yo for the same reason. My favorite were the MFW toddler and preschool packages. They gave home a lot to do, very little to destroy, and made home think he was doing school with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) My 3 year old was almost three when we started homeschooling back in March. He turned 3 in June. At first, he contently watched and would color on paper or try to participate in what he could. When we formally started K in mid-April, he became too much of a distraction for us when we did math / phonics, so I would usually send him to play in his room or watch cartoons for the half hour we do that and then invite him back for the other activities. If he wanted to stay at the table with us, he could, but I told him he had to be quiet and play with his preschool toy or color while I worked with my dd. We use MFW K, so he'll do prayer, Bible, Read-Alouds, and their activity (science, art, music, hands on math, etc.). Initially, I didn't get anything specifically geared toward him because I figured he was too young, but he soon started asking for his own school, so we ordered BFIAR and I had already ordered the MFW Preschool package but hadn't been using it, so about 2 months ago, we added that into our school day, and about 2 weeks ago, because he started to want to join us for lang and math and wanted to do his own, we added Rod and Staff About 3 and HWT Get Ready for school. Since my dd is getting used to the lang routine, I am usually able to start her off and then let her work independently on her worksheet for about 5 minutes, which is just enough time to give him hands on instruction for his preschool workbooks / toys. When I need to focus on my dd again, I tell him to color the pages in his work books nicely as he can or to play quietly with his preschool toy some more on his own however he'd like. I have some triangle crayons that are "his special crayons" that help with his ability to have control of the crayon. The BFIAR, we ususally do after my dd finishes her language and math or after the whole K is done. I let my dd decide whether she wants to join us or not for BFIAR and because he has the MFW K core curriculum to do, we keep the activities fairly simple. We usually can wrap up BFIAR in about 15 minutes, and the MFW preschool toys, R & S, and HWT activities / workbook take us about 5 minutes each. So, we spend about 30 minutes on his preschool. I feel like this is short enough to not overwhelm him and discourage him from school, but at the same time has a real impact on what he's learning. He can recognize and count number 1-5, is gaining more control in pre-writing skill, and is starting to recognize letters and letter sounds. He also is getting a lot of vocabulary skills from BFIAR. Edited August 10, 2012 by lea_lpz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaT Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I just suggested this on another post - I'm trying Kiwi Crates with my DS4. They are craft/art/science projects. They require some adult help but all the materials and simple instructions are already put together so this is time saving. It is subscription based. You receive two boxes/month. You can request an "add-on" to each box for multiple kids instead of buying two. They are a bit pricey. If you use this link you can get $10.00 off the first one. If you have more time to spare, you can make your own activities using Slow and Steady Get Me Ready or Janice VanCleaves's Teaching the Fun of Science to Young Learners (Grades Pre-K-2). But these will require some prep work, material gathering, and direct involvement. Also, Kumon cutting and folding books. These kept my 3yo busier for longer. I didn't let him cut outside this aproved cutting activity. Starfall.com (free) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeymommy4 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I have them play upstairs for a period of time (1/2 hour) whil i do individual work. this can be with another child or alone. My DD just turned 4 but we have done this in the past. I might have the 6yo and the 2yo up in her room (since she is the only girl there is lots of room up there) and she is downstairs plaing alone while i do school with the 8yo in the kitchen. She can play in the living room or she also has a 'school box" with scissors, paper, pencils, we have crayons available, whatever. workbooks, whatever they like and the only rule is that the scissors have to stay @ the table with me, etc. As far as the workbooks I just let it go - whatever she wants to do. if she asks me how to do something I will tell her bu I don't stress if she wants to cut up the pages, LOL. I just remove them at the end of the day and put them away for when she is a little older. I anticipate the mess and just clean it up afterward. if it is really things strewn all over then they help clean up. I vacum the bits of paper, etc. I try to envision a preschool: the teacher would clean up the room at the end of the day but also enlist kids to help so they learn but don't have to do the entire thing themselves which for some is just plain overwhelming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srs Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I anticipate the mess and just clean it up afterward. if it is really things strewn all over then they help clean up. I vacum the bits of paper, etc. I try to envision a preschool: the teacher would clean up the room at the end of the day but also enlist kids to help so they learn but don't have to do the entire thing themselves which for some is just plain overwhelming. This. I treat the end of schooltime cleanup like the end of Sunday school class. The kids "help" but the adults do the bulk of the cleanup. That way it gets done and the toddler doesn't stress me out so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I do "school" with my 3 year old first, so he thinks he's big. :D Then, he plays the rest of the day. I'm teaching him to leave Mama alone when she's teaching (that goes for anyone else in the family as well - they are to leave Mama and the student alone). I rotate between the kids. I also make sure he's in on our Sonlight P4/5 readings, though those books are a bit above him right now. He wanders off, but is still hearing the language. ;) I don't plan anything out for him, as I'm not formally schooling him. We started MEP Reception, but I'm going to set it aside, as it's getting a bit boring for him right now and sometimes asks slightly difficult questions, and he's NOT ready for difficult stuff. ;) I plan to get R&S ABC series again. I need books A and C. I think that would be perfect for him. My middle son did those at 3.5, and he was slower academically than this current 3 year old. I use the DEL workbooks with him also, since DS2 is using them with Sonlight. Some things I expect him to not get yet (like coloring in the lines), but I've been surprised at how much he CAN do. Anyway, mostly, I've been training, training, training for proper behavior during school time. He knows what he can do during that time, and he knows he can't interrupt Mama teaching. He gets plenty of Mama time inbetween teaching sessions with the other kids, so it's all good. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellalarella Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Play doh gives hours of satisfaction around here. :001_smile: A moment of perspective: Whatever time/money/work you invest in pre-K structured activities will be cheaper than replacing a broken car door lock. (Curious 3 year old and bobby pins....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 we do that, too on the day my dd does cutting and pasting with the Kumon books. My aunt got us a pack of kumon books at Costco awhile back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Here are a few ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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