Newbie.... Lost and overwhelmed

[Guest April_privett]

So, here is where I am at. I am not sending my 3 yr old to preschool in the fall. I have been looking around at preschool "curriculums" for a while, and stumbled on the Well Trained Mind. it all makes sense and interests me to just fill her year with reading. She does really really like "seat work" since she spent her first 2.5 yrs as the only daycare kid in a homeschool family of 4. I give her plenty of art supplies and have a stack of cheap workbooks from Walmart that make her feel like she is doing school.

 

Here are my questions:

 

Is there a good list of books I should use to read to her?

 

I find I am lacking with some of the basics of later year curriculums. Any tips on how to start as an adult?

 

My guess is that this info is buried somewhere in these formums, but I am hopeful someone with some experience can get me pointed in the right direction.

 

Thanks,

 

April

[NASDAQ]

It really isn't necessary to do a preschool curriculum unless you want to.

 

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/awards.html

Try the award sites. Caldecott is more the speed you're looking for; Newbery is for kids a bit older.

[Snickerdoodle]

My recommendation is to spend as much time as you can out of doors running, playing, digging, etc.

In addition you can read The Read-Aloud Handbook. With those two things, I think you'd be set.

 

Eta: Haha! not you running and playing but your preschooler...(I should go to bed).

[kalanamak]

Read The Well Trained Mind.

Go to the Library often and bring home lots of books.

Read daily for an hour or more. Kiddo can play while you read.

Look at Amazon and see "what other people bought" on the page of a book you like. I liked the older stuff: Jane Thayer, Virginia Lee Burton, the guy who wrote Blueberries For Sal, Dahlov Ipcar, etc.

Get a copy of Books To Build On.

Take the "what style am I" quiz in Cathy Duff's 100 Picks.

Play outside a lot!

Grow things.

Get a copy of Everybody Has A Body and Mudpies to Magnets.

Start reading up on curriculum and seeing in anyone in your area has any to look at. As you read about it, come back and ask as many questions as you like. Many here have traveled your road and are just busting to use what they have learned to help others.

 

Educate yourself:

learn spelling rules (I love Unlocking the Logic of English) and practice

 

get on fire about basic math (read Liping Ma's book Knowing.....)

 

get on fire about grammar (read The War Against Grammar) and learn diagramming (I liked Rex Barks, and it will also show you where your grammar is weak)

 

read history and science books geared towards middle schoolers. You can read these quickly and get a foundation in words and concepts, so you can use them naturally in conversation. This will also help you find out your weaknesses (e.g. the Ancients or chemistry).

 

:D Don't rush, kiddo is 3. Have fun, talk, walk, play.

[dbmamaz]

What things are you worried about needing to work on for you? actually thats part of the fun - learning WITH your kids. History was a horrible blur for me, but i'm learning to like history, and remembering so much more, now that I'm teaching it! I've heard of a lot of people saying they learn math better than before the same way.

 

but you dont need to stress about pre-k . . .its optional still in most places, and there is nothing you HAVE to cover . .. i mean, its mostly about sorting colors and learning to put your shoes in, coloring. No biggie. I didnt 'homeschool' my kids in pre-K, but they didnt go to pre-k . . maybe a 2-half-day-a-week playschool, but nothing academic, and they were fine when they started school

[kiwik]

Good advice. I must look up that grammar book.

[Jay3fer]

If you're panicking, I hate to throw another book at you, but I really must recommend Ruth Beechick. Anything, really, but in particular, The 3 R's. It is VERY reassuring - basically, she believes that almost any parent can teach almost any subject in the early years, in a way that is intuitive, easy and FUN.

This book is 3 in one, one small section for each of Reading, Language Arts and Math. It also includes a number chart, as a bonus. I really, really enjoyed it and keep coming back to it for the way she breaks down the steps of each discipline and covers all the essential up to basically Grade 3 in a very simple and approachable way. IMO, it's the best $7 you'll spend on your dd's education, mostly because she'll tell you NOT to buy a whole bunch of fancy texts, workbooks, etc., that you'll never use or even need.

[warneral]

Read to her... She's so little :)

[freeindeed]

Take a look at Before Five in a Row.

[mumto2]

Read The Well Trained Mind.

Go to the Library often and bring home lots of books.

Read daily for an hour or more. Kiddo can play while you read.

Look at Amazon and see "what other people bought" on the page of a book you like. I liked the older stuff: Jane Thayer, Virginia Lee Burton, the guy who wrote Blueberries For Sal, Dahlov Ipcar, etc.

Get a copy of Books To Build On.

Take the "what style am I" quiz in Cathy Duff's 100 Picks.

Play outside a lot!

Grow things.

Get a copy of Everybody Has A Body and Mudpies to Magnets.

Start reading up on curriculum and seeing in anyone in your area has any to look at. As you read about it, come back and ask as many questions as you like. Many here have traveled your road and are just busting to use what they have learned to help others.

 

Educate yourself:

learn spelling rules (I love Unlocking the Logic of English) and practice

 

get on fire about basic math (read Liping Ma's book Knowing.....)

 

get on fire about grammar (read The War Against Grammar) and learn diagramming (I liked Rex Barks, and it will also show you where your grammar is weak)

 

read history and science books geared towards middle schoolers. You can read these quickly and get a foundation in words and concepts, so you can use them naturally in conversation. This will also help you find out your weaknesses (e.g. the Ancients or chemistry).

 

:D Don't rush, kiddo is 3. Have fun, talk, walk, play.

 

This is great advice. Play and read. There are so many great books. When you go to the library get a variety. Plenty of fun ones but also the alphabit, science, math, and history. Just get whatever is availiable and read. At least an hour a day.

[kalanamak]

If you're panicking, I hate to throw another book at you, but I really must recommend Ruth Beechick. Anything, really, but in particular, The 3 R's. It is VERY reassuring -

 

Yes, I forgot about these books. They are worthwhile. There is a little religious content, but it is avoidable. I found secular quotes to replace the Bible quotes.

 

So, dear newbie, we are waiting to see another post .... hummm, how about "What were your 3 year old's favorite read alouds?" :)

[corduroy]

If you're panicking, I hate to throw another book at you, but I really must recommend Ruth Beechick. Anything, really, but in particular, The 3 R's. It is VERY reassuring - basically, she believes that almost any parent can teach almost any subject in the early years, in a way that is intuitive, easy and FUN.

This book is 3 in one, one small section for each of Reading, Language Arts and Math. It also includes a number chart, as a bonus. I really, really enjoyed it and keep coming back to it for the way she breaks down the steps of each discipline and covers all the essential up to basically Grade 3 in a very simple and approachable way. IMO, it's the best $7 you'll spend on your dd's education, mostly because she'll tell you NOT to buy a whole bunch of fancy texts, workbooks, etc., that you'll never use or even need.

 

I totally agree. Even though I am entirely secular in my approach to education and Ruth Beechick is not, this book is the most practical thing I've read about early childhood education. I especially love that she basically tells you to calm down and hold off on explicitly teaching reading for a few more years.

 

OP, what about the Wee Folk Art curriculum? It's very gentle, quasi-Waldorfy, and free! I looked at a lot of things for my preschooler and ultimately concluded that while I do want to do something to give our days a (very mild) structure, I don't really feel drawn to early academics or worksheets or letter of the week type crafts. Wee Folk Art is a nice balance. Even if you only use the book suggestions, I think they are generally very high-quality and worth reading.

[MomatHWTK]

Take a look at the Five in a Row or Before Five in a Row curricula. There's also a fun set of materials available at Confessions of a Homeschooler's blog.

[bethben]

At that age, just because I needed direction, I bought Honey for A Child's Heart and just started going through the picture book section and checked it off. If it's any reassurance, I have a 5 year old who is just starting to write letters and learn how to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time. You've got PLENTY of time.

 

Beth

[Guest April_privett]

Thanks for all the great advice. I did look at the Five in a Row, but randomly I found something that seems sort of similar to that at a garage sale with a picture book (lots of overlap with the FIar)". It has one book for the week, then a list of books on the same subject, as well as parner poems from the Random House book that we already have as well as Where the Sidewalk Ends.

 

In a panic, I also bought the Hirsch book. Interestingly, she loves to sit and listen to the stories in that book. It is almost as if she will sit longer and listen to 4-5 of those stories rather than 4 separate books. Does this make sense?

 

Favorite books- Goldilocks and 3 Bears, Harold and Purple Crayon, Zen Shorts... Can't think of anything else.

 

Today we sat for 40 minutes. She did a little coloring page that supported the Genesis story we read. She did some letter practice, but I am scratching that until this DNealian book arrives. She did some cutting froma Kumon book- she seems to struggle with cutting - left handed. Then she did some sums and subtraction froma little workbook I got for a dollar at Target. We had two other times where we sat and read for 30 minutes each as well as baked cookies (I did most if that..) and then we played in an iSpy book. I feel like we are so ala carte right now. She really likes to sit and do papers. I really think this comes from her time when I was working with another homeschool family. I think when they had school, she was given crafts and papers to do during that time with them.

 

I think we will just do the seat work a few days a week. She initiates drawing, painting on her own frequently. I have Well Trained Mind on the way as well as Well Trained Mind- to get the Classical Education you never had. Started reading Genesis and checked out the Iliad on CD.

 

So, how's that for a start?

[2_girls_mommy]

It sounds like a good start. The ala carte method is fine. It really is. You are exposing her to all kinds of stories and skills. And if she likes the paper and the workbooks then there is nothing wrong with that too. I think the people that are against them are against forcing that kind of thing too young and using that as the only learning. Real learning (from real books and hands on adventures and talking and exploring) is more appropriate and meaningful, but you aren't forcing her. If she likes her workbooks, provide them.

 

Your post cracks me up about her being with the hs family. It reminds me of our house. I babysit a 3 yr old niece while we homeschool. She is so used to our morning routine. She has blocks and sewing cards and crayons and such for the morning during school. She will tell my girls when they start talking, "Be quiet. I am trying to do my school." As she sits there scribbling on a paper or sewing with her sewing cards :)