Preschool w/ worksheets

[roanna]

My daughter is going to be three in a few weeks and we've been doing Get Ready for the Code book A and were nearly done. Mostly doing the phonics and not too much handwriting although she is starting to request it. This is all at her desire but when she does do it she does like 15 pages in one sitting so we are about to finish book A. She does very well with listening to directions, picking out letter sounds etc. She can uses scissors and cuts well for her age. Knows most shapes and colors.

 

My question is, she loves worksheets. I am also using BFIAR and we read tons of books but what could you all recommend as a good worksheet preschool , manipulative s are great too.

 

I saw Horizons as an option. Any others?

It looks like it is highly discouraged but it passed my mind about MFW K, we will be using MFW 2nd grade with my son next year. Would it be totally wrong to use this with her...at her discretion and desire?

[daybreaking]

I'd look into Kumon books and R&S Preschool books. R&S has a younger set put out by another company and then their own series (ABC and GHI) they put out themselves. My dd has loved (enthusiastically!) both the Kumon and R&S workbooks.

 

I'd be careful about starting a formal K program with your dd. It's easy to push too hard when children are so eager and do well, but it often backfires down the road. I'm speaking from experience, as I have a 10yo ds who was (and still is) very advanced.

[boscopup]

I highly recommend the R&S ABC series for this age. My 3 year old loves it, and I used it with DS2 at 3.5.

 

I also have random preschool to 1st grade workbooks laying around, and he does those when he wants to. I'm not really trying to teach him anything right now - more letting him teach himself and join in on his brothers' lessons. He can read the first few Bob books and such, sounding things out, but that's mostly what he has picked up on his own. I prefer to unschool preschool, but I also have to make the preschooler think he's doing school. ;)

[roanna]

Ok, I have seen those R & S, so I'll look into those more. The only reason the K program crossed my mind was not for the curriculum per se,just the manipulatives/phonics and maybe other fun worksheets she might like. I too, inadvertently pushed my son a bit because he was advanced. But I have soon realized he still wants to be his age regardless so I am doing much better at letting him be "regular". He has been in an academic lull in the past few months which really threw me for a loop and helped me to gain perspective. He's had huge leaps socially, a lot less social anxiety, which I will trade for academic craziness any day!

 

I am learning every week how to be a better teacher to my kids and just appreciate where they are at.

[ondreeuh]

I would look at some School Zone workbooks, and the Even-Moor "Never Bored" books. There are cut/paste activities, mazes, dot to dots, etc. My nearly 5-year old doesn't like worksheets, but I can get him to do "Never Bored" stuff when we are stuck in a waiting room.

[blondeviolin]

My 3yo does the What Your Preschooler Needs to Know activity book. There's nearly no writing, stickers and cutouts come in the back. Open and go. My 3yo does it at her request and does 5-7 pages at a time.

[roanna]

I ordered the R&S set. We'll see how that goes.

[boscopup]

Mfw k would be ok, though the writing would probably be a bit to much. Honestly, I didn't think their worksheets were that â€funâ€. Overall, the program is perfect for about age 4.

 

I used another phonics, and we eventually bailed because I'm so not a project person. :D

[Izzy]

Confessions of a Homeschooler has a lot of fun worksheets and games you can print out. I ended up printing and laminating most of her games and my kids love them! I also made a trip to the teacher store and stocked up on manipulatives and art supplies which they love too. :)

[Guest]

I ordered the R&S set. We'll see how that goes.

 

I did these with both of my kids. They loved them. My ds was a total worksheet kiddo; he also did all the Abeka workbooks for K, if you are looking for more in about a year or so.

[IceFairy]

Christian Liberty Preschool has a great workbook and drill book.

[...................]

I personally think the Rod and Staff books should be held off on, precisely because they are so precious and useful. They are designed for 5-6 year olds (K age) but bright four year olds with good fine motor skilks can get a lot out of them too.

 

Instead you can try:

-Walmart Workbooks (School Zone)

-Never Bored Books

-Kumon Books (Mazes, Cut and Paste, dot to dot, etc. they even have a toddler line of books for learning to use scissors, learning to fold, etc.)

-The Horizons Preschool is very nice for an older three year old, or four year old, but I would not get the whole program, just the workbook and songs. The workbook itself is beautiful and well organized on good thick paper- really nicely done!

 

 

[roanna]

The R&S books that I got say on the website they are for 3 yr olds. I think you may be referring to the ones that come after that series. I got the 3 yr old ones. Should be coming soon. We are currently using Carlson Dellosa preschool workbooks my mom sent. A few of the activities she has a hard time with but most she does fine. She wants to do like 20 pages at a time though so we go through a lot quickly.

 

My son mostly did puzzles all day long at this age, he was never interested in workbooks, so still trying to figure out fun things she is craving.

[Durriyyah]

DD1 really liked the School Zone workbooks and would fly through them. For that age, there is a ton of fun stuff just at your local book store.

[mom31257]

Ds loved workbooks at that age, too. I used Handwriting Without Tear's Get Set for School book when he was 3 as well as lots of workbooks from office supply/grocery stores.I did A Beka's K4 phonics and reading program when he was 4 and he was reading lots of short words by the end of that year. I used A Beka's 3 year old (Nursery) materials as well as their K4 materials with dd. Both used Bob books, too.

[roanna]

Ds loved workbooks at that age, too. I used Handwriting Without Tear's Get Set for School book when he was 3 as well as lots of workbooks from office supply/grocery stores.I did A Beka's K4 phonics and reading program when he was 4 and he was reading lots of short words by the end of that year. I used A Beka's 3 year old (Nursery) materials as well as their K4 materials with dd. Both used Bob books, too.

 

 

How cute! I loved the HWOT Get Set. I'll keep that in mind when we run out of stuff!

[boscopup]

Adventures With Books and Counting With Numbers are great for the 3-4 year old stage. The DEF books are a bit more advanced, and the GHI series is more like K level.

 

Even my DS2 who didn't know his colors or how to count at age 3.5 did great with those first two books at that age. He was not advanced at that point, and his fine motor skills were average.

[alisoncooks]

Adventures With Books and Counting With Numbers are great for the 3-4 year old stage. The DEF books are a bit more advanced, and the GHI series is more like K level.

 

Even my DS2 who didn't know his colors or how to count at age 3.5 did great with those first two books at that age. He was not advanced at that point, and his fine motor skills were average.

 

 

My 4.5 year old is currently about halfway through Book C (Counting w/ Numbers) and there are times when it is too difficult or too much writing.

 

I think the preschool books the previous poster mentioned ordering were these that are for the 3 yr old crowd and come before the ABC series.

[daybreaking]

My 4.5 year old is currently about halfway through Book C (Counting w/ Numbers) and there are times when it is too difficult or too much writing.

 

I think the preschool books the previous poster mentioned ordering were these that are for the 3 yr old crowd and come before the ABC series.

 

 

I think there is probably quite a range of age for when a child is ready for the ABC series. Some might be ready younger; others might need to wait until they're five. We did the initial ABCD books (published by Study Time) when my dd was 2 and 3 and then moved on to the A-B-C- series (published by R&S) when she was four. She did fine with them and finished through book F shortly after turning five. She's still five and we're about 2/3's done with the G, H & I books. I will say that I didn't do all of the handwriting practice in the books, as we already are using Zaner-Bloser.

[...................]

That's funny. I guess children certainly vary. My kids were ok with Advebtures with Books at 3 but both had trouble with Counting with Numbers even at 4. They could do all the counting but had such a hard time learning to write numbers.

 

I think Roamna must have bought the About Three workbook series, those are super cute too.

[daybreaking]

That's funny. I guess children certainly vary. My kids were ok with Advebtures with Books at 3 but both had trouble with Counting with Numbers even at 4. They could do all the counting but had such a hard time learning to write numbers.

 

I think Roamna must have bought the About Three workbook series, those are super cute too.

 

I probably should have mentioned that, although my dd did fine, my ds definitely wouldn't have been ready at 3 or 4. We didn't work with him on any formal fine motor skill activities, including handwriting, until he was 5. Before then, he was all about gross motor activities. :)

[boscopup]

My kids have all had an easier time writing numbers, so they were able to write numbers at 3 or 4, even my writing phobic child who wouldn't write letters. His hand hurt when writing until 2nd grade. Numbers were never a problem though, for some reason.

 

Maybe I just have weird kids. :D

 

My current 3.5 year old has crazy good fine motor skills, but my other two didn't. Middle son seemed fairly average in the fine motor department, but who knows. I usually did very little and didn't expect perfection. He actually had pretty nice numbers coming out of Counting With Numbers (which he starts at 4... He did Adventures with Books at 3.5 - doing one page per day, it took a while).