ktgrok Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 DD turned 3 in Feb. She likes doing some "school" stuff, like her big brother. Plus it gives us something to do together. She knows most/all letters and sounds. She can count to 10 (usually..sometimes skips 4). She can copy her name if I write it first, with some help on the Y at the end. She loves to draw, and draws stick figures, suns, etc. We do a lot of finger painting and regular painting and playdough(daily if not several times a day). We read daily. We sing songs, go to story time at the library, and she has dance once a week. She helps in me cook, etc. I'm wondering what else we can do. I have BFIAR and it just doesn't work for us. It's all stuff we do/talk about already. I have a Kumon My First Tracing workbook that she likes and does a few pages a day in. What else could we do? She likes Starfall, but after a while it drives me batty. She isn't ready for Reading Eggs. She doesn't have the phonemic awareness to tell me what sound a word starts with, so that limits that kind of thing. Would Get Ready for the Code books be good? Any other suggestions other than what we are doing? Her brother was a late reader, but has a LD (2E). I am fine wiht whenever she reads, but do want to give her some work to keep her mind busy and keep her working at the right pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rellybob Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Mathematical Reasoning Beginning might be fun for her! It has good reviews on Amazon and will be buying it soon for my own dd. It's specifically for 3-4 yr olds. I would also suggest get ready for the code, which you mentioned. Have fun! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 The ETC primers have lots of handwriting and is all about beginning letters. I wouldn't use it yet. I started my older kids on them when they turned 4 and could tell the first letter of a word. My 3yo is in the same position as yours .... Knows all the letter sounds but no phonemic awareness. I don't do anything specific with him...he just joins in with the older kids and we read books from the sonlight list. He likes to play with the HWOT manipulatives and pretend to write with chalk. When he wants to do "school" I just hand him a preschool worksheet I've printed from the Internet that practices counting or something. I set up a lot of sensory play for him. He particularly likes rice and dump trucks LOL. IPAD games are a big favourite as well. Reading eggs has a few that practice writing letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 thanks all! To clarify, she has really good fine motor skills...she can trace lines, do mazes if they are big kindergarten ones, and copy her name on the chalk board. So I thought the Get REady for the Code would be more of that kind of thing. Am I wrong? Will look into the other stuff listed as well. Sensory play is definitley a favorite...I tend to dump whatever is in the kitchen in a big bin for her...sometimes rice, sometimes steel cut oats, etc. What a mess, but she loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 Oak Meadow Kinder comes to mind along with Memoria Press JrK and Core Knowledge What Your Preschooler Should Know text and workbooks. Also, Before Five in A Row/Five in a Row. I would wait on ETC Primers. Oh, have you seen R&S ABC Preschool books? Oh, yes! I am going to the FPEA convention and will hit the R&S booth for sure. I think they have a "Just 3" book as well, if I remember correctly, that would be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmacmoo Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 As far as the Etc Preprimers go, I think three is a good age to try them. May or may not work. DS was three knew his letters and sounds when I started musing over them, but followed the recommendation to hold off till four to start them. At four they were too easy for him, but he wasn't ready for the ETC 1 book. Took awhile, but eventually found plaid phonics A. We just now finished the first unit. Really happy with the phonemic awareness DS now has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 SCIENCE!!! I used to focus exclusively on those pre literacy skills and math skills and leave the content till later, but my dd (who will be 3 this summer) has taught me that even kids as young as her can do quite a bit in science! I cannot remember where I read it, but I read somewhere a study with kids age 3-4 where one group just focused on the reading and math and the other group had a strong science focus. The kids who had less emphasis on reading and math but a strong science focused outperformed the kids who had only reading and math. They didn't not do reading and math, it's just that the biggest chunk of their days were devoted to science. That's my plan with my dd. Mudpies to Magnets, Everybody Has A Body, ScienceWorks, natur estudy and basically tagging along with every science activity my older two do. Some things she does currently. She has a treasures area in the front room (rocks, feathers, seeds, pressed flowers, acorns, etc whatever strikes her fancy) and several magnifying glasses and loupes nearby. Now that the weather is nice we have the snails and pillbugs in the house again. She helps feed them and carries them around and looks at them up close. She plays SomeBody and Spill Your Guts with us. We do a lot of activities with color and light and this summer we'll do sinking/floating and water. Physics is just building things with blocks and Legos. she'll help in the garden. I don't talk down to her. I use the proper terminology for things. Instead of "see the bird" (or worse birdie) I make sure to say robin, wren, mourning dove, cardinal. We do simple chemistry with cornflour goo, or color mixing with food colors, or density with oil and water. We mix things liek water and salt or sugar orflour or...and see what happens. Also lots of science read alouds. My point is--- science will help keep your dd's mind busy!! And you may find that the ETC can wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comeshareacupoftea Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 As a 25+ year preschool teacher, my suggestion is to play, play, play, read, read, read, play, play, play, read, read, read, go to museums, the library, take lots of walks. I use Nature Journals with my pre-k kids, each child has a notebook of blank pages, in the spring we watch the trees bud out and draw our observations, do tree rubbings, press leaves. In the fall we watch the trees change colors, and record the changes weekly in our journals. I tell the kids at the art table we draw what we imagine, in our NJ we draw what we see, the lines, the shapes, the colors. (Combining methods outlines in Drawing With Children). With my 3s I usually give them a 'starter'...when we grew Indian Corn I drew the oval shape of the corn, demonstrated dots for the kernals, curvy lines for the roots and tall lines for the shoots that grew up..When we grew an amarylis bulb I drew the square pot it was in. After they draw I ask them to tell me what they see, as they tell me I write it for them on the page, connecting their thoughts and ideas with the written word. We date each page and as the year progresses you can see their skills emerging. As they progress I encourage them to write one word to describe their thoughts, I write it on a scrap paper and they copy it. By this time in the school year I can usually hear, "Hey, look at the (parsely) growing, let's draw a picture of it!!!" as they run to grab their journals to record their findings. I use Handwriting Without Tears' Get Set for School curriculum to teach letter formation, it's wonderful, gentle and complete. Handwriting is tricky, so many people rush it because they over estimate pre-writing interest, but it is all about muscle memory and if you put a pencil in their hands too soon you can develop some very bad habits that are nearly impossible to correct later, so don't rush it. hope that helps...but remember, a 3 year old needs to play....and play...and so much learning comes from playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Would you like the list of books and activities I used with my preschoolers? It may take me a day or so to type it up, but I would be happy to share. Can you set up some Montessori-type trays and work rug activities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Would you like the list of books and activities I used with my preschoolers? It may take me a day or so to type it up, but I would be happy to share. Can you set up some Montessori-type trays and work rug activities? Yes please!!! I'd love that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Would you like the list of books and activities I used with my preschoolers? It may take me a day or so to type it up, but I would be happy to share. Can you set up some Montessori-type trays and work rug activities? I'd love to see it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguistmama Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Do you do Sonlight P3/4 with her? It might help her feel like she is also doing school since her older brother is using Sonlight too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I previously taught preschool and pre-k. I gave a lot of things away...then I had ds2. I bought this book recently just to refresh my brain on preschool activities. It has a lot of the same ideas I used in the classroom and it covers Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Art&Music and Gross Motor Skills. A lot of these ideas can be found for free online, too. I like having one book to look at A to Z Early Childhood Curriculum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberokolo Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Would you like the list of books and activities I used with my preschoolers? It may take me a day or so to type it up, but I would be happy to share. Can you set up some Montessori-type trays and work rug activities? I second that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Oak Meadow and Five in a Row, as a PP mentioned...they are my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Would you like the list of books and activities I used with my preschoolers? It may take me a day or so to type it up, but I would be happy to share. Can you set up some Montessori-type trays and work rug activities? Coming in a bit late here to say that I, too, would love to see your ideas! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Another great resource could be 1+1+1=1 blog? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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