How to homeschool preschooler who knows everything?

[Guest mickel05]

I love my eldest who is a bright and normally sweet girl. But she also feels she knows everything. Just this week we had a hard time over a simple book title. Sigh.She is super strong willed. Yet God has placed a strong desire to homeschool my now two and four year olds. Before I had children I regularly advised CEO and CFOs to help mitigate financial risk in Europe and Asia. Today? I feel inadequate. Nervous. Terribly unqualified. If she challenges me on what I can teach her now what will her teen years will bring?!

 

Does anyone have advice or encouragement? All around me my friends are prepping for their children's first days in kindergarten. I want to believe I can give them a great opportunity that I never had and be sure we are making the best choice for our family. 

 

Thanks, 

Michelle

[ErinE]

I have two! We talk about education and knowledge. How it's possible to know a lot, but impossible to know everything. I also will shrug and say, if you know it then this will be an easy review. Let's get it done.

 

For my two eldest, there were weeks where I had to pause every day and have this conversation. DH also had to say something. It helped, but really it just took time.

 

It may just be a phase or it may continue as she gets older. Just keep talking to her about the importance of learning and doing work well.

[dbmamaz]

My youngest is stubborn.  His sister used to call him Napoleon.  A lot of times, I just didnt argue.  I still remember when he was little and there was some character in the Cars series he was sure had some name (which was not his name).  I tried arguing and finally gave up.  Eventually we watched the movie again, and he turned to me the next time we were looking at the (book?  toy?  i forget) and said "Did you know his name is (correct name?)."  Uh, yes.  

 

I find he is more willing to believe books than me.  And thats fine with me.  It was hard, though, because he was very late to read.  But now that he's reading well, he is doing more things independently, which works for us.

 

So my plan would be to find sources she respects, dont argue needlessly, and also follow her interests as much as possible.  It sounds like your type-A daughter is just like you, maybe?!  How would you have wanted to be taught as a teen?  

[Staceyshoe]

We read lots of books about perfectionism.  There are many excellent picture books about this topic.  It opened up discussion without it feeling "corrective."  We adopted some of the phrases from the book into our everyday conversations--having the "courage to be imperfect" as one example.

[beth83]

This is my oldest to a T. She was always five steps ahead of everything I tried to teach her, and soon started to think she knew everything. I had to jump ahead a few levels and get to a point that actually challenged her. I school early, though, which wasn't necessarily what I planned, but what was needed to keep her engaged. She needed to get to a point where she realized that she didn't know everything. I had to nicely point out examples of what she didn't know, to realize that there is still a whole world out there for her to learn from.

 

While my friends were prepping for K, my daughter was in the middle of 1st grade material. It doesn't take any longer (probably less time than her friends work on K) and doesn't overwhelm her, so I know that is what she needs. I can only assume that one would think they know everything when everything around them is below their level.

[Kylie]

First, I want to say that I don't know any homeschool parent who has ever felt fully adequate or qualified. Take heart, you can do this. You are the best teacher for your children because you care about their education more than anyone. 

 

I've heard, "I knew that already Mom" from my 5 year old son about 1000 times while doing school. I thought I was going to lose my mind because he simply wouldn't listen to what I was telling him because he already knew it…even though he didn't. And because he wasn't listening to me, he was struggling and getting frustrated because he couldn't do it, even though he already "knew it". Finally I told him that even if he already knows what I am saying, he has to be quiet and listen while Mommy is teaching. If at the end of his lesson he wants to tell me what he already knew then he can but not during the lesson. I found that simply by making him be quiet, he started picking things up so much better. And his pride wasn't hurt ;)

[boscopup]

First, I will say that how they are at 4 is not necessarily how they'll be later on. My oldest resisted anything resembling me teaching him something on purpose when he was 4. Now at age 9, he's a very easy student.

 

Second, you may need to skip ahead past the things she already knows. ;) My 4 year old basically teaches himself right now (I don't require school until K age) using K workbooks. Next year, he'll be doing some grade 1-2 stuff when he's in K. It's all good. Meet her where she is.

[Korrale]

My son just turned 4 and he is a stubborn one and we can certainly butt heads about things like this. I have recently found some strategies that help us a lot.

My son is a precocious reader so he is always reading about something. So now I have to be careful about how I introduce any new topic or it will raise his hackles. So I always ask him what he knows about something first. It seems to make feel less belittled? Maybe. I don't know. It seems to work and enables us to open up a dialogue better.

Months ago when we were going for a rain walk I mentioned to him that water is also called H20 and he would just roll his eyes at me and tell me he knew this already. Touché. Or when we watch a movie adaption of a book he will spend the next few days debating with no one in particular about all the things that are wrong in the movie. Now before we watch a movie I explain that it will be different to the book and he is to make a mental note of all the inconsistencies.

[Guest mickel05]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to encourage me and provide great ideas! I am looking forward to teaching her and her little sister. In January we'll start putting more structure around our days and I am feeling more confident after finding this amazing forum!

[PeterPan]

You don't necessarily need a lot of *structure* or formality, just some things they find really intriguing.  Also, is this your oldest?  Maybe I'll tell you what I told my dd when ds was that age: don't argue with a 4 yo.  :D  Like seriously, you know if you're right or wrong, and her opinion doesn't matter a flying flip.  Don't argue!  Just say that's nice and MOVE ON.  Change the topic, pass the bean dip, move on to something else.  Start doing some things she finds really intriguing and close the book and walk away if her behavior is inappropriate. 

 

A very bright 4 yo will enjoy the IEW poetry memorization, any K5 curriculum, the SL read alouds from the early cores, FIAR, RS A or Saxon K5, SOTW or any history you'd like to read her including just simple things like a holidays study.  My ds is 5 now, but last year I began doing the MFW K5 with him, Saxon K5, FIAR, etc.  He's very bright but has a speech problem that makes him seem much younger.  The speech therapist is constantly reminding me to do MORE with him.  It's really not about aggressive parenting or trying to be formal.  He enjoys the stuff we do, and it's like putting food out on the counter to graze: it's there to satisfy when he needs it.  If you try to make it formal right now, you might inadvertently turn it into a DISCIPLINE issue.  That's why I wouldn't do that.  Instead just make it this awesome book you found that you want to read together.  Find something used for 1st grade science and start reading it to her!  She'll probably enjoy it much more than you anticipate.  

 

Have you done anything with geography?  Galloping the Globe was popular when my dd was young.  I'm guessing it's still around.  You can read FIAR books, map the things (we do this) and then make recipes or read books on the countries.  It's pretty bizarre how my boy can't distinguish 6 from 7 (yes, he's going to have some problems, lol) but he knows about Syria.  :D  They might enjoy the Audio Memory geography songs.  

 

It's all just stuff you put out and offer to do, nothing formal or required.  Think of it as the next step in read alouds.  My dd was very bright (still is!) and I decided I wanted to keep things challenging enough for her that she never thought of herself proudly.  It's ok to push the level of things and keep them humble a bit.  A 5 yo can memorize from FLL, start Prima Latina, etc.  

 

Have you tried Playmobil on them?  It's terribly fun with this age, and Playmobil makes history sets.  Get her the Western stuff and then listen to audiobooks of all the Little House on the Prairie books while they play.  Or use your blocks and some small figures to pretend the stories while you play.  Or sew them bonnets and dresses to wear while they listen.  There are activity books to go with Little House.  You don't really need FORMAL stuff to step up the pace on what you're feeding them intellectually and intrigue them, kwim?  

 

Have you tried anything from Timberdoodle?  The Djeco art kits are very fun.  I've been doing them with my boy, and there are some that would be great with girls.  And if she's opinionated, just say fine and let it go, kwim?  We have tried with our dd from a very young age to have her live with the consequences of her decisions.  For us that was more successful than arguing whether she had the right to make the decision.  So just work on it and let her learn.  It will be ok.  These are the fun years, so enjoy them.  :)

[happycc]

Four yrs old are really hard to "teach". Try to find educational moments instead. 

Throughout the day answer her questions and if you dont know the answer or you can pretend to not know the answer say "I don;t know. I wonder where I could find this information." Make a note of it and then head to the library to look for the answers. 

 

My four yrs old is headstrong but since he is obsessed with Spiderman it is easy. We just say Peter Parker loves to study and do school work. ;)