Year One- Three Year Old

[CJVW]

We are preparing to purchase or first year stuff.

 

My daughter is three. She is pre- writing and pre-reading.

 

We have a budget of $400.

 

Looking at the resource list at the end of Chapter Four, here are my questions.

 

The resource list is noted as "in order of use." Approximately where on the list would I end for the first year?

 

Do you recommend I purchase through the Reading Skills then wait on the Beginning Readers?

 

Do we complete Reading before introducing Writing, Math and Science (which is my understanding)?

 

Do we complete Explode the Code before cracking open the Plaid Phonics Level K book and then begin with The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading?

 

Thank you!

[BugsMama]

You pick one thing. You don't need ETC and Plaid Phonics and OPGTR. You need one. Look at them all, and pick which one you like.

Same for other subjects.

 

But are you sure you need them with a 3 year old? I would put that money to fun educational toys, craft supplies, and good picture books.

[FO4UR]

I would spend on great children's literature and a few nice manipulatives.

 

 

Beatrix Potter 

AA Milne

 

 

Magnet Letters

Sandpaper Letters

Cuisenaire Rods

 

 

I would *maybe* purchase a reading primer like Ordinary Parent's Guide, and use it as a guide for you to teach the letter sounds via magnet letters. Keep it relaxed and playful.  You probably don't need a guide yet though.  Leapfrog Letter Factory cannot be beat for this stage of learning letter sounds.  Recipe for Reading as another good guide for learning letters & letter sounds.

 

A nice chalk/white board would be well worth investing in now.  I'd skip any and all workbooks and do all letter/number practice on the board.  I like to use sandpaper letters to teach letter formation.  

 

 

Basic crayons and plenty of paper...fingerpaints and sidewalk chalk...

[maize]

I've been where you are, eager to get started homeschooling when my oldest was preschool age. I asked more experienced parents wha to do and received the same advice you are receiving--read together, play together, introduce letters and sounds if you like but don't jump into workbooks and formal lessons. My oldest is ten now and progressing wonderfully in her education. I am so glad I listened to the advice of those who were ahead of me on the path.

[TianXiaXueXiao]

I would stick to read alouds, games, puzzles, art, music, and lots of play. If you want some kind packaged learning readiness, check out Before Five in a Row. I have a 2yo who loves to play school because she has a big sister in 5th grade. She is writing letters and drawing faces but I am not really working with her on this, however, she has picked up quite a bit from Starfall apps on the kindle. Such a fun age!

[Pen]

Starting now and continuing into next year:

 

I'd work on counting and sorting and measuring with real world items like food and laundry and gardening or activities like that. And I'd have science in the form of nature observation and growing a garden if you can. So in that sense, I would not wait on math or science till after reading.

 

I'd do lots of read alouds to her and work on the sounds letters make for reading, and if she wants to dictate writing to you, I'd do that for writing at this stage.

 

I'd start her on whatever level of reading you think she can do as a student and you can teach, and then see how it goes before making more decisions about what comes next. She may learn very fast and not need some things you are now thinking about, or she may turn out to need totally different materials than you now are thinking about.

[Pen]

PS I'd let your own actual child guide what you do and when more than a theoretical program in a book. If your own child is ready to do math at a higher level then most of that age while still not reading at all, for example, I'd do what she can do in each area. However, my own experience was that trying to do a formal writing program before reading was solid was a mistake.

[Pen]

PPS I'd not spend most of your budget in advance, but rather get just a little and start getting a feel for what she needs at first, and keep some also to have fresh things throughout the year as need arises, rather than trying to anticipate everything now.

[Pen]

PPPS (sorry, but I cannot seem to edit) You won't know where you will end the first year till it is over. 

[CJVW]

BugsMama- Thank you! I felt there was too much overlap to need everything listed. We have everything else you mentioned and I wasn't planning on starting for another year, but she is already picking up letter sounds and asking what words are. She also asks what sounds they make, etc. I am trying to prepare for the next step, but not necessarily sit get down the moment it arrives. We already do a daily project, have open art supplies really available and do lots of daily incorporating learning in daily life activities. And tons of reading!

 

4blessingmom- Thank you! I'm removing a good deal of what I THOUGHT I needed and adding your suggestions!

 

maize - I agree! I am trying to have materials on hand for when she's ready, rather than hurrying to research and buy at that point.

 

TWells- We are definitely purchasing BFIAR. We also have older children, so I think she just wants to jump in as well.

 

Pen - Thank you a great deal! We are not even considering writing, even though have three years of HWT on hand. I solely want to work on letter identification and sound right now, since we already do counting, art, etc.

 

Thank you all for the reminder to slow down and not plan too much too far in advance! My list is drastically changing!

[Pen]

BugsMama- Thank you! I felt there was too much overlap to need everything listed. We have everything else you mentioned and I wasn't planning on starting for another year, but she is already picking up letter sounds and asking what words are. She also asks what sounds they make, etc. I am trying to prepare for the next step, but not necessarily sit get down the moment it arrives. We already do a daily project, have open art supplies really available and do lots of daily incorporating learning in daily life activities. And tons of reading!

 

4blessingmom- Thank you! I'm removing a good deal of what I THOUGHT I needed and adding your suggestions!

 

maize - I agree! I am trying to have materials on hand for when she's ready, rather than hurrying to research and buy at that point.

 

TWells- We are definitely purchasing BFIAR. We also have older children, so I think she just wants to jump in as well.

 

Pen - Thank you a great deal! We are not even considering writing, even though have three years of HWT on hand. I solely want to work on letter identification and sound right now, since we already do counting, art, etc.

 

Thank you all for the reminder to slow down and not plan too much too far in advance! My list is drastically changing!

 

I know the desire to prepare in advance for the next step, but I have sometimes done that to my financial regret when my ds has leaped forward and skipped that step entirely!--or turned out to need a very different sort of program entirely.

 

Some people (and Montessori) feel that learning letter sounds, and letter combination sounds, before letter names helps reading. In terms of writing, what I had in mind was not handwriting/penmanship, but composition, where she can have, perhaps, the thrill of making up a story that she dictates to you and you write down and can then read back to her without her being able to form a single letter herself. Once she can count, you can start to introduce the ideas of adding together, or the idea of all the operations at once as you choose. You can do this on your own with everyday stuff, or I think MUS and Critical Thinking's Mastering Mathematics have fairly good primer level programs. I'm not sure about SM or MM since I've not seen their lowest levels. Right Start games might be good at an early level, especially if there are other children to play with. I also thought Kitchen Table math sounded interesting, but it was not around when we were at that stage, so I do not know much.

[CJVW]

I will look into those! I think I was jumping way too far ahead. You make a good point, I have no idea how quickly she will go or where she may lag.

[Korrale]

For a prereader I would look at preschool prep products. Their sight words DVDs and readers are really good. As are their phonics DVDs.

Marshmallow math is a great book for math. It is for you to read and then implement.

 

Honestly...if it were me, I would see about investing in an iPad. Or the cheaper iPad mini. You can pretty much teach a child to read and do math from an iPad alone if you use good quality apps.

[CJVW]

Korrale, she has an IPad and a Nabi. She had learned a great deal from them, but she also has a tendency to become impatient when she uses then too often. Her attention span also shortens. She will sit and listen to me read for over an hour, but she won't spend more than a minute on some apps before clicking into another one.

 

We now limit her use and balance her time between certain apps, but she dies much better with hands on learning than with the screen.

 

My nine year old is the opposite. She has Down syndrome and learns differently. She barely sits through me reading one book, but will listen to an entire one on the IPad.

[Eagle]

Our ds found an abacus really fun for counting at that age.

[FO4UR]

BugsMama- Thank you! I felt there was too much overlap to need everything listed. We have everything else you mentioned and I wasn't planning on starting for another year, but she is already picking up letter sounds and asking what words are. She also asks what sounds they make, etc. I am trying to prepare for the next step, but not necessarily sit get down the moment it arrives. We already do a daily project, have open art supplies really available and do lots of daily incorporating learning in daily life activities. And tons of reading!

 

4blessingmom- Thank you! I'm removing a good deal of what I THOUGHT I needed and adding your suggestions!

 

maize - I agree! I am trying to have materials on hand for when she's ready, rather than hurrying to research and buy at that point.

 

TWells- We are definitely purchasing BFIAR. We also have older children, so I think she just wants to jump in as well.

 

Pen - Thank you a great deal! We are not even considering writing, even though have three years of HWT on hand. I solely want to work on letter identification and sound right now, since we already do counting, art, etc.

 

Thank you all for the reminder to slow down and not plan too much too far in advance! My list is drastically changing!

 

 

It sounds like she's doing very well.  Keep teaching her letter sounds as she's ready.  Incorporating the Sandpaper Letters will make a seemless bridge from "play" to actually writing.  I followed quite a few Montessori ideals when mine were preK.  We did the sandpaper letter activities casually, and I waited until they started spontaneously writing before doing any handwriting activities.  (They already knew letter formation from the sandpaper letters.)  My dd went *crazy* with her writing...and I mean, she wrote on walls, on bedsheets, all over her play kitchen, on her brother.....*CRAZY.*   :lol:   (So you've been warned!)

 

 

As we did the sandpaper letters, I also reinforced the sounds.  I would say /t/ as we finger-traced the t, for example.  So those letter sounds came naturally.  That resulted in my dd reading at age 3, though my boys have both read later.  

 

 

 

Workbooks, like ETC, are *great* for that stage when they want to line up their stuffed animals (or younger siblings LOL) and play school. (4-5yo)

[Korrale]

If she has an iPad you can limit the apps she has access to and lock her into an app. There are some great Montessori math apps and slate math that were perfect for my son at that age. We were able to transfer what was being taught on the apps to hands on activities. And we did a lot of Montessori activities also.

My son learnt a lot using an iPad but if he was fiddly around on it I removed it also. I only keep quality educational apps on the iPad for him. It is for school. Not for fun.

 

If she loves to be read to, just keep reading. When my son was that age we were reading in excess of several hours a day. You can teach a lot via reading. Including history, math, science and more. MathStart books by Stuart. Murphy are amazing. And possibly worth the investment if you can't get them from the library. They have math activities in the back of the book to do.

If you desire to introduce her to some workbook type work, SchoolZone has cheap but completely acceptable workbooks for pre-k that covers things like thinking skills, letter sounds, counting, mazes, dot to dots and more.

Kumon also has a series of books for folding, pasting, cutting, coloring skills. They are called Let's (fold, cut, paste etc)

Personally I don't see a need for a curriculum until they are ready for a kindergarten and up curriculum.

[SereneHome]

Can't comment on reading, but both, my oldest when he was 3 and my now 3.5 really liked books from Critical Thinking company. We did their Math, Building thinking skills and Can you fine me. That was all the "official" schooling we did at that age

[Peaceful Isle]

I can't wait till my ds 2 is in pre-k! Isn't that why we have our last one? :p J/K kinda

 

I do agree with the other posters, to get items little by little. If you like to read aloud, invest in some good books for you and your kiddo to read together.

[duckens]

For my 3yo:

 

1) A set of these wood pieces for making letters.  They are pricey, so feel free to be inspired by the shapes, and make your own set out of fun foam. 

 

When we do a letter, I then cut out paper strips and curves for dd to glue the pieces on construction paper.  We save this work in a 3-ring binder that she is proud of.

 

2) See if your library has "My Sound Box" series by Jane Belk Moncure.  There is one for nearly every letter of the alphabet.  (XYZ are combined).  When we read a book from this series, we say the sound to turn the page.  The page will not turn unless the child says the sound. 

 

Here's an example (I made up) of the style of the books:

"Little P had a box.  I will put things in my box that start with the letter P."  Say "Puh." to turn to page.

"She found pickles and pizza.  Did she put them in the box?  She did!"  Say "Puh" to turn the page.

 

If your 3yo is pre-writing, see if she will write 3 p's on any sheet of paper when the book ends.  Put it on the fridge, or make sure she goes and shows daddy when he comes home, so he can make a big deal about it.

 

3) Print or buy CVC flashcards.  Put one or two on the fridge each week for her her spell out using refrigerator letters.

 

4) Starfall  We pay the money for the extra content each year, but you certainly don't need it at this age.

 

5) If your child needs to learn how to use a mouse, get Reader Rabbit Babies and Toddler.

 

6) Use the dltk letter templates to make letters and inspire letter activities.  We did apple prints for a, beans for b, a cat giant rubber stamp for c, dots for d, eggshells for e, and feathers for f.  This is also saved in her 3-ring binder, along with a coloring page of a subject for each letter.  Just google "Free coloring pages ant" or "Free coloring pages bear" or "free coloring pages cat."

 

ETA:

7) I'd also splurge on a Little Pim Language of your choice (Spanish?  Chinese?  Italian?)  if I could afford it.  Watch Educents or Homeschool Buyers Coop or something for a deal.

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I love the Well Trained Mind, but don't be a purist.  Choose what is best for your family.  That is the strength and the joy of Homeschooling.

 

When you do start officially homeschooling, do as many others have suggested, and add one subject at a time.  We started at age 4 with Saxon K Math, which is all manipulatives and no workbook, although there are optional worksheets (writing numbers, counting objects) at the end of the TM, I think.

 

For Phonics, there are MANY good programs to choose from.  Use this time to visit with others and ask what they like (and don't like) and why they use it.

 

If I had it to do over, I'd consider Cursive First.

I have used Abeka, which is an EXCELLENT program. 

We are currently using Saxon Phonics, which is acceptable, but not outstanding.  It does the job.  And it's secular.

I have used the PAL Writing portion of IEW's PAL Reading program.  I have heard only good things about PAL Reading.

 

Also, FTR, many of us start every school year this way, with just one or two subjects the first day or week, then adding extra subjects as we get back into the swing of things.

[MotherOfBoys]

My son's are the same way. Ready to learn before four. I love star fall. We use saxon phonics k because there are just simple wink pages and most learning is flash cards and oral stuff. Saxon k math is the same way. They can easily be done at three years old. Also, I have "the read a aloud handbook" book by Jim released. It has amazing books to read to the child and then I ask him to tell me the story back in his own words. We would do a novel a week or four picture books a week.

 

It helped me to have goals. Like I'll teach all the letter sounds by the end of the year and have him counting one to one up to 20. We also practice some, some more stories with bear counters. Story problems are important to me because I'm not the type of person that remembers to point out real life math as we come to it. I forget.

[macmacmoo]

Eldest DS is 5. He knew his letters and their sounds at 2 and then plateau on the reading spectrum till 4.5 it drove me batty.

 

(Between the ages of 2 and 5 we moved cross country 3 times. We didn't school everyday and took long breaks for pre and post moving so keep that in mind)

 

At 3 he was already strong in his letters: he found the ETC primers a little boring. We tried Ordinary Parents and Phonics Pathways on and off that year but he just wasn't ready to do the blending.

 

At 4 I gave in and bought another book: Plaid Phonics, though I used the review section of the Level A book instead of the Level K book. Perfect fit.

 

After we did the review section I tried Ordinary Parent's with him and though he could do the blending he wouldn't focus. He also couldn't focus on Phonics Pathways.

What worked was The explode the Code books. About half way through the first book I added Ordinary Parents back in for light reading exercise and he seems to now enjoying it. I'm not sure why we stopped using Plaid Phonics....

 

I started him on math at four. I tried MEP reception and that wasn't a good fit for us. We then tried Math Mammoth and it's been awesome for us.

 

He is very math inclined. I didn't feel that his ability to read or write should hold him back. When he first started with Math mammoth I bought him a stamp set since he wasn't strong at handwriting at that point. He just stamped his answers. During areas of review I had him write by hand, but when we were learning something new I let him use the stamps. The stamps went away after 2 or 3 months.

 

A lot of people will say let them play, but I felt 20 minutes to have them focus on something isn't much to ask.