Advice for new preK homeschooler please?

[Guest purplelunar]

Hi everybody!
Because of our relocation in a bad-timing we ended up making the sudden decision to homeschool our girl.

A bit of background info: our girl is turning 3 in June. I used to teach her a little everyday after she comes home from nursery, but very casually Pinterest-type without using any curriculum. She now knows upper and lower case letters, beginning letter sounds, colors, shapes, calendar, some vocabularies of things around her, can recognize 0-20, count to 50, understands concepts like same/different, big/small, ABAB pattern etc. She has been doing a lot of pre-writing practices.

Because of technical reasons I am teaching her in English, which is my second language and her 3rd, and we do not live in an English-speaking country.

I would very much appreciate any advice on how I should start? My goal is to enable her to enter local schools without big struggles in our next move.

Some friends are also asking me if I could include their kids. I like the interaction between kids, but would it be manageable for a first-timer?

We have visited a couple of international schools and my girl really enjoys the circle time singing and dancing. Can someone please kindly point me to related resources?

Sooty for the long post, and thanks a million in advance!

[73349]

I think you'd like this: http://shop.scholastic.com/shop/en/teacherstore/product/%3Cspan-style---%3Esing-along--amp%3B-learn%3C-span%3E-9780439609777 . DS enjoyed marching around, etc., to Ken Sheldon songs.

 

Is the local language one of the ones you and she speak? If not, work on building vocabulary in that language if you foresee that she might attend school. Think of the basics in school: "It's time for lunch," "Where is the bathroom?", "The yellow book is near the pencil sharpener," and the like. That would be easy to incorporate in fun games like Simon Says or a scavenger hunt.

 

For circle time, you might include a song, the day and date, weather observations, something interesting to touch/share (such as passing around an interesting natural object), and a story.

If it's a group/class, you can also include who is here today and a hello to each person, and maybe survey question (e.g., What is your favorite breakfast food?) to tally on a board.

Always do the same things in the same order, preferably referring to a pocket chart or poster so the kids can follow along. The younger the kids are, the smaller the group size you can expect to do well in circle time and the shorter it should be. Kids who have been to nursery school already might be accustomed to the format and focus better.

[Guest purplelunar]

Thanks, whitehawk. I DO like the CD a lot! Wonder if you also know any similar products or sites with dance/actions/movements? I am not good at that. I have tried Wee Sing DVD but the speaking is too difficult for her to understand. Also tried The Wiggles and she seems to like it a bit better. Her favourite seems to be very simple repetitive songs like 'head, shoulder, knees and toes' and 'Hockey Pocky' but unfortunately I only know a few.

Oh- and our next move would probably be to an English-speaking country. That's why I am teaching her in English now. Her birthday is June but the cut-off day in where we are now is Apr, no flexibility. If she goes to a local school here she gotta enter a 0-2yo nursery, instead of a 3yo preschool. We just moved here and had a lot of frustration with the schooling system - so I m very determined to enable her a no-pain switch if we move again.

[73349]

YouTube might be a really good resource for you, then. Look at this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkoNkDCCuPE&list=PLCSvf7uTugCMFI0GswIRYbA67SL3OfBKX 

 

Key words to search for would be "fingerplay" and "library story time" as well as the names of specific performers (Laurie Berkner is fun) or songs ("The Wheels on the Bus," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Down By the Bay," "Six Little Ducks," "This Old Man," etc.). You can preview videos and choose ones to watch with her, or learn songs and teach her directly. (Sometimes ads on YouTube are *not* appropriate for young kids, even when the content is, so I don't play anything for DS without seeing it first.)

[desertflower]

Sounds like you have a really smart girl. 

 

Story time at your local library is always a good thing.  Also, check the internet and see if they have a local Mom's group. 

 

As for academically.............try simple experiments.  My ds and dd are 5 and 3 1/2 respectfully.  They love experiemtns from Real Science Odyssey Chemistry and Life.  If she's enthuse about learning why not try math programs.  See which one is the best fit for her.  At this point in time you can pick and choose. 

 

As for including other kids.......It's a noble idea.  I tried it once.  Bottom line is that it didn't work out.  You have to be ready for what happens if your child doesn't get along with the other kid(s) anymore.  Basically, my friend had another baby and her first child wanted some attention.  I think that pretty much says it all.

 

Of course, every situation is different. 

 

Good luck!

[Guest purplelunar]

Thank you both! The YouTube ad advice is so right, I have not thought of it.

My girl isn't especially smart, but she loves playing school, probably because that's the time she gets my 100% attention? She always asks for more, I am not sure if I should give her more or not.

Our local library has very limited English children books. I saw FIAR very popular but we don't have the resources... I am glad my girl still likes her 15 books but perhaps I should give her more variations?

Maths and science sounds really great too, will definitely give it a try. Is a 3-year-old too young to understand the 'why' behind science experiments?

[Guest purplelunar]

Thank you both! The YouTube ad advice is so right, I have not thought of it.

My girl isn't especially smart, but she loves playing school, probably because that's the time she gets my 100% attention? She always asks for more, I am not sure if I should give her more or not.

Our local library has very limited English children books. I saw FIAR very popular but we don't have the resources... I am glad my girl still likes her 15 books but perhaps I should give her more variations?

Maths and science sounds really great too, will definitely give it a try. Is a 3-year-old too young to understand the 'why' behind science experiments?

[desertflower]

At this age, I think that exposing them to easy experiments is good. I don't go into too much details as to the 'why' part. One or two sentences is sufficient. For instance, we did an experiment modeling a plant cell. We used grapes for chloraplast. I explained why plants have these and we don't. Will she understand? I don't know. But from experience it's always a good moment whenever your kid tells u something that they learned weeks before.

If u r moving to America, there one free online charter school. U could probably ask what the curriculum is. I don't remember the name right now but will post it later.
Kindergarteners here learn the alphabet and phonics. They learn how to cut, glue, in general craft work. Math is an universal subject. I'm using both horizons and singapore math. By the end of the kindergarten level one should know how to add double digits, count to 100, tell time, subtract, money, and read the calendar. I hope this will get u started. I'll post the name of that school later.

[desertflower]

The online school is called Georgia Connections Academy.  It advertises that it's free.  Not quite sure to what extent though. 

 

Good luck!

[Mama Geek]

Thank you both! The YouTube ad advice is so right, I have not thought of it.

My girl isn't especially smart, but she loves playing school, probably because that's the time she gets my 100% attention? She always asks for more, I am not sure if I should give her more or not.

Our local library has very limited English children books. I saw FIAR very popular but we don't have the resources... I am glad my girl still likes her 15 books but perhaps I should give her more variations?

Maths and science sounds really great too, will definitely give it a try. Is a 3-year-old too young to understand the 'why' behind science experiments?

My dd is about to turn 4.  While she might be too young to fully understand the why behind science experiments, seeing how things work in important too.  We expose her now to lots of different things and she picks up much more than you would think.  A perfect example from about a month ago that I can think of, dh drew a very basic side view and a top view of a car like you would on engineering drawings.  When he finished we talked about the other views that are used.  She turned around and drew a 3 year old back view of a car.  It wasn't perfect but we knew immediately what she drew and we were both just stunned.  We've worked with magnets, we watched seeds grow, she helped dh build a small kayak, she is involved in any project that we do, from working on cars to anything else.  

 

I have been working through webster's speller, blend phonics, and spelling rules put together by Don Potter and Elizabeth Brown.  Elizabeth is a member here.  We are also using Bob books for practice.  Very solid and dd is coming along nicely.

 

For math we do dice games, we have played black jack, we use flash cards, we work on time, calendar, etc and we do drill addition facts, at least a few minutes most days.  We do read aloud chapter books as well.  Recently things like Mr. Poppers Penguins, The Black Stallion, Little House in the Big Woods, etc.  We have several odds and ends workbooks for math and writing that we use as well.  We take it pretty easy and just go slow and steady.  Some of the best things we have used are a magna doodle, a dry erase board and markers, and crayons, pencils and paper.