What do you do when a preschooler ask for lessons?

[mamabear2three]

My middle daughter just turned 3. At her physical, her pediatrician was floored by her ability to do these neuro pathways tests that she has the kids do - she said that most 4 year olds are not able to do what she was able to do without a problem and then asked me all these questions about academics - can she count? does she know the alphabet? etc. She told me she was very smart and when I brushed it off and said the plan was to start pre-k in the fall and see how much she already knows then she told me good luck, that'll be an adventure. The thing is, she has a speech delay and is just now starting to talk. 

 

I have been trying to really protect her "playtime" but am getting to a point where it's harder and harder to convince her to "play" while I do school with her sister because she wants to do school too and the coloring pages aren't cutting it anymore. During math specifically she ends up playing with the math manipulatives, but then she started asking for her math lesson. So I asked her to count out things for me, hand me colors, and other basic preschool skills but she gets bored and in the end she just ends up scattering the manipulatives around and building random towers of blocks and counters and frogs. 

 

I was going to do a really simple prek lessons with her in the fall to teach her to recognize and count 0-9, but I am starting to realize that it will only frustrate her to do something like that. (especially since I heard her count to 15 yesterday...)

 

What did you guys do when yours were preschool age? I obviously want to minimize school time because of her age but I want her to love learning and if I don't figure out a way to meet her where she is, especially with her asking for lessons, I fear that she will learn that school is boring and frustrating. 

[SKL]

I'd buy her a few pretty full-color workbooks like they sell at the drugstores, and let her do what she wants in them.  And let her do what she wants with the manipulatives as well.  If she demands more interactive lessons, I'd do simple hands-on things like asking her whether there are more red or white Legos, or which tower is taller and how much taller.

[AK_Mom4]

When youngest DD was little, my mom bought her this wonderful kids table that had a slick surface.  Perfect for tea parties (  :laugh:  ) and the top worked like a white board.  Then DD and Grandma played "Tea Party School".  They ate a cookie, drank pretend tea and did math problems  and wrote words on the table top.  DD was very young when my mom died and this is the only memory she really has of her grandma.

 

The point is - make it fun.  Keep it short, keep it simple and have a good time doing it!  I always liked the Kitchen Table math book.

[SKL]

Oh yeah, also give her a whiteboard and eraseable colored markers and let her go at it.  You could write on it for her or not, at her whim.  :)

[CupOCoffee]

When my DD was 3, she put her hands on her hips, looked me square in the eye and said "are you going to home school ME or what?"...

 

Off to SAMs I went to find activity books, mini white board, manipulatives (oh we had the cutest little animal shaped counters in a tub).  We just did those things and similar activities to what SKL describes.  She loved it and she felt like she was just like her big brother, doing school.

 

~coffee~

[73349]

With unit blocks, a whiteboard, and a few different colored pieces of paper, DS liked to play Decimal Street (a la MUS). We would take turns making and naming numbers, and he'd have me write them on the whiteboard.

 

But there's nothing wrong with using the manipulatives just as toys, either.

 

Maybe she would like some memory work? Colors of the rainbow in order, days of the week/months of the year, nursery rhymes she doesn't already know, countries/states, etc.?

[Crimson Wife]

MEP Reception is a fantastic "snuggle on the couch" math program that is totally do-able by a bright pre-k student. It is free to download.

[MomatHWTK]

My little sits in or school as he wishes.  He has a MoreStarfall account and lately he insists that we do his Starfall math first.  He has a white board, magnets, counters, etc.  If he gets too noisy he has to go do something else during schooltime.  (He is at that stage where he intentionally makes loud noises to interrupt.)

 

If your DD enjoys learning math, then she is loving learning.  Let her go as far as she wants. 

[blondeviolin]

We do the What Your Preschooler Needs to Know workbooks and books. My kids love it. :)

[mamabear2three]

great suggestions, thank you! I wonder if looking at the K kevel of Mcruffy math would be appropriate for her, her sister is doing mcruffy so it would look similar. 

 

ETA:

Although now that I think about it more, I wonder if a "general" workbook like the what your preschooler needs to know book might be better, then she would get some experience in a variety of skills, not just math... 

[vickjul]

I'm in a similar boat with my just-turned-3-year-old. After much pleading, I broke down and bought her some school books of her own. We're using ...

 

Can You Find Me? (Critical Thinking Company)

Beginning Thinking Skills (Critical Thinking Company)

Mathematical Reasoning Beginning A/B (Critical Thinking Company)

My First Book of Cutting/Tracing/Easy Mazes (Kumon)

Let's Sticker and Paste (Kumon)

She also joins her older sister when we're doing Bible stories/songs, read-alouds, crafts, and educational games. The girls are nearly three years apart and not on the same level, but we've found that we can modify most hands-on activities to make her a part of them. For instance, if we're playing an addition game, YDD identifies the numbers and ODD adds them. If we're playing a word-building game, YDD identifies letters and ODD makes words with them. If we're playing a strategy game, she often "plays" as my partner and rolls dice, draws cards, or plays pieces where I tell her to. She may not be learning that much, but at least she feels included in the fun.

[MotherGoose]

I know that workbooks and "forcing" school on preschoolers gets a bad name, but some of them want it. My dd, at about 4.5, started insisting that I do school with her. I'd been keeping her busy with activities during the 2 and 3 years but didn't push anything. Now, she demands school and we do work, and when she starts acting like she's done I say, "Are you tired? We can stop if you'd like." and I follow her lead. I think it's absolutely fine to do lessons with small ones if THEY want it. You might try to assess how much she really knows, and choose curriculum from there.

[mamabear2three]

You might try to assess how much she really knows, and choose curriculum from there.

 

Yeah, I've started that process this afternoon. I thought she was going to be my average kid until the ped. said something and I started hearing her count and really pay attention to some of what she can do and knows. Her speech was just so delayed that I didn't realize how much was going on in her brain! I knew she wasn't behind cognitively but that was about it. Even now I have to be creative in my assessments to figure out what she knows apart from her having to use language to tell me.

 

I also saw a mischievous side of her today as I would watch her eyes go to the correct answer on the white board and then with a smile would point to a wrong answer. 

[Mommy_of_4]

I do Heart of Dakota little hands to heaven with my almost 3yr old when she asks for school stuff. It takes bout 20 min and she loves it.

[bakpak]

I also saw a mischievous side of her today as I would watch her eyes go to the correct answer on the white board and then with a smile would point to a wrong answer. 

 

Classic! My DD started doing this around 18 months so I learned early to watch for the signs and try to stay ahead of her. Every time  this (purposeful wrong answers) happened I realized I had to up the ante. I'd then take a big step ahead of what I was expecting of her, and every time she kept up and took great enjoyment in the new material. She'll let you know if something's too complex or she's tired of doing something. Enjoy her interest and spunk!

 

[ThoughtfulMama]

When mine was 3 he enjoyed the Starfall and PBS kids websites, if you're not adverse to a little educational screen time.

[mamabear2three]

I am not averse to some screen time. I suppose it's probably time to start giving her some personal computer time, I probably started her sister at about this age. 

 

[mamabear2three]

so just thought I would come back and say thanks again - I have quite the trial and error process ahead of me.

 

I used some of what I had for the fall for preschool and condensed it and found that learning letter sounds is exciting to her but counting is boring. When I set her up on starfall on the computer, she was thrilled! 

 

It's going to be a challenge to me to separate her articulation/slow speech from her abilities, but I'm on the right track now. Thanks for the suggestions!  :hurray:

 

[Tanikit]

When my preschooler asks for lessons then I give her lessons - we pick and choose from multiple curricula (I think preschool has more free available curricula than any other age so it is easy) We have used www.abcjesuslovesme.com, Easy Peasy's Getting Ready 1 curriculum, MEP Reception, but mostly read alouds, read alouds, and more read alouds. My 3 year old really likes "school" though and is learning to read properly now too. My younger child also has speech issues though they are not too bad - as long as I can understand her then she can show me what she has learned - if I cannot understand her then it does not matter either - I can still tell her things and sometimes they get spoken again much later (I think I told her about the water cycle many months back and the other day she told me the steam was coming out the kettle and going up into the sky to make rain and come down again - she would not have been able to say so many sentences and be understood when I had told her that.)

[morgan]

When my daughter was that age I purchased the Rod & Staff workbooks. They gave her something to sit and do and she loved the little pictures of animals and farm life. She also enjoyed the Scholastic Magnetic Pattern Blocks, mazes, and Kumon workbooks (Let's Fold, Let's Cut, etc until she was ready for the bigger Kumon workbooks). I think some kids just really enjoy sitting and working on something.

[shawthorne44]

Yeah, I've started that process this afternoon. I thought she was going to be my average kid until the ped. said something and I started hearing her count and really pay attention to some of what she can do and knows. Her speech was just so delayed that I didn't realize how much was going on in her brain! I knew she wasn't behind cognitively but that was about it. Even now I have to be creative in my assessments to figure out what she knows apart from her having to use language to tell me.

 

I also saw a mischievous side of her today as I would watch her eyes go to the correct answer on the white board and then with a smile would point to a wrong answer. 

 

I see the mischievous side often.  What I do is respond, "Yes, if you were a silly goose."

It started with a book Hippopposites that we got from the library.  The left and right pages shows opposites.  She loved to label them wrong.  I could tell she was playing, but I didn't want to say "yes, that is right."  What is funny is that every now and then she would label them correctly and I would just say "Yes".  Then she would say "No No" and then say the opposite. It seems to happen more often with easy questions, even though it was her that requested the book.  

 

I remember reading about something similar in the book about the Parrot that was used in language experiments.  The test protocol said that they asked the bird the same question 50 times.  The bird would start out with some wrong, while it was still learning.  Then it would many right in a row when it knew it well.  Then it started to get creative with the answers. 

[mamabear2three]

so interesting about the parrot!

 

I'm actually excited at the moment because I think I figured out that singapore math essentials will be perfect for where she is based on what I saw her do today (ironic since I didn't like singapore 1 for my older daughter). So I'll order that for math and I think that continuing to teach letter sounds will be good even if it goes quickly - I have some good resources for that... and then I will move her into get ready for the code, which I think I have stashed away somewhere. 

 

[Korrale]

My son is a workbook junkie. So we do a lot of them. He will technically be in pre-k in the fall. There are a lot of nice workbooks. The cutting and pasting ones are helpful for fine motor control. But so is playing with playdoh, little blocks and lacing beads and puzzles.

Thus far we have taught him to read, and we read a lot. We read together a lot. He reads by himself. We read from many different genres and lots of non fiction books.

He also listens to audio books.

And we okay math games on a daily basis.

 

I highly recommend looking into a snap circuits. It is my number one toy recommendation for this age.

[prairiewindmomma]

In addition to the ideas above, audio books and the education unboxed videos with cuisenaire rods. We also watch Nature and Nova together.

[shawthorne44]

...

I highly recommend looking into a snap circuits. It is my number one toy recommendation for this age.

 

What would you think the minimum age would be for a very bright kid?  

 

The ages on the boxes are totally useless at this age.  I wish they were allowed to put "Past sticking everything in the mouth".  

 

Do you think that the kid would have to be completely reading independently ?  

[mamabear2three]

 the education unboxed videos with cuisenaire rods. 

 

oh this is brilliant! I'll try this tomorrow maybe and see if she likes it. She loves playing with the cuisenaire rods!

[Korrale]

What would you think the minimum age would be for a very bright kid?

 

The ages on the boxes are totally useless at this age. I wish they were allowed to put "Past sticking everything in the mouth".

 

Do you think that the kid would have to be completely reading independently ?

I think 3 is a great age. I got them for my son's fourth birthday and I could certainly have gotten them sooner. He was already reading independently at that point so I think that helps him play them by himself. However I don't think reading is necessary, but you might want to offer guidance to get the most value out of them. It may take a little practice for them to read the schematics, but once the can they should be able to assemble things by themselves. As long as their fine motor skills permit. It did take my son just a little practice to snap the circuits together. But it it no more difficult than a lego.

[shawthorne44]

That is good to know.  I have been drooling over the super big set that comes with the case.  Heck, if she doesn't like it, I know I would.  

I will move it from the "when she is old enough" list to "when we can afford it" list.  She will probably be reading independently by that time.

 

It is funny.  I have a B.S. in Physics and an M. Engr in Material Science Engineering, but I really don't understand electronics.  Electrons, yes.  Electronics, No.  This will be one of those "Filling in MY educational gaps through homeschooling".  

[nature girl]

I second Education Unboxed, as well as the Cuisenaire resources on the NurturedByLove website. My DD loved them at that age, and really self-taught quite a bit using them and we eventually went on to very laid back play with Miquon Orange.

 

My DD4 isn't gifted, but she's bright and very self-driven. She counted early, learned all her letters and letter sounds by 18mo, and started sounding out words at 2.5, and I was very hesitant at first. Because she's a perfectionist I was worried about her frustration when she couldn't get things as quickly as she thought she should and I didn't want her to lose her love of learning, so I never really did formal teaching with her, just answered questions and helped her out when she asked for it. Her reading improved just by me doing a ton of read-alouds, pointing to the words as I read, and we did a lot of parent-child reading using Progressive Phonics and We Both Read books. Math was primarily through toys like pattern blocks and the rods, and by "talking math" (i.e., counting while I handed out crackers, telling her what I was doing when I cut her sandwich into quarters, asking if she could figure out how many cookies we'd need if we each got two, etc.)

 

A ton of read aloud time (and she eventually took over much of the reading as her skills improved), the CTC books and Kumon books mentioned above (which you can give her if she asks for workbooks, they really are fun...) some science experiments, a lot of discussion about the world...Keep it as fun as possible, at this age bright kids don't need anything formal, they'll pick up so much on their own.

[prairiewindmomma]

We brought out snap circuits at 3. We also listened to a lot of children's classics while playing with scales, weights, mirrors, and other child friendly stuff. We have done a lot of science kits with my help (or my oldest coordinating).

[mamabear2three]

I found a copy of Finding the Answers workbook from rod and staff in my closet today, I forgot I had that - she loved it! She definitely likes doing workbooks. 

 

Of course the funny thing is we had our last speech therapy session today and I asked him about some of what I've seen her do, etc. His advice was a bit frustrating because he was telling me to do things with her that she would find boring, and when I mentioned how she would purposefully answer things incorrectly, he disagreed and said that means she doesn't have the concept if she can't answer it correctly. 

 

I'm guessing this is part of the reasons that bright kids might end up do poorly in school...

 

Oh well, at least he was able to help her with her speech.

[NoseInABook]

I just started lessons with them. So far I've taught three 4 year olds how to read, they were doing basic math at that age, and were learning how to write. My current 4 year old just finished K curriculum this year and is doing fine. It only take a few hours a day and she wants to be doing it because her siblings are doing school then. She plays the rest of the time so I don't feel guilty and I never, ever push her. All of those kids knew shapes, colors, could identify all letters capital and lower case, and numbers by the time they were 2. My current 2.5 year old is a whole 'nother story. He just doesn't care right now and I've done nothing differently with him. He likes to be read to and he likes to play but sit down to do school stuff? Heck no. Not yet. ;)

[Korrale]

That is good to know. I have been drooling over the super big set that comes with the case. Heck, if she doesn't like it, I know I would.

I will move it from the "when she is old enough" list to "when we can afford it" list. She will probably be reading independently by that time.

 

It is funny. I have a B.S. in Physics and an M. Engr in Material Science Engineering, but I really don't understand electronics. Electrons, yes. Electronics, No. This will be one of those "Filling in MY educational gaps through homeschooling".

We got the jr set and it is a great start. You can get a light up set or a green set which is independent of the 750R set. It would be less of an investment incase she doesn't like it. And it might be easier to start with a smaller set and less components.

But we are intending to get the full set when we can afford it too. And hopefully before the end of the year as it will be his 5th brithday gift. If we don't get the big set we will get the lights, green or car set instead.

I highly recommend getting it with the case.

[Embassy]

My middle daughter just turned 3. At her physical, her pediatrician was floored by her ability to do these neuro pathways tests that she has the kids do - she said that most 4 year olds are not able to do what she was able to do without a problem and then asked me all these questions about academics - can she count? does she know the alphabet? etc. She told me she was very smart and when I brushed it off and said the plan was to start pre-k in the fall and see how much she already knows then she told me good luck, that'll be an adventure. The thing is, she has a speech delay and is just now starting to talk. 

 

I have been trying to really protect her "playtime" but am getting to a point where it's harder and harder to convince her to "play" while I do school with her sister because she wants to do school too and the coloring pages aren't cutting it anymore. During math specifically she ends up playing with the math manipulatives, but then she started asking for her math lesson. So I asked her to count out things for me, hand me colors, and other basic preschool skills but she gets bored and in the end she just ends up scattering the manipulatives around and building random towers of blocks and counters and frogs. 

 

I was going to do a really simple prek lessons with her in the fall to teach her to recognize and count 0-9, but I am starting to realize that it will only frustrate her to do something like that. (especially since I heard her count to 15 yesterday...)

 

What did you guys do when yours were preschool age? I obviously want to minimize school time because of her age but I want her to love learning and if I don't figure out a way to meet her where she is, especially with her asking for lessons, I fear that she will learn that school is boring and frustrating. 

 

If a child who has an older sibling asks to have her own lessons I would first consider whether she is asking because she needs the stimulation and is hungry for learning academics or if she wants individual attention.  

 

I've done different things with all 3 of my kids.  Play it by ear and know that if you do try something and it doesn't work, you can stop or try something else :)  I had a kid hungry for parent-led learning at a young age.  I fed that with some academics for a few weeks and then she was content to go back to playing.