MrsBasil Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Who has been there, done that? My 5 year old will start K anytime I decide, I suppose. He'll be doing an enrichment program through a public school one day a week. I am guessing that means he needs to have OK handwriting. Beyond that I really just want to continue to read aloud for 2-3 hours a day, work on math which is currently MEP 1 and whatever games and puzzles catch interest, practice handwriting, begin to work on reading, field trips, and I don't know what else. An occasional unit study. I have a high energy toddler, only sleep for 3-5 hours a night due to said toddler, have a husband who works away from home most of the time, and...he's 5. He, of course, wants to learn Chinese, how to build robots, and spend hours a day on math. He could not care less if he learns to read right now. He will sit and listen to read alouds for a long time though. We're currently reading The Iron Giant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 You'll do fine! Get some stuff for him to explore building robots with, designate a quiet time for you to get a rest or nap each day, and have lots of fun. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Read aloud 2-3 hours a day? Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 A lot of it is picture books. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Picture books are worse. :svengo:Little Pim has Mandarin dvds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 We love picture books! I'll look into the DVDs. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I love picture books too. I don't love reading them aloud for three hours though! I am in awe of your awesomeness. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Totally fine. My K year was a lot like that: a toddler and a house renovation. We read books aloud (not 2-3 hours a day, but easily 1-2 hours), played outside, did a little MUS work here and there, and did the most basic of phonics (he wasn't quite ready to jump into reading). Each year we're adding a tiny bit more, and he's doing great and taking off with reading, etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 I love picture books too. I don't love reading them aloud for three hours though! I am in awe of your awesomeness. :D We break it up throughout the day. And I call game over anytime the toddler tries to sit on my head. I think that's fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I think it's very important for little people to have lots of time to free-play on their own, without adult intervention. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I got the Jim Trelease Read aloud handbook. We read all the prek, k, and most first grade recommendations. We read for about 2 hours a day and I think that's the number one reason my kids get so many compliments on speech, vocabulary, and thinking skills. You might look into snap circuits for him to tinker with and legos. Magic school bus DVDs and Wildkrats on pbs or at the library can fill him with science. We've done these at five and loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 I think it's very important for little people to have lots of time to free-play on their own, without adult intervention. :-) He does. He plays by himself or with his younger sister for several hours, we have playdates and park days regularly, and most of the time I'm not in the same room with them. I expect them to play outside every day for a couple of hours and I am usually inside at that point. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagirlintexas Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Personally I wouldn't worry to much about handwritting, take it slow. For us teaching handwritting got so much easier closer to 7. I would say max 1/2 hour to an hour total school time at that age. Rest of the time reading and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Curl up on the couch and read lots and lots if he likes it. Follow his interests and let any learning "count" as school. Don't get hung up on having to accomplish anything. Really - it sounds like you are going down a great trail already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlcc Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Since he is not asking to learn how to read yet, I would recommend waiting until 1st grade for phonics instruction. Also, the handwriting, if he's not interested yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 If he wants to learn Chinese but not how to read then I would add the reading instruction in with the Chinese (this would be complicated, but doable) In fact if he wants to build a robot then you can teach him how to read related to building a robot (or baking cookies or going to the shop or flying airplanes) - whatever he is doing you can fit in basic phonics since letters and words are all around us. Also if you are reading so much each day then certain things will go in - you can extend phonics practice with the read alouds - just find and blend a few cvc words for him each book that you read (without testing him - YOU do it - just make sure he is learning his letter sounds either first or while doing the blending for him.) Handwriting you could do for 5 minutes each day if you want him on par with that for the public school class. The rest sounds great and you will be fine. Bring out some toys and games, remove the toddler from your head every now and then - my DD was 2 when we did K with my now first grader and she actually did join in every now and then especially if there were hands on actvities or coloring (she loved to color which not all toddlers do) - although to be honest what happened with the toddler is a bit forgotten now - somehow we coped and you will too - mine is 3.5 now and still does not sleep through the night and we are still up with her for hours most nights so if you ask me next year what we did I will probably have forgotten that too but she joins us much more now than she did. Two year olds change fast and you will find what works in September needs some adjustment by November/December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 She will be 3 in October and I have lost any hope that she might sleep soon. She was awake for close to 3 days after she was born. Mostly screaming. :) I figure I've made it this far, I can keep going! Thanks for all the tips and ideas. I'm going to try and figure out what works and makes the most sense for him and for our family. I have to figure out how to teach robot building...sounds like a new thread! Also, for anyone checking back-we have a National Park, a wildlife preserves and natural areas with nature trails, scavenger hunts, explorer backpacks, dip nets available, catch and release fishing etc near us. I was thinking trying to get to one of those places on a regular/semi regular basis for "nature study". My toddler does better outside and loves birds and my DS loves fishing and bugs. I thought it might be a good way to check off science. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I would definitely count what you've listed as science! Perfect K science, IMO. :) From reading other threads on this forum, I got my K'er a journal from Hobby Lobby with really thick paper and a flower press from Amazon. He has been taking the book with him on all of our nature outings and I've *very gently* gotten him to narrate what he wants me to write for him. Sometimes he has a big story to go with his picture/pressed leaf/etc, sometimes he just wants nothing. I've encouraged him to put the date since he likes to jump around in his book. It has been a perfect science fit for us this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Who has been there, done that? My 5 year old will start K anytime I decide, I suppose. He'll be doing an enrichment program through a public school one day a week. I am guessing that means he needs to have OK handwriting. Beyond that I really just want to continue to read aloud for 2-3 hours a day, work on math which is currently MEP 1 and whatever games and puzzles catch interest, practice handwriting, begin to work on reading, field trips, and I don't know what else. An occasional unit study. I have a high energy toddler, only sleep for 3-5 hours a night due to said toddler, have a husband who works away from home most of the time, and...he's 5. He, of course, wants to learn Chinese, how to build robots, and spend hours a day on math. He could not care less if he learns to read right now. He will sit and listen to read alouds for a long time though. We're currently reading The Iron Giant. Sounds like a fine K year to me. That's basically how I do it. Handwriting, reading aloud, games and playing, some early math, exploring some fun science activities every now and then, learning about whatever catches our fancy, beginning to learn how to read. http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=diy%20robots%20for%20kids&rs=ac&len=10 You could spend the whole year learning about robots, making robots...call it science, call it arts and crafts, call it fun. I might steal the idea!!! <Love The Iron Giant btw>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammv15 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Time4learning has great phonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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