Starting from scratch - what would your recommend?

[PhotoGal]

My two older kids homeschooled through 3rd/5th grade. They are now in public school and doing well. They are both bright kids and picked up a lot fairly quickly.  

 

I now have three preschoolers at home and want to get started with some explicit instruction, especially for the oldest (age 5). He and one of his little sisters was just adopted from China last summer. We are starting from scratch! He is learning English quickly, but seems to have a block about learning things like colors and shapes. It has taken many many (MANY!) repetitions to teach him basic colors and the shape circle. We've used books, real life conversations, super repetitive DVDs, ipad apps, curriculum (Beginning Thinking Skills), whatever we could think of. He still does not know squares/triangles/etc. - I think we finally got circle down. :)

 

Anyway, these three are not going to learn letters, numbers, etc. just through play and conversation. They are going to need more step-by-step and repetitive instruction (while still being somewhat fun, right?). Our 4 year old knows her letter sounds and can sound out two letter words (up, in). Our 5 year old only knows the first letters of their names - even the letter factory DVD did not work with him. :D Our 3 year old has a major speech delay and global delays. I think she also knows the first letters of their names, but does not understand that the letters could be used for other words. For example, when she sees "C is for cat" in a book, she says she is a cat because her name starts with C.  ;)  She also thinks no one else can have 3 of anything, because SHE is 3. 

 

I was thinking of using either AAR or LOE with our 4 year old. Maybe AAR Pre for our 5 year old? 

 

The kindergarten we want our 5 year old to attend next year (he will just be barely 6 when he starts) in a Mandarin immersion school and they use Singapore Math. I'd like him to be at least counting by then, and it would be nice if he could write his letters, since I remember Singapore K expecting that.  Singapore was great with my older two, but I think he would probably do better with Saxon (not that we have a choice, just saying what he seems to need - more repetition and practice). 

 

Sorry I didn't mean for this to be so long. To summarize:

 

5 year old ds:

- adopted from China last summer (still learning English)

- learns conversation quickly, but abstract concepts slowly (possible learning disabilities? too early to tell for sure)

- preparing for a fairly academic kindergarten next fall

- goals: knowing letters/sounds, counting, writing letters/numbers, writing his own name, knowing colors/shapes, fine motor skills

 

4 year old dd:

- adopted from China almost two years ago

- learns at a normal rate

- preparing for the same kinder, but the fall after next 

- goals: read CVC words, counting past 10, writing letters/numbers

 

3 year old dd (almost 4 yrs old):

- adopted from China last summer 

- major speech/global delays, but good at puzzles and some non-verbal things

- preparing for the same kinder? or maybe our neighborhood school? or maybe homeschool?, not sure what year we will start her

- goals: speech, cognitive skills, counting to 10, knowing more letters and understanding the concept of numbers/letters

 

All three would benefit from learning more about the world in general to strengthen their background knowledge/vocabulary. The two new kids need things explicitly taught. 

 

So far we are doing:

- reading a lot of books

- DVDs with letters/shapes/colors/numbers/stories (while in the car dropping off/picking up siblings)

- O.T. for 5 year old, S.T. for 3 year old

- toys that help with problem solving (puzzles, stacking blocks) and pretend play

- random preschool workbooks and Beginning Thinking Skills (they wanted "homework" like their big siblings)

- DD4 did "Get Ready for the Code" book A

- cutting, pasting, glueing, coloring, playdough - all that stuff ;)

- learning to share, take turns, cooperate, etc - lots of practice there

 

We mostly need:

- help learning letters/sounds/colors/shapes in a way that sticks

- help learning to write letters/numbers

- practice with things like patterns, rhyming, other concepts such as this

- drawing skills? Ds can draw a wonky smiley face, but that is about it.

- reading instruction for 4 year old? No need to rush, but I think she is ready for this

 

 

If you read this all, I thank you ahead of time! Obviously the most urgent is getting the 5 year old ready for kinder. I know there are people here who are very knowledgeable about curriculum! Our big kids didn't need curriculum for preschool, so this is new to me!

[kalusignan]

Looking at what you're already doing - you're doing a great job! Just reading a lot of books is great! I try not to put any expectations on preschoolers to 'get it'. I provide the learning/play/experiences and leave the rest up to them. I know that's hard when you know they'll be going to an academic kindergarten.

 

That being said, I think AAR - Pre would be in line with your goals. It's very fun/play based and includes many of the pre-reading skills (rhyming, identifying beginning/ending sounds) you mentioned. You could really do this with all of them together. I don't think it would be above your 4yo at all. My younger dd knew all her letter sounds at 2yo and AAR-Pre still challenges her since there are so many good pre-reading skills emphasized other than knowing sounds. I hope that makes sense.

 

I also really like Handwriting without Tears for preschool fine motor. I love their Wet, Dry, Try iPad app.

 

My oldest also didn't 'get' the leapfrog letter factory video. Maybe Starfall?

 

I also have used the Explode the Code - Get Ready series. If that's going well with the 4 yo, I would just continue.

 

My dd3 also loves Bambino Luk workbooks (no writing).

 

Have fun!

[Ellie]

Spalding. It does everything LOE does but with less fanfare and less expense. :-) I have a friend in California who taught non-English speakers using Spalding with great results.

 

Otherwise I think you're doing a great job. :cheers2:

[Aurelia]

I might do a slow Pre-K thing like Oak Meadow or Memoria Press's special needs curriculum with Bearing Away for learning letters/reading. Geometric solids and 2-D shapes might help learning shapes, you can ask your child to hand you the triangle, or hold up the square and ask him to find another square. 

Edited January 10, 2016 by Aurelia