Mommy22alyns Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Calm down, I'm not doing anything drastic! ;) I did decide to pull Sylvia out of preschool, so we're homeschooling preschool. I'm not changing anything I'm doing with her right now though - she's still dabbling in her K workbooks and taking off to play when the mood strikes her. I would like to know what things I "should" cover with a 4 year old though - like learning phone number & address... things along that line. I'd also love to hear about any fun learning games you play with that age. She already knows her letters and letter sounds and has surprisingly good number recognition and counting skills. She's become skilled with scissors, glue sticks, and colored pencils. She's even started to read! So I'm just looking for super light and fun things for reinforcement. I'll say it again - I'm not going to sit her down and give her a full on curriculum right now! I just want to be sure we cover our bases over the next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inashoe Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Read, read, read. Ambleside has reading lists : http://www.ambelsideonline.com But not only fiction, we pour over picture books which cover all kinds of topics. I let my soon-to-be-4 ask the library where she can find books on her interest, so she might ask for polar bears, or foxes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Have her memorize emergency contact numbers and their first and last names. Teach her how and when to dial 911. Go over a fire evacuation plan and practice it. Any other safety rules you can think of (poison, cooking, etc.). Teach her how to tie shoes, zip up pants and coat, button pants and coat, fasten/unfasten belts (the unfasten is the most important, ask me how I know). Anyway... you get the point. Life skills that they normall throw into preschool that we may overlook because we are focused on academics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 If I had a 4 year old, I would absolutely not miss Right Start Level A. This is the best of Right Start and so wonderfullly teaches place value, and gives a fantastic understanding of our base 10 system. Now I do not do RS at the higher levels, but level A is a gift to your child. Blessings, Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonia Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've got a few ideas for games/activities that I did with my dd Pre-Reading activities Games for short vowel words Math activities Activity Bags I also did a really simple animal/habitat study with my dd - mostly reading some books and little crafts and worksheets. She had lots of fun with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracesteacher Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 What is you dd interested in? Follow those rabbit trails. Teach her how to start working the library if she doesnt already know. We use games to teach things here. Bed bugs work on motor skills but Hopoffit teaches the states. We play card games to help us with math along with board games. We like playing with our tanograms and doing puzzles. We have calendar time everyday. Pretend play building toys arts and crafts exposure to lots of different types of music books and plays. Heading to the park and museums are the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Lots of small manipulatives to bulid up finger muscles for writing. Think lite brite, peg boards, those rubber band geo boards, puzzles, games, lacing and sewing templates... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Sing lots of songs, read lots of poems, and encourage her to recite her favorites to her dollies and teddy bears...and Daddy. Work on forming good habits, and teaching her to do basic hygene & chores independantly. Work on correct letter formation (penmanship) one letter at a time with gross motor activities (chalk board, salt box, etc.). I wouldn't push this one, but if she enjoys it it will help her be ready for kindy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Some of the games we play that re-inforce what we learn are: Hi Ho Cherry-o Memory (I even made an alphabet memory...aren't I sneaky...) Cootie Bug Candyland I like the games that deal with counting and number recognition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Core Knowledge Preschool book (not so much the activity guides) is great. Lots of being read to - fiction, nursery rhymes (really want a bunch of those memorized), science, social studies nonfiction from library (I'll come up with a general theme for myself and get a bunch of books. But any subject she's interested in.) Folk tales. I like the Before Five in a Row book selections, but I don't think the activity guide is particularly useful. Practical life skills a la Montessori. (pouring own beverages, preparing snack/ breakfast/ lunch, help with cooking dinner, setting table, lacing cards and stringing beads, maybe beginning sewing or finger knitting, folding clothes, sorting, using a baster and tweezers, tongs, using a hammer and screwdriver, sweeping/ mopping, dressing and self care.) Sorting all sorts of different things. Dusting. Polishing silver. Scrubbing the bathroom. Washing dishes or clothes by hand. Raking leaves. Mixing primary colors to make secondary colors. That type of stuff to build coordination, concentration, and independence. I like the Preschool Power dvd IMMENSELY. It has such great ideas. Lots and lots and lots of play time - inside dramatic play, board and card games; outside play. Singing lots of songs and work, work, work on gross motor skills. (Think skipping, balance beam, jumping, hopscotch, climbing, trapeze/ wheelbarrow walks/ monkey bars, ball skills, yoga, swimming). I think it's a great age for work on music and motor skills. I would MUCH rather see a four year old following a curriculum for music and motor skills than for reading. Gross motor skills are essential to fine motor skills like handwriting. Art projects, both crafts and experiential art. I like Mary Ann Kohl's Preschool Art and Scribble Art. Maybe start working on coloring in the lines and cutting. Simple mazes. Printing full name. Address/ phone number. Safety skills. Learn about transportation and community helpers, the calendar (memorize days of week and months of year). Talk about seasons and holidays. I think this is a great time to dive deeply into content. Four year olds can learn a TON of facts about dinosaurs, the human body, animals, space, solids/ liquids/ gases, geography (locations of continents, states, countries and terms like island, peninsula, etc), or anything else pretty effortlessly. Gardening. Cooking. Science experiments. Play with sinking and floating and magnets. Blow up a balloon and release it and talk about air. Keep a moon calendar where you draw the moon every night for a month and talk about its phases. Mix baking soda and vinegar. Play with static electricity. Get caterpillars and tadpoles and watch them turn into butterflies and frogs. Some familiarity with classic works of art. I love the Child Sized Masterpieces program. Playing with money and learning values of coins and counting to a dollar. Counting by 1's, 5's, 10's. Telling time. Names of geometric shapes. (Don't stop with circle and square. Teach the differences between equilateral and isoceles triangles, what a right triangle is, trapezoid, rhombus, parallelogram, hexagon, pentagon, octagon). Learn names for geometric solids (cylinder, sphere, etc). This is the perfect age for lots and lots of vocabulary. Identifying flowers/ trees/ animals. Curriculum wise, I'd use Right Start A. I'd teach her to use a computer mouse. Do lots of phonemic awareness activities (rhyming words, beginning sounds, ending sounds, blending sounds said separately, segmenting and counting sounds in a word). Review concepts of print. (How many words in this sentence? How many letters in this word? Point to the words as I read the nursery rhyme.) Learn letter sounds and phonograms (sh, th, ch, ee, oy, oi, etc). I might start teaching the syllabary from Webster's or early phonics work. But only if she were interested. Not sure on your philosophy but there are some great tv shows for kids this age on PBS or Noggin. Play with Leap Frog Fridge Phonics or watch Letter Factory. Learn some sign language and Spanish. Take long walks or hikes. Learn to swim. Go on field trips (zoo, aquarium, children's museum, fire station, bakery). At dinner talk about where everything comes from. The peanut butter was made from peanuts, which grew from a plant. Talk about the people who planted the peanuts and who picked them, the truck driver who took them to the factory, the workers who crushed them, etc. Where do things come from? Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 How about a magnetic calendar to learn days of the week, the months, seasons, and weather. Other basics would be your name and your husband's, along with address, and telephone. Emergency information like dialing 911 and basic fire safety (stop, drop, and roll; what to do in case of a fire). HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.