Pre-homeschool chat - Page 5

[akichan]

Subbing and will be back with more later. This thread is an awesome idea!

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

well the hooked on phonics materials arrived yesterday, and i skimmed through the books and parents guides and so far I'm impressed. The pre-reading set has 3 workbooks and the basic outline is to do: 5-7 mins to learn, 5-7 practice, 5-7 to play, there is one worksheet a day and the books are broken up into upper case, lower case and phonics. There is a cd-rom, audio cd and tons of flashcards/matching cards for reinforcement. Like I mentioned i also got a printing package, but i don't plan to use that right away. i plan to use the math and reading ones now along with the peak with books curriculum. The math package has a fun bingo-number game that me and ds tried out last night, he seemed to like it quite a bit. I'm still not sure how I plan to break up the segments and I'm fairly sure I won't be doing a new page in each book everyday, but I will probably alternate the math and reading every other day and then do the peak with books lessons everyday. Probably only 3-4 days a week though, we have a wonky schedule with dh working weekends and all.

as for science, ds is so into ocean life, animals, space/planets, robots, dinosaurs and plus we do gardening in the spring/summer, plus with trips to the zoo and nature center, that is plenty of science i don't feel I need to add more to that anytime soon. "Yes there is such a dinosaur as an argentinasaurus", I had to tell my dh, because ds said that was his favorite dinosaur, lol!

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by meetoo

We had a nice day. For DS work boxes today he had, ETC primer, building the letter t out of legos, and button sorting, and number bingo. He was very excited and did all boxes. I'm really loving these for him. If he wants "school" it's there, but if he would rather play that is fine too. He also played with legos (of course!!), listened to stories, jumped on the mini trampoline, and visited a nursing home with us. How was everyone elses day?

can you explain work boxes? Is this a curriculum or do you make up your own? I am thinking this might something for ds to have while I cook dinner, etc...

[Tjej]

Thanks, Aimee.

I get the impression that PWB is more structured, and secular. For me, being unstructured and Christian is not a problem, so I'm still torn.

Tjej

[meetoo]

Originally Posted by ILoveMyBabyBird

can you explain work boxes? Is this a curriculum or do you make up your own? I am thinking this might something for ds to have while I cook dinner, etc...

I do make up my own "curriculum" for him, but the work boxes are more of an organizational tool. I am using them with my first grader too. If you google "sue patricks workbox system" you can read all about it. I am not however doing it like her book . Anyway, for him, I am doing 4 boxes, which are actually a set of tall sterlite drawers. It has two thin drawers and two fat drawers which worked nice for preschool activities. I do not require him to do boxes, but for the most part I don't refill them until he has completed the activity. So for instance Friday in his boxes he had the kindy HOP, water colors and paper, a light bright type toy with a pattern booklet to follow, and a alphabet go fish game. The only box he did on friday was the light bright. So that box I will change out on monday but the rest I will leave. If a box really sits a while like a week or more I will change it out and I figure that means he is just not ready/interested in that type of thing yet. If it is a skill a skill I really think he needs work with (like following directions and listening!! ) I will try to present it a different way, otherwise I just leave well enough alone. So far this is working awesome for us! It really allows him to work at his pace. I am more of a facilitator, he choose what to do and when.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by Tjej

Thanks, Aimee.

I get the impression that PWB is more structured, and secular. For me, being unstructured and Christian is not a problem, so I'm still torn.

Tjej

I perfer Christian, too. However we are doing a daily devoption based ont eh theme of Bible Heros. I like structure -- for me

I am also hopeing, i have not read the lists yet, to be able to pull Christian books as supplement too.

ILoveMyBabyBird -- what Math program ?? (I may have read that in another thread but can't remember)

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by Momma Aimee

I perfer Christian, too. However we are doing a daily devoption based ont eh theme of Bible Heros. I like structure -- for me

I am also hopeing, i have not read the lists yet, to be able to pull Christian books as supplement too.

ILoveMyBabyBird -- what Math program ?? (I may have read that in another thread but can't remember)

i just got the hooked on phonics learn to count for ds. It covers numbers 1-20, has a workbook, bingo games, 2 sets of flashcards, music cd, dvd, cd-rom. It says ages 3-5. It's pretty nice, but all we've had before that is basic workbooks from retail stores. The workbook is pretty small, but I think the set up is good for us.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by meetoo

I do make up my own "curriculum" for him, but the work boxes are more of an organizational tool. I am using them with my first grader too. If you google "sue patricks workbox system" you can read all about it. I am not however doing it like her book . Anyway, for him, I am doing 4 boxes, which are actually a set of tall sterlite drawers. It has two thin drawers and two fat drawers which worked nice for preschool activities. I do not require him to do boxes, but for the most part I don't refill them until he has completed the activity. So for instance Friday in his boxes he had the kindy HOP, water colors and paper, a light bright type toy with a pattern booklet to follow, and a alphabet go fish game. The only box he did on friday was the light bright. So that box I will change out on monday but the rest I will leave. If a box really sits a while like a week or more I will change it out and I figure that means he is just not ready/interested in that type of thing yet. If it is a skill a skill I really think he needs work with (like following directions and listening!! ) I will try to present it a different way, otherwise I just leave well enough alone. So far this is working awesome for us! It really allows him to work at his pace. I am more of a facilitator, he choose what to do and when.

oh that sounds awesome, I will have to try that out for ds, I'm not great on organization!

[meetoo]

[OkiMom]

Can I join? I have two, one is almost 3 (in January) and one turned 1 in November. My almost 3 year old has been bugging me to do "school" for almost a year now and I keep avoiding it. Shes totally bored out of her mind now so I need to do something with her. She LOVES to do workbooks and "read" (she likes to repeat after me when I read books to her) and has picked up a lot of sight words doing that (she knows and, the, a, I, of and dog).

[meetoo]

ya snow!!.

so far he did 2 boxes (coloring and cutting out super hereo's and cusinare rod activity) now both kids are out playing in the snow, that has actually turned to rain. I think we will make cookies and do a snow craft when they come in.

[itsrtimedownhere]

today we did some work in 2 different math books. some greater than, less than or equals and some "put the correct number of stickers on the christmas tree". he also practiced write some numbers.

then he made a cotton ball snow man (for art) while we talked about where snow comes from (for science).

[operamommy]

What a great thread; I can't wait to read all of it! I do Montessori lessons with my 4-year-old at home. We started about 8 months ago and are having a great time.

[LuxPerpetua]

We nursed in bed, fed our fish, got dressed, made breakfast, and read "Cecily's Christmas"--dd is named Cecily, so this is a favorite at this time of year. We did imaginative play after breakfast, which was fun and involved caring for baby Jesus who apparently loves to eat grilled cheese and needs his nappy changed quite often, then dd moved onto a game where we did exercises and got angel ornaments from our tree, which she then discovered would make music when gently clanked together. Afterward we made homemade omelets with broccoli and cheese, ate lunch, and read The Littlest Angel. Today was "art day" for us so we made up some "Ewww Yuck," which is cornstarch and water mixed together. Dd kept telling me that cornstarch comes from ground up corn cobs but I don't know if she's right so I'd like to look that up. We made one bowl of yellow and one just white. Dd put in the food coloring and pipetted all the water until it was the right consistency. We played with that for an hour, making patterns, and then scrambled eggs, and finally sunshine mountain. We had such fun. Now dd is in the bathtub washing ponies and cars with her own concoction of foaming soap, shaving cream, and water.

ETA: I just discovered whilst dd was in the bath that she knows the minute hand from the hour hand. I wonder when she sorted that out? That will make things convenient!

[kgianforti]

DD made a grizzly bear puppet for her Arctic Tundra habitat. We are going to put Moving Beyond the Page on hold in January to work on a Peter Rabbit lap book.

Later tonight, we are going to work on her "Time" unit in Singapore EB. She was very disappointed that she didn't get to do any math last night. I was just too tired! I did read her some mathy storybooks that she really enjoyed.

[meetoo]

Today he did three boxes (go fish, dry pasta to play in, HOP cdrom), Built a Santa out of lego, visited with grandpa and read him a story, watched a Christmas movie, did like 7 pages of ETC, did some puzzles, played tag with the baby (this is a huge step for him!!) . and, I don't remember what else.

[marimara]

I'm going to start dd on Time4learning in January. She loves computer based work, she's very visual so she will thinks it's all a game. She already likes to do at least an hour of a combo of Starfall, Webkinz Jr, & PBS Kids. I have to tear her off the computer as it is. I figure if she's going to be on the computer so much, let's start her on educational stuff instead of Webkinz We will continue to do all the arts/crafts and play stuff we normally do but I think she's ready for T4L. They include reading, math, social studies, and science. For 19.95/mo. Good deal, IMO. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by ILoveMyBabyBird

Anyone want to join me in this thread? Anyone who is homeschooling children before the kindergarten level? I would like to have a designated spot for us to come and discuss what we are doing homeschooling wise, etc.

I'll go first: I'm a sahm to one 40 month old ds~planning on starting peak with books in a couple weeks. Right now we work on basic letters, numbers and a bit of writing.

My biggest problem is sticking to a schedule. My dh works a non-traditional schedule, so I plan to formally homeschool when dh is at work, Monday, Thursday and Friday, I hope the Peak with Books curriculum will fit well with this schedule. I tried doing activities on dh's off days but that didn't work out too well, now those are just designated family days and sometimes we do fun trips as a family.

I want my ds to have the opportunity to learn at his own pace, i don't push him and when he is tired of one thing we stop. Although he does enjoy workbooks etc. just not for very long time periods, so we are taking it one step at a time.

anyone else?

I THINK I asked this before -- have you started Peak With Books yet adn what are your thoughts?

[poetesss]

I just ordered Peak With Books, and I'm finding that some of it is too advanced for my 3 year old (just turned 3 in Oct). However, I get a few ideas from there. Although it's labeled for "early childhood education" many of the examples in the book are from first graders! So I think it will be a good resource for a few years at least. It has an excellent set of books, really good quality children's literature.

Has anyone read Your Child's Growing Mind by Jane Healy? It's really opened my mind to how neurological development happens in these early years and how it can be facilitated though thoughtful play and movement.

[itsrtimedownhere]

i'm starting an animal-of-the-week thing. i started today. i'm blogging about it.

http://itsrtimedownhere-homeschool.b...mals-live.html