Please advise-DD is ready to start

[ILoveMySofie]

Hello mamas
I know nothing about homeschooling, but my instincts lately are very strong that I need to start doing *something* with my 3 year old DD. I really have no idea where to start. I looked at the homeschool resources thread as well as browse the learning at home and beyond forum...but I still feel lost and unsure how/where to start-maybe it's due to pregnancy brain?

Anyway, DD knows all the letters (if i remember correctly shes known the entire alphabet since she was 2)- and I really think I would love to start teaching her to read! She is very verbal, very smart...I feel I am holding her back by NOT doing something like this with her at this point. Oh, and she made it completely clear that she wants nothing to do with any kind of preschool at this point. I want to figure out some sort of daily plan for lessons for us to sit down and do in the mornings, now that I am pregnant and actually have tons of time on my hands.

I would appreciate any and all advice- I really want to do this!

[JoyMC]

i really love Lillian's Preschool and Learning Activities page here: http://www.besthomeschooling.org/gateway/inted16.html

scroll down past the articles to links for activities.

i personally think three is way too young to start teaching to read (and i have an extremely bright, verbal four year old) for a lot of the reasons that you'll see outlined on the articles on that page, or if you check out John Holt's How Children Learn. but i DO think reading a TON with a child that age goes a very long way. it's not doing nothing!!

[Stacey B]

My ds is 3.5 and at this point I mainly take his lead. That means we've been doing lots of mazes and wandering around with our insect guide. We go to the Public Library once a week and spend some time in the nonfiction section following his lead. Lately he has been obsessed with maps (I think he connects them with mazes) so we took out a stack of books on maps. We also do science experiments. We have a copy of 365 Simple Science Experiments that we take out a few times a week.

We have also joined a homeschool co-op for younger kids (2-6) that meets once a week for projects and free play. He likes the other kids and it gives him the sense of being part of the HS world, which I think is important.

If she is really looking for something very school you could take her to a book store that has some workbooks and nonfiction activities and see what she gravitates towards. At this stage it seems that it is a lot of observation and response on the part of the parents.

Good luck and have fun!

[onyxravnos]

i LOVE little acorn learning. I've been using it since ds1 was about 2.
littleacornlearning.com
then i supplement using their theme as my guide with field trips, work book ish stuff, manipulatives, play.....etc

I also got the p3/p4 teachers guide from sonlight.com and have been doing that via the library.

we do normally one 'mind thing' (loose math concepts, science work etc) and one 'feeling thing' (art / crafts ) a day for our official school work and then whatever we come up with in-between (and lots of reading of course)

other good preschool options to get you started are funshineexpress.com (totally awesome but $$$) and carolsaffordablecurriculum.com

[kgianforti]

Before Five in A Row looks really fun! I'm going to use that with my small girl someday!

[meetoo]

come join our preschool thread.

[dubatatamama]

I have a 4 y/o DS and a 3 y/o DD. At this point, we are following their interests. Right now my 4 y/o is obsessed with building things. So I make sure to make legos, trios, lincoln logs, and blocks of all different types available to him. His imagination runs wild when he builds something, and the excitement on his face as he tells me all about his creation is priceless. DD is obsessed with cats. We make sure to have lots of toy cats and books on cats available to her.

We have baskets of books in every single room of our house. DS (with no formal instruction whatsoever) can read on a 1st grade level.

I guess it really depends on your child. Not every child is ready for formal instruction at 3 y/o, some are. I know my DC are not ready to "sit down and do lessons", but that is them. My 4 y/o has gone through stages where he will want to work in a workbook, then he leaves it alone for months at a time while he explores another interest.

We also joined a few HS groups in our area, which led to a few of us moms forming a preschool playgroup for homeschoolers. We are so excited to have a group of like-minded friends to hang out with, especially with a lot of my DC friends going off to preschool, and they are not as available to play.

My advice would be to see what she's really interested in, and go from there. Take her to the library and check out lots of books that interest her, take her to the zoo, the science museum, etc. Remember, she has her whole life to learn, and if she's not ready, you run the risk of turning her off to learning at a very young age.

Good luck with your journey! I can feel your excitement in your post

[Nursingnaturalmom]

go to the library. Go to the park. Get out in nature. Play with blocks and puzzles. Read. REad. REad. Read. read. Did I mention read? GOOD literature. Check out ambleside online. THe best thing you can do for your child now is Read. Talk. and play. Let the child be a child. You have YEARS for academic work. They pick up and learn so much by being read to and talking in conversations with you.