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homeschool preschool

post #1 of 18
5/21/02 at 8:44am
Thread Starter 
I am looking for a homeschool preschool program. My ds is ready to start some sort of formal program - he's asking to go to school and eager to learn anything we put in front of him. Anyone know of any preschool programs or good ways to start without a formal program?
Kelly

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post #2 of 18
5/21/02 at 11:59am
Try Before Five in a Row, or Five in a Row
http://www.fiveinarow.com/
post #3 of 18
5/21/02 at 1:39pm
where do you live?
post #4 of 18
5/24/02 at 12:01am
Hi all- I am new here and I just wanted to thank Khrisday for her site referral-I am looking for learning tools for my toddler who is just a sponge and really has an intense desire to learn. He is very smart for his age and I need some new things to do with him to keep up with is developmental level!
Thanks for sharing!
post #5 of 18
5/24/02 at 11:34am
We also love Before Five In A Row!!! We have used it with both babies this last year and ds will start Five In A Row this fall. He will be almost 5. Dd, who will be 3 will continue with Before Five In A Row. We have so much fun and it is so great to see the excitement and wonder in their little faces!
post #6 of 18
6/2/02 at 5:41pm

Preschool learning material

I went to a dollar store and looked in Wal-Mart in the childrens books and activity section. I found tons of great preschool workbooks for practicing letters, shapes, numbers, dot-to-dot. All really cheep. Since at preschool you don't have-to have a cariculum but it is good to get them used to some structured activity it looks like it will work great.
post #7 of 18
6/3/02 at 12:48pm
Does anyone know how pervasive is the Christianity in the before Five in a Row curriculum? My husband and I are not at all Christian and don't want to pay for a program that would be hard to adapt.

I'm fairly set on using the Oak Meadow (www.oakmeadow.com) curriculum for my daughter come September. It's a little early but she's a bit advanced and the curriculum is suppose to be a little too easy for older Preschoolers.
post #8 of 18
6/3/02 at 2:14pm
Elizabeth,

Before Five In A Row was written by Christians. There is a separate Bible lesson to go along with each book. You obviously don't have to do that lesson, or any other lesson, it's up to you. I don't think that, besides the Bible lesson, you would have anything to worry about, or any lesson to omit. There are tons of little lessons or activities to go with each book. The lessons focus on exploring our world(ie. science, art, language) and being imaginative, kind, loving, sharing, etc...

I think that most parents, regardless of religion, want to teach their children to treat others with love and kindness. Before Five In A Row does this. After all of this rambling I think that you would be ok. Maybe someone else will be able to add more. I think that it is a great program and I wish you luck in whatever you choose.
post #9 of 18
6/3/02 at 3:27pm
I didn't even realiz that FIAR was Christian until after we were well into it, so I think that speaks to how pervasive it is. I am not Christian at all either and would never buy something that I felt was teaching specifically Christian values.
post #10 of 18
6/5/02 at 1:48am
Hey Ladies, could you please elaborate more on the pervasive side of FIAR?? Im interested in BFIAR and would like to know what you mamas mean.
Thanks
post #11 of 18
6/5/02 at 2:44am
I had been wondering if the Christian beliefs held by the creators of BFIAR went all through the curriculum. It seems that it doesn't from the responses I've gotten. I had noticed that one of the books was talked about in relation to Moses. Since my daughter isn't being raised Christian she won't hear about Moses for a very long time.

I hope this helps!
Elizabeth McKeeman
Momma to Annabelle 8/2/00
post #12 of 18
6/6/02 at 11:42am
Five in a Row has a separate Bible/character supplement that you can opt not to purchase. The plain jane FIAR talks about values in a secular way. Stories with religious content (Clown of God) can easily be approached from a secular perspective (that one in particular is an old folktale).
post #13 of 18
6/8/02 at 4:36pm
we are going to give it a go, bfiar looks like so much fun and really affordable.
we also like oakmeadow it has beautiful ideas.
thanks!
post #14 of 18
6/9/02 at 12:37am
I'm pagan and raising my kids pagan. We are currently using FIAR vol 1. We also use the cookbook. We love it and find it works very well for us. We've done 7 books so far, and haven't had any problems. I haven't yet decided how to handle Clown of God, but I like the book and love the artist, so we will do something. I think that knowing that other people celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday as Jesus birth is just cultural literacy. There are so many ideas in FIAR that even if one book or one lessons doesn't work for us, it is still the best fit for a curriculum for our family that I've found. None of the books that we've done so far, or the lessons from FIAR, mentioned god or jesus at all.

I like FIAR because my kids like me to plan activities for them and I didn't like having to come up with everything on my own. It is very easy to use and we've discovered wonderful books that we never would have without FIAR. My kids love the geography disc and are learning their way around a world map.

We recently moved and took 2 weeks off from FIAR for the move. My kids whined and complained and couldn't wait to get started again! That is really enough for me -- the are unhappy when we don't have time to do it.
post #15 of 18
6/9/02 at 5:23pm
that sounds great Linda, thanks for explaining. its so cool you have found something like this for your kids.
ds loves books so I figure this is a great way to do (more) fun things together!
Lets see how he likes it !
post #16 of 18
6/9/02 at 5:57pm
I was able to check out FIAR at our public library. If you aren't sure you might want to check there. We were able to try it for a month before we invested money. Which was a good thing because it ended up not working for us.
post #17 of 18
6/10/02 at 3:10am
that would be great lilyka, the only thing is that i dont live in the us (although I live close enough to get accross) and I need to have an address and bring some copies of the elctric bill and so on, I could ask a friend to get registered so I can use and abuse the library though, Im soooooooooo in love with books and I almost cant resist buying them! I would really make our family budget a favor if I could use that library in the us
something I use though are the 2nd hand bookstores!!
post #18 of 18
6/10/02 at 7:07am
"PLAYFUL LEARNING" avail. thru LLL website/bookstore--at home preschool ideas--kind of a coop thing!

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Education › Learning at Home and Beyond › homeschool preschool