homeschooling questions!!

[MrsBone]

my son is 3 1/2 and very bright...but book type work is not his forte yet. we managed about 15 minutes of practicing writing letters and numbers today and that was about all we could manage. I would like to not focus so much on getting book work done and focus more on just teaching through every day activites at this point but I guess I dont feel like Im very creative. I almost feel like I need a daily checklist of things to accomplish with him. Can anyone relate? He already knows all of his letters by sight and numbers by sight up to 20 and can count with a little help up to 100. He knows all his basic shapes and colors. Right now he understands concepts like right and left, before and after, over and under etc. its the hands on stuff we are having trouble with. Should i just chill a bit and let him learn that stuff as he gets a little older? I want to homeschool through at least 5th grade but I guess I just need some reassurance. I also have a 15 month old so just getting all the daily stuff like laundry, cooking, cleaning, and god forbid I try and have a playdate so he can socialize is all just too much right now!! He is also not very social yet. Im afraid that by keeping him home, he wont ever develop social skills! How do I manage getting home stuff done, teaching him, manage my toddler and allow him to socialize regulalry?? It doesnt sound doable at this point. Advice?

[moominmamma]

Yup, just chill a bit and let him learn stuff naturally, as he matures. One thing I've learned over the years is that you can expend extreme amounts of time, energy and creativity trying to teach things, only to give up and then have them be learned (how? through osmosis? magic? who knows!?) seemingly instantly 6 months or a year or two later. If you're finding just laundry and cleaning and food prep to be a challenge right now, you don't need a curriculum guide or checklist to ensure your 3.5-year-old is learning: you just need to include him in your life as you go about doing laundry and cleaning and preparing meals. Give him jobs. Talk to him about what you're doing. Answer his questions. You'll be amazed what he'll learn!

Miranda

[kchara]

3 1/2 might be a bit young for book work yet.  He'll get there.  Play is a young child's best teacher.  Give him loads of imaginative toys (toys with no batteries, that he has to actually use his imagination to play with), lots of art supplies, and let him have at it.  Really, at 3, he doesn't *need* to accomplish anything, but, I know how you feel with the checklist mentality.  I'm so very much like that.  I'm getting Little Acorn for my 3 year olds, and I've used Letter of the Week, too, and it was cute and fun.

[3littlelambs]

does he like to be read to? If for your sake, you need to feel like you are checking something off each day, why not find a really great book list and just follow that? There are lots of free ones you can find online such as "Before five in a row" or Ambleside Online (Charlotte Mason) or you could even buy a box set from something like Sonlight or Winterpromise--OR get their catalog and check out as many as you can from your local library for free! (this is what we're doing). Your son may enjoy doing some educational games on PBSkids.org website or starfall.com if you are alright w/ introducing the computer at this point. 

[zebra15]

Get yourself to the library.  Ours is wonderful and has great kids programs.  Storytime is a great place for the little ones and the kiddie area has puzzles, train tables, lego tables, stuffies, etc.  The kids librarian also has 'best books' list for ages xyz.

Honestly our library cards have been the best resource for homeschooling.  My kiddo is 12 and we are at the library 2-7 times a week. Sometimes we go twice a day!  And we have 2 different library systems in our town.  We LOVE the library - its invaluable!

[greenemami]

Agreed, he is still very little.  If you feel like you really want to do something with him, maybe try setting a theme for each week (i.e. for autumn, apples, pumpkins, weather, etc.)  and do a craft, cooking project, read some books, etc.  We used weefolkart's seaonal curriculums when dd was 4 and really enjoyed them for some structure to the week. 

[OkiMom]

Hes really little for book work.. How about exploring different topics he is interested in.. Like spend 30 minutes, read a few books, do an art project etc. Nothing really huge but something fun for him to learn from.

As for socialization, Ive never done play dates or play groups since I had my second. It was just to much for me to juggle. She is great at socializing with all ages. She can make a friend in like 5 minutes while we wait for a doctors appointment. If there is another child at the park within a few minutes she is playing with them. Children will learn a LOT from you and just being out in the world when it comes to socialization.