September preschool support thread

[rainbowmoon]

I didn't see a thread yet and missed most of August's. :

what are all the preschoolers up to?

[lillake]

Not much here, just trying to get ourselves into the rhythm. We live right across the street from the bus stop so I have the fun of explaining every day why DS1 can't get on the big yellow bus with the other kids he sees. I hope we're not living here in a couple years or that could get really bad.

[jlpumkin]

Wow - can I join in this thread? We are attempting to hs this year and it's not working out so well... I think we need supported

Jennifer

[hipumpkins]

DD will be 4 at the end Of October and we are homeschooling as much as is possible with this young age.
DD is really into letters right now and asks me to put up the notepad on the computer. she asks how to spell stuff and than types the letters. She will probably learn to type before she can read. She knows the sounds of of some letters like: "O" "T" (a favorite) "D" and if you sound out A she says, "apple" hee hee.
she also loves all sorts of living creatures and most fascinated if they are nocturnal. Bats and owls are favorites and she has 2 hermit crabs
She just learned the word friction b/c she asked why it gets warmer she she rubs her hands togehter. Now she is trying to set everyone on fire
We don't do any curriculum just yet and really just answer her questions and google things for more information.
We do a little bit of numbers as far as counting and adding and she can tell you how popsicles are left in the fridge after she eats one but mostly numbers are not in the forefront.

[Leersia]

I don't know if I will be welcome here or not, as my boys will be in preschool 2 days a week this fall. I am on a fact-finding mission, and am hoping that we can homeschool next year. My boys are at a Waldorf preschool, so, non-academic. Since I started considering HSing, I started to put myself more in the role of their teacher, and it has been great, but challenging.

No curriculum here. Henry and Oscar are really on different tracks. H is ready to read, and is pushing himself on simple books, asking about letters and words. O is not the slightest bit interested, even resistant, although I don't think I am pushing him AT all! However, both are interested in the natural world, so I got some of those great Janice vanCleave books with easy experiments. It seems like it might be fun to investigate how things rot, and our kitchen is a great place to do it! And space. Space and rot for this fall.

Will be interested in hearing what others are up to . . .

[emiLy]

School starts Tuesday here and we were at the park today with a friend who was about to go buy school supplies for her nieces and nephews. My daughter (she'll be 3 in October) really wanted some, so I told her what they were and that we already had plenty and that we "do school" at home, at the park, out in the woods, everywhere! She still wanted to go get school supplies. Luckily for me, a box from Lakeshore Learning was waiting for us at home! I had ordered some math manipulatives (kind of wish I had sprung for the awesome Montessori beads though), an atlas (which I don't love actually, from Usborne), and a book with some cute animals to go with it. We played will all her "school supplies" for a few hours, then we went and had a picnic and on the way home she was so excited to play with her "cool supplizes" (or something like that...)

Next week we'll be registering for a tumbling and/or dance class. My husband has gotten lots of field guides for plants and bugs around where we live and they've been into identifying - this evening she pointed out goldenrod. As always, she loves doing starfall.com and watching Peep (and the Paz introductions). She and my husband have also been playing Super Mario Sunshine. She and I have been out on lots of walks while the weather is so nice. We've been talking about satellites a lot, and as always we learn the signs for whatever we're into. She's sounding out or spelling or thinking about words constantly, and I'm getting more and more frustrated by all the weird rules of the English language so am beginning to look for books that don't have many exceptions for sounding out - it's not fun to be like "yeah, that makes sense but this one is more like this.." all the time.

[~Megan~]

Pretty informal here. dd likes to work on worksheets so I ask her if she wants to do them each day. We read books. Sometimes do projects. I got her a used VHS from SchoolHouse Rock today that is science based ands he loved that tonight!

[TwinMom]

Hi, all! I haven't participated on this thread before, but I'd like to now, if that's okay.

My son turned five last week, which would mean that he COULD go to kindergarten (IF he were going to school, which he isn't), but we would have waited another year to put him in because of such a late birthday. So I figured this year I will do a combo of light preschool & kindergarten, then see if he's ready to move into first grade work next year. That sounds weird because I don't use grades to determine what materials we use, but it helps me kind of keep track of where he would be so that when people ask what grade he's in, I can tell them and then they can mind their own business.

So, what I am doing with him is mostly Sonlight's PreK core, but without the religious stuff. We're an atheist household, so that wouldn't fly here. I really like the books that it uses, though. He is also doing quite a few things from Bright Minds/Critical Thinking Co., which he loves. I need to get the kindergarten versions of some of the books because the preschool ones are too simple for him.

He is learning to read; we do a little each day. Right now we're working on blends; he knows th, ch, sh, ay, and oo so far. He can read simple words but not really sentences yet. By the time he gets to the end of the sentence he has forgotten what the beginning said!

Most of the time, we just read and play. Manipulatives are his favorite thing to use, like pattern blocks, attribute blocks, etc. He's really into magnets, so I have a large box of all different shapes and sizes of magnets and metal objects that he can play with. The hard part is getting the toddler down for a nap so that the small items can come out to play.

So, that's what we're doing!

[Ravin]

DD is in daycare this semester (the last! Woohoo!) for abut 35 hours a week. We aren't really doing anything differently at home, except I'm trying to wean her from TV (she was watching WAY too much towards the end of summer). Hopefully once this semester is over and I graduate, we won't have to resort to formal childcare again. It's looking like I'll have to WAH for a while, and if so I'll move back to Texas where my mom and sisters can help me with child care (and vice versa).

[MidwifeErika]

My 4 year old was bored out of her mind, that is when we decided to start "doing school" here at home. She has flash cards, worksheets, and lots of art supplies. She actually really likes the structure of doing worksheets, so we do a few everyday. She can do as many as she would like (and one day she did 30) and I never push as I want to keep it fun. So, she usually spends a few hours each day working on school stuff. Sweet relief for me, she is so much more fun to have around when she isn't bored! We are working on number and letter recognition, counting (as a bonus, my 2 year old can now count to 13!), and being able to draw shapes. I also have a few cds from my mom that have children's songs on them (she is a music teacher) so I put those on and we sing and dance (music class and phy ed at the same time ) Oh, and I am really making a point to read to the kids A LOT now. Before I only really did it as they asked, but I have stepped it up and ask them to bring me books to read to them. It is nice as my daughter can hold the book and turn the pages for me while I nurse my youngest.
I just traded some homemade goods for some curriculum that should be here this next week and I am looking forward to that. She seems to really like the structure, so we will roll with that.

[Sweet Kat]

I've never posted here before either. DD is 4 and we're just starting to hs. Both my in-laws are teachers in the public system and are very UN-supportive of us! Apparently, my dh got the third degree this morning from his parents. I just need support!
Every once in awhile I have to ask myself, "Why are we doing this? Are we doing the right thing?" Does anyone else feel like that sometimes?
It would be so much easier to just put her "in the system". Of course, as my father-in-law pointed out, "She can't go to school because she's not vaccinated!". Which is actually not true, but they certainly don't support us on that either.

Maybe I'm not in the right place, I don't know. I need a thread that's for Un-supportive parents-in law. Does one exist? :

[TwinMom]

Sweet Kat--that's too bad that your ILs aren't supportive. My in-laws are teachers, too, in fact everyone in dh's family is a teacher. They have all been incredibly supportive, though, even offering me things from their classrooms if I want to use them.

Ravin--where are you moving in Texas? I'm here, too!

[Jennifer3141]

We've found a Waldorf "Mommy and Me" preschool class on Wednesdays so far and we're doing a Music Together class. When we're not napping our at the park, we'll be at starfall.com which is wonderful AND the bane of my existence all at the same time.

[mirpmama]

hi all! this month i am actually going to try to keep up with this thread!!! ds is 4 and we have enrolled in a great once a week science program through our audobon society as well as a swim class through the Y. we are also part of a playschool group of other homeschooled pre-schoolers that meets once a week....other than that we do what he is interested in.......mythology, bible heros, butterflies - whatever is his fancy.....oh yeah, and we are using "sing, spell, read and write" for letters and numbers......

[hipumpkins]

Maybe I'm not in the right place, I don't know. I need a thread that's for Un-supportive parents-in law. Does one exist?

When it does i can join!! My IL's are not even speaking to me or their grandchildren since mother's day when MIL and FIL yelled at me during brunch in restaurnt about how I was turing the kids into freaks. I walked out of brunch and haven't heard from them since...DH does speak to them and I wish he would tell them off but he doesn't.

[Sweet Kat]

I feel your pain! We haven't yelled at each other yet, and I hope it doesn't come to that, but it's hard. Can't they see we want what's best for our kids?

Anyway, DD will be doing a 4yo program at her preschool two afternoons a week, and we're supplementing that with a bunch of stuff at home. Some workbooks, lots of coloring, field trips, etc. I'm looking forward to it all, I think it will be a lot of fun.

And thanks to whoever mentioned starfall.com I'd never heard of it before and I just checked it out. DD played some of the games and loved it!

[babydreamer]

My oldest turned 4 in July. I plan to work with him a little more consistently this year but we're expecting another precious baby in the next 7 weeks so I'm not going to push it. We'll concentrate on number recognition, counting to 20, days of the week, months of the year, etc. He's doing well with letter recognition and sound but we'll work on getting that down pat.

I was homeschooled from the middle of 7th grade through high school so thankfully my parents are very supportive of our choice to homeschool! My in-laws are also supportive which is wonderful!

[Ravin]

Twinmom, I'll be moving back to Canyon, which is near Amarillo. I think if I found another MDC mom that actually lived in that area, I'd lose it in a happy, banana dance, gleeful sort of way.

[RedWine]

Can I join? Dd1 will turn 4 in late December.

Right now we are....

On lesson 15 of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 EZ lessons (she started reading simple words a while ago on her own)

watching Magic School Bus DVDs and looking through Magic School Bus books

reading a lot of MathStart Level 1 books, and a couple of level 2 books

Discussing simple fractions

Adding very simple numbers

watching and listening to various programs in French, Spanish and Chinese

playing with starfall

playing with Trudy's Time and Place House

playing with a 3D Journey Through the Human Anatomy

This fall we will be...

Going to our homeschooling coop once a week, where she will do arts and crafts with other kids, as well as a music hour with other kids

going to a Chinese playgroup each Sat. morning

joining other homeschoolers once a week for a park day

perhaps starting Miquon Math, she may be ready for it

going to a "Family French Afternoon" once a week

going to a Spanish playgroup Monday mornings



I think that's it. Dd1 is very bright, very spirited, and likes to be around people as much as possible. So though the above seems like a lot, it's still probably not enough for her. I, on the other hand, am an introvert, so that's all I can handle.

[annettemarie]

Just playin'.

I did get B4FIAR but it seems a little advanced for my almost-three, so we'll see...