*~* August Preschool Thread *~*

[Khourtniey]

August preschoolers unite! Id love to hear what your plans are this month.

Ive gotta go feed my kiddo but Ill add mine later!

[earthmama369]

We're taking a scattershot approach this year, in that dd is interested in several different things and there are some things I want to try, too.

We're in a preschool co-op that meets 3-4 days a month (roughly once a week, usually with the first week of the month off). This year's focus is community, last year's was nature. We're going to be visiting a police station, fire station, library, trash museum, post office, farm, and a few other places for our monthly field trips, and then reading some stories and doing some activities together around those field trips.

DD's started adding and asking all sorts of fun questions like, "Mama, where do babies come from?" that are making me a little :. Mostly because she always asks them before I've had my morning caffeine fix! A friend is getting the Oak Meadow K curriculum and we're going to be sharing some of that with her, because it seems like it will cover some of the math and "how/why" questions dd has.

And because I'm interested in it and I think dd will have a lot of fun with it, I'm getting some of the Earth*School units. They're very nature based, a little on the pagan side, and it seems really flexible, so we can do a week's worth of activities over a month, or in a couple days, if we want.

We also go to playgroups during the week and there are some occasional activities we take part in that way -- art, music, exposure to other languages.

It sounds like a lot, but it's only an hour or two a day and dd almost always asks to do something outside the house. She seems to have two speeds: full speed ahead and unconscious!

[Khourtniey]

I really wish to keep an unschooling approach with my ds because that just works better for him.. He really hates being "made" to do anything, but our goals for the entire year are something like this:

Name and recognize shapes
Count to 20
Be able to trace lines (horizontal, vertical, zig-zag, circles, etc)
Name and recognize colours
And basic opposites (big/small, short/tall, light/dark, day/night, etc)

He can do parts of these

This month we are working on:
Tracing Horizontal lines
Recognizing circles (and drawing them)
The colour green (and colouring in the lines)
Big/small and few/many
and the numbers 1-5 (He can almost count to 5.. He skips 4.. )

And our biggest goal is following directions He has a hard time with this one.

Considering he is only 3 (and will not be 5 until 2009) I wanted to keep it fairly easy, so there is really no curriculum.. We are learning these things through play and life, but I am having him do worksheets during the week also to kind of record his progress.

We are not doing any science, or history or geography yet... But he is working on naming body parts.

We are not involved in any playgroups. I wish we were though. We are also not involved in any preschool co-ops...

[Khourtniey]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

We're taking a scattershot approach this year, in that dd is interested in several different things and there are some things I want to try, too.

We are still getting the feel of what is working for us, so we are going to be trying a lot of different things. DS is not really interested in much so Im having to pull things from everywhere.

We're in a preschool co-op

Im not sure if there is anything like this around my area but it really sounds interesting.

DD's started adding and asking all sorts of fun questions like,

So Glad I am not in that stage yet

and it seems really flexible,

I am all about flexible. I wanted to start my son early so he could finish early, but I also wanted to give him time if he has trouble in some areas. I have not heard of that curriculum but it sounds like something we might be interested in. Im going to look into that.
[/quote]

It sounds like a lot, but it's only an hour or two a day

This is ours too.. It seems like a lot, but its not really all that much. Ours probably averages out to about an hour or two a day as well. We only "offically" work on stuff M-F but he wants to do his "schoolwork" on the weekends also

[Ceili]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

And because I'm interested in it and I think dd will have a lot of fun with it, I'm getting some of the Earth*School units. They're very nature based, a little on the pagan side, and it seems really flexible, so we can do a week's worth of activities over a month, or in a couple days, if we want.

Do you have a link for that? Sounds interesting.

I'm starting a preschool co-op with some friends from my mom's club and I'm "teaching" 3 year old playschool (a 1.5 hour/once a week program that our playgroup sponsors)

[nathansmom]

We are using the Earth School for my four year old. Here's a link:
http://www.kandfshops.com/#4871

We finished the Going Buggy and loved it. We ordered the Under the Sea and Summer Harvest. We are using Summer Harvest now. My child also likes doing worksheets so I ordered the Handwriting without tears prek book and Singapore Math 1a. We are also starting the how to teach your child to read in 100 lessons.

[ColwynsMommy]

We're having fun here doing fieldtrips and playgroups, fooling around with our various manipulatives and science-y gear (magnifying glass, eyedroppers, magnets, stuff like that). We're reading tons of books and spending hours outside every day. The kids really like helping me in the garden.

Colwyn does really like doing workbooks, so I'm thinking of getting him the first Singapore math book. We'll see. For now we've got several that are just mazes, and then a bunch more of those "Great Preschool Activity Books! Make Your Kid a Genius Overnight!" It's really nice to be able to let Colwyn do the exercises the way he wants.. like, if he wants to just circle a picture instead of coloring it (to indicate which picture is the right answer), he can.

We're learning about Africa, sort of.. I have the African Putamayo CD of children's music that we listen to, a few crafts to do, and we've looked up Africa on the globe. They also watched part of a documentary on hippos, and we have a few books from the library that take place in Africa.

We're also learning about aircraft/pilots/etc.. lots of books, trips to the local airport, and Colwyn got to go for a helicopter ride this weekend.

Our dinosaur obsession is on-going, of course. I'm wondering how long he'll keep going on that one, but it'll be for as long as he likes. We find ways to broach all sorts of subjects using dinosaurs as a lead-in.

I don't really have any plans specifically for this year. Colwyn can do pretty much everything on the World Book's preschool list, so I figure we're doing well. If he learns his letters/letter sounds, great, but if not, no biggie. Beyond that, we're just following the kids' leads.

[scorch_dc]

We have been enjoying our summer.

This was Shark Week on Discovery Channel, so we checked out some books from the library, Tivo'd a show, and did some shark related crafts. Otherwise, lots of nature walks, lots of reading, and lots of being outside.

The boys have also been taking care of the garden with me, so we have lots of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, beans, and flowers to take care of, and all of the insects in the yard to observe and look up!

Outings-wise last month we were busy - we went to a big aquarium, to visit a large cave, and miniature golfing. This month we hope to visit the state fair (lots to learn and see there!), a great lake, and a farm for raspberry picking.

Day to day we are still working on basic handwriting with my 4 year old, and phonics.

Mainly enjoying the summer and keeping cool! We are in 2 local playgroups, but those have been more hit or miss in this hot weather.

[Khourtniey]

Has anybody done any of those cheapy workbooks at like Target and the dollar stores? I saw some today and was flipping through them but thought they were kind of advanced.. at least for my liking.

[ColwynsMommy]

Colwyn loves workbooks and requests them daily, which is pretty funny considering I never planned to do workbooks with him.

We buy workbooks everywhere, Target, the Dollar Store, Costco, etc. Some of the pages are beyond his ability.. we either skip those or modify them. The thing about homeschooling is that you don't *have* to do it the way the book says.. you can tailor it to fit your child's needs. For instance.. some of the pages that require writing answers out, I'll have Colwyn dictate his answers to me and I write them down.

[mountainsun]

Hi! Gabe is 3 1/2 and I took the plunge and got the OM preschool materials. This is less of a curriculum, and more of an intro to waldorf education, establishing daily rhythm, etc. This is great for us as Gabe is very much a free spirit. We are very much into nature so for these preschool years, I hope to focus much of our time doing nature based things

I also go the summer Seasons of Joy from annettemarie which has fabulous ideas. We are going to spend the next week or so setting up our nature table and getting the art/ craft supplies that we want. We had our first circle time this morning, and it was a really nice way to start our day.

I LOVE the earth school stuff, thanks for sharing that. I think I may order the dinosaurs and under the sea units. We have been *big* into dinos for awhile.

I am not worried about the 3 Rs at this point, although Gabe knows the alphabet, colora, shapes and can count pretty high just through osmosis, it seems. We are going to just take it at his pace and see where we go. Wheeeee~an adventure for sure!

[Khourtniey]

Originally Posted by ColwynsMommy

Colwyn loves workbooks and requests them daily, which is pretty funny considering I never planned to do workbooks with him.

We buy workbooks everywhere, Target, the Dollar Store, Costco, etc. Some of the pages are beyond his ability.. we either skip those or modify them. The thing about homeschooling is that you don't *have* to do it the way the book says.. you can tailor it to fit your child's needs. For instance.. some of the pages that require writing answers out, I'll have Colwyn dictate his answers to me and I write them down.

Its funny what our kids like.

Do you have any favourites that are not as advanced?

[mommy0612]

Originally Posted by ColwynsMommy

Colwyn loves workbooks and requests them daily, which is pretty funny considering I never planned to do workbooks with him.

We buy workbooks everywhere, Target, the Dollar Store, Costco, etc. Some of the pages are beyond his ability.. we either skip those or modify them. The thing about homeschooling is that you don't *have* to do it the way the book says.. you can tailor it to fit your child's needs. For instance.. some of the pages that require writing answers out, I'll have Colwyn dictate his answers to me and I write them down.

Ditto, DD loves them. Daily!!

[alegna]

Subbing for ideas. We're really going to work on finding homeschool friends this year. Most of the kids her age in playgroup are off to preschool this year... :

-Angela

[ZanZansMommy]

:

[Lillian J]

I just came across a book you might enjoy - looks like fun - Games With Books: Twenty-eight of the Best Children's books and How to Use Them to Help Your Child Learn-From Preschool to Third Grade. It's by by Peggy Kaye. If you go to the Amazon.com page on it, you can look inside and see the table of contents, excerpts, etc. Lillian

[MamaPam]

We are going to be doing Sonlight Core B, Handwriting Without Tears, and Singapore Earlybird Math 1. I am using a theme schedule available from a yahoo group that way I can add extra library books an hand on activities easily. We're not really following a schedule each day though. I made a list of all the stories for each theme so we can just check them off as we go. I think this will work much better for us rather than planning on certain things each day. There are some families at our church that are also going to be home schooling preschool this year using Sonlight, Before Five in a Row, and My Father's World. They're interested in having a field trip co-op which I'd love to do for my oldest but not sure about with the two littlest if that would be real practical. We plan on starting next week.

[ColwynsMommy]

Originally Posted by alegna

Subbing for ideas. We're really going to work on finding homeschool friends this year. Most of the kids her age in playgroup are off to preschool this year... :

-Angela

Us too. There are homeschool groups in this area but none of them do stuff for preschoolers. From what I've seen, most families have kids in upper elementary and younger, and the little ones just tag along. I'm trying to form a (un)preschool group, but it's tough going. I think I'm going to start my own Meetup group, as the Yahoo group hasn't gotten us any leads. I came up with a great logo for the group, but then I can never remember to bring flyers with me when we go to the library, grocery store, etc. Bleh.

For specific workbooks.. we don't really have any favorites. The expensive Kumon ones are nice, but Colwyn prefers things that are more heavily illustrated. Any workbook that is heavy on the mazes is good for us, though.

[heket]

I've been :, but we are planning on hs'ing a preschooler this year.

I work FT, so playgroups have never been an option. There is a somewhat local hs'ing group that meets only on Wednesday mornings, so that's totally out of the question. Besides, if I were available, dd is a late sleeper so I doubt we'd make it in time anyway.

I know that there are other working parents who hs, but it's a challenge to find any locally. I really like the idea of trying meetups instead of yahoo.

Oh, and since I'm out, the game plan for now is to use OM pre-K along with some supplementary things. Dd really likes Starfall and we read all the time. I'd like to work on getting more of a rhythm to the day/week/month/year and start a nature table for us. For now, a waldorf inspired curriculum with some additional items in a relaxed pace will mostly likely work best. We also have a 2 yo at home, so I don't want to make this year difficult.

Of course, these ideas might change once I return from the local hs conference this weekend...

[mama kate]

For the earth school stuff do you do the E version or the print - anyone have experience with both?

Em loves the workbooks too!