Pre-School Home Schooling Materials - Page 3

[RachelS]

mercy589 ~ that is a very interesting website.... it would be a nice added 'extra' to what I am planning on doing with my ds. DId they charge you for the free sample? I know that they said that there is no obligation... but I sometimes have a hard time signing up with with those...

Thank you

[kellykins]

OK now I look like an idiot for posting the post I just posted...
I guess I should have put it in this thread!!! Good job on my part for looking.. duhh...
Thank you all for all the fabulous links!!! I wish it wasn't already late, I would cruise them all!!

Young at Art id by Susan Striker, by the way. I actually ordered it from Amazon today. I have a feeling she is going to poo-poo what we did today-- we did veggie stamps and made a pumpkin patch out of stamped circles in orange paint....

I wish I knew how to delete a post?! copying it and pasting it in here...
________________________________________
I stumbled from one page to another and found my way to the Homeschool eStore and see that they have activity "books" for toddlers, Pay and Learn with Your 1 Yr Old, 2 Yr Old and 3 Yr Old... I was wondering if anyone had purchased these ebooks and if they are worth it?
Also, Katelyn is pretty advanced all around (except in hair growth ) and I am wondering if the 1 year old book is most appropriate for her? She is one and a half, has gotten mistaken for over two twice in the past week. :P (one is a story that belongs in another topic area.) She makes short sentences (she actually said "more chachup (ketchup) pease mommy at dinner!), can count to 5 (maybe higher but usually stops at three and says GO! haha) can stack 5 blocks high... knows several colors, knows big and little...
(not trying to brag on her, just trying to give a picture of who she is)

I am just trying to find more fun stuff for us to do that might be laid out in a cirriculum fashion to sort of try the whole homeschool thing out... We are temporarily relocated away from home and don't have a lot of space or toys and we both get bored pretty quick. :P
So anyhow, back to the original question, Are the ebooks from Homeschool eStore worth it?

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kellykins

I wish I knew how to delete a post?!

I haven't seen the other post yet, but to delete it, all you need to do is go to it, and hit the little Edit button right at the bottom of it - and then you can just delete all the test and leave a little note like "posted in wrong thread" or whatever. Lillian

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kellykins

So anyhow, back to the original question, Are the ebooks from Homeschool eStore worth it?

Well, I know that at least one is : - the one I was a contributor to:

See, I Told Me So! Homeschool Veterans Declare "You can stop worrying!" *

My own chapter from it is on my website: Homeschooling - It's A Wonderful Life!, and there are 17 other writers in it. We aren't getting any money from it, by the way - our shares go to charity.

*I've reported to them that they have a typo in the title on the website.

EDIT: Whoops! I just saw your other post and suddenly realized you were only asking about the activity books! I've gotta' slow down when I'm reading. Oh, well...

Lillian

[mercy589]

Originally Posted by RachelS

mercy589 ~ that is a very interesting website.... it would be a nice added 'extra' to what I am planning on doing with my ds. DId they charge you for the free sample? I know that they said that there is no obligation... but I sometimes have a hard time signing up with with those...

Thank you

No charge at all, and they said you can cancel at any time even if you decide to go with it for awhile. I think you do have to notify them that you just want to keep the free stuff and cancel though. Go for it!

[rahrahgobg]

WOW! More wonderful ideas!!! I couldn't be more excited!

rahrahgobg ~ I really love that idea ~ HANDS ON HOMESCHOOLING. Where did you get it for more than half the price?

You can look on Craigslist...and don't fret to look on many city's Craigslist - some will ship as long as you pay for it. You could easily pay by paypal or money order.

This website is filled with people selling their used curriculum

http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/fsp2/index.html

Vicki

[RachelS]

kellykins ~ what an advanced little one you have!

mercy589 & rahrahgobg ~ thank you for the additional information!! There is SO much stuff out there... I am still trying to decide which one/ones I want to use.

[tayndrewsmama]

Obviously there's already been tons of great info posted, but I don't think this one is here yet. Preschool Prep Co.

[tayndrewsmama]

I just got an email from Preschool Prep Co that they expect their Spanish versions to be out next month. I am very excited about this, as I think it will help dd to practice her colors and numbers for her Spanish class.

[heatherdeg]

Here's a very cool catalog/online store for finding things that are for little people to do things hands-on. Not the most expensive nor the cheapest stuff, but I seriously have never seen child-sized operable things like are in this one:

For Small Hands

Otherwise, bookmarking this thread for my little guy!

[kellykins]

arrgh - I TOTALLY knew it would come off like I was parading her around like missus smartyton... Thtats totaly not how I meant it... Please know this... I am so embarassed... I am so not like that... I am actually kind of unsure how to react when people say things about her like that... What a way to intro onesself into a new section of the forum.... DOH..

[QUOTE=RachelS;9454582]kellykins ~ what an advanced little one you have!


anyhow, I am wondering, I am seeing all these fabulous links (havnt had time to check them out) HOW do you process the info and pick the "best" stuff? How do you figure out what to do and when and whatnot? How do you "plan" this stuff out for a preschooler/toddler? I am repeating myself, but I need structure, lol, so "plans" and knwoing what is next is a good thing for me

[RachelS]

heatherdeg & tayndrewsmama thank you for the links... on my way to check these out right now! Thank you so very much!!!!

kellykins ~ no worries mama....... it was a complement!

[Lillian J]

Kelly, remember that preschool as a concept is pretty new, and came about as a way of getting children ready to deal with the incompetent schools. It wasn't all that long ago that children that age were at home or in nursery school where they did nothing but play and maybe learn a few songs and games. And yet, people were able to get a great education - lots of incredible minds have developed throughout history in people who never had a structured preschooling background. So what I'm getting at is that it's not as if there's anything important to figure out. You honestly don't need plans so much as to know what sort of thing your child responds joyfully to. If you just go with that, and introduce activities along the way that just sort of jump out at you as things she might love, you'll both do fine.

You said earlier that you're trying to find more fun stuff that can be laid out in a curriculum fashion to sort of try out homeschooling. I'm thinking that means you want to know what it would be like if you were to start practice at teaching her in fun and creative ways. But honestly, at her age there's nothing you need to think about teaching - she'll just be soaking up everything in her environment. She's busy! To try out homeschooling with a child that age is not really a good test - because it's different.

Here's a thread in MDC on "Is 3 too young?" - and that's another year and a half for you. I realize you're just looking for fun things that can entertain the two of you, but I also think you'd thrive without the idea of "homeschooling" in the background for now - just going on with playing and casually observing the world as things come along for her. There are lots of fun things in those catalogs, but I wouldn't worry about making a plan or doing things in any kind of sequence other than the one she wants - it's all about her, not about any bigger plan.

What might help could be a very loose schedule where you plan something like going on a little nature walk every morning, playing with playdough every other morning, telling her a story or reading her a beautiful little book every afternoon, doing a finger play every ________, singing songs as you go about your day, listening to CDs every ________, etc. - loosely classified stuff like that just so that you remember to do those things instead of wondering what to do.

Have fun! Lillian

[mercy589]

Kellykins, dont be embarrased about your smart little girl!

One thing that's helped me sort through all the stuff out there is I decided that I was going to pick one theme a month and try to do at least one theme related thing per week - Sept was apples, we picked apples, did a couple apple art projects, read some related books, etc. Thats just my goal because DD is only 2 and I have a 2 month old, so I didn't plan to do too much, but at least its something and helps me figure out where to start. So, with the one theme a month, we read related books (we already have and read a ton of books so that parts easy), and then the one project a week can be art, a sensory table project type thing, an activity, or whatever...

For more fun theme related ideas, I love the Mailbox magazine books that you can find at a teacher store. We have a book by them on science projects thats great! (for younger kids) Its made for teachers, but easily usable for home. They have good art project ideas in their books too.