Preschool Homeschooling Ideas

[MoonBabiesMomma]

I am interested to hear from other homeschoolers about how they work with their preschoolers. I have a 3 year old and I have been doing some research on learning theories and I am trying to come up with a learning plan for her. I am caught between wanting to do too much and being too structured to help her learn as much as possible and letting her natural curiosity emerge. I have tried a child-led approach but feel like I may be shortchanging her from important skills that she needs to know. On the other hand, I was very impressed with John Holt's learning theories that children will learn on their own and too much direction can spoil their creativity and natural desire to learn.

I have used Playful Learning: An Alternate Approach to Preschool by Anne Engleheart and Cheryl Sullivan and The Complete Resource Book: An Early Childhood Curriculum by Pam Schiller and Kay Hastings. I also try to employ some Waldorf and Montessori techniques into our activities and play.

Do you use a specific curriculum? A variety of techniques? What are you experiences?

What about reading? My daughter keeps telling me she wants to read the words herself in her books and she loves books. I want to help her read in a non-threatening way. I do not think she will respond well to a phonics approach. She started memorizing words in short simple books (The Road to Reading Series by Golden Books) but is there anything else I can do?

[StarrMomma]

Hi! My big guy just turned three and we're looking into the Before Five in a Row series. It's a literature based curriculum that's loose enough for our needs. I don't have the book yet, but I believe it takes about 25 classic children's stories (Like Goodnight Moon, Corduroy, The Runaway Bunny) and pulls from them lessons is art, reading, history, etc. They have a website--type in "Five in a Row" in the search engine.

We're looking into doing a co-op type thing with a couple similar age friends. Maybe doing each book for a week or so and sharing a few activities together one day a week.

I've also heard great things about _Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons_ (I think that's the right title...I hope so! :)

HTH

[adonai]

Hello. My boys are now 11 and 17 years old.
We started out homeschooling when the first was 5 years old. I had some of the old Tip and Mitten readers, and we started out trying to sound out the words. No matter how I tried to teach him, the sessions ended up in tears. We stopped and just played and had fun the rest of the year. I read books to him constantly throughout that period.

Age 6. We tried it again. I tried to teach him the sounds that went to the letters and how to sound out words, but again, our sessions always ended in tears. Phonics is a highly specialized skill, and kids have to be ready for it. Mine wasn't. We stopped the sessions, and once again just played and had fun the rest of the year, with me reading to him all the time.

Age 7. I got some books and workbooks for him. We tried the reading thing again, this time with minimal success. He was barely reading, but not really understanding what he was doing.

Age 8. All of a sudden, he got it! It was a light-bulb coming on kind of thing. In a moment of insight, he understood, and has been reading ever since.

That is how most of real learning occurs, in a moment of insight. I now wish that I had not even TRIED to teach him, but let him learn on his own. That would have been best, and less stressful for him.

We did homeschooling until he was 11, and my other child was 6. For reasons I won't go into, we put them in a private Christian school. They spent five years there. For two of those years, I worked at the school, so I saw on a daily basis what a waste of time school is. We withdrew, and now are UNSCHOOLING. Meaning my children are totally self-directed and are learning whatever they please. It is wonderful! And don't worry about them getting all the skills they need....they will. Let them be driven by their own passions, and they will learn all they need to know.

[alisage]

I just started with my 3½ year old son. I bought the Calvert Curriculum as I was needing the direction that it offered. I go by it some, but I also improvise with the activities. DS seems to enjoy it a lot. I get my project ideas from www.kinderart.com (http://www.kinderart.com) and from www.earlychildhood.com/ (http://www.earlychildhood.com/)

You can check out Calvert at www.calvertschool.org (http://www.calvertschool.org)

Pamela

[mpeel]

IMO, for a young child, playing is the best learning. Since your little one wants to read, you might try starting her on phonics. I am currently using _Teach Your Child to Read in One Hundred Easy Lessons_. It is great. Beth is a high-needs dynamo and rarely sits still. The lessons are about 10 to 20 minutes each. She loves them. She is 5. She wanted to read for herself earlier but was not committed to doing the "work" required to learn phonics. Now she is. So, take it at your child's pace. Many tell me I am pushing her to read, that it is too early. But I am just following her.

[rsps]

Follow your child's lead.
Read to them a lot.
play a lot.
Anything too sturctured could turn them off to learning if their not ready for it.

Keep it fun.

[Becca]

I wouldn't bother too much with structure, allow her to discover the world at her own pace. Try to involve her in whatever you are doing, whether it's cooking, laundry of plumbing. Read lots of books together, have art supplies available and take time to enjoy each other's company.
Blessings, Becca

[alisage]

That preschoolers can have too much structure. I however need lots of it :) I take the lesson plan and pick and choose my activities from it. Sometimes I just make our own projects.

My son however does really well with structure, he always has. If we just mosey through our day he is unhappy. He always wants "projects" to do. I think it all depends on the child and what day it is. I "school" him 2-3 days a week and the rest we do what the other ladies said. Cook, laundry, mop. He loves to clean :D We read constantly as well.

I felt the need to clarify, as I did not want you to think I make my son sit still for his school. I follow his lead and if he is tired we stop.

Pamela

[Linda in Arizona]

A wonderful book is "Sandbox Scientist" by Ross. It has directions for science kits that you put together and then the child explores with as they see fit. My kids love the kits.

My kids like having a routine and they like me to suggest and guide some activities for them. I think the balance is different for different kids and families. I think the secret is to enjoy your child and relax. I've read enough that I know what sort of skills my kids are getting from different activities, like playing with playdough, but I try not to let it get in the way of us all having a good time!

We don't use a curriculum. We get on different kicks at different times. Last winter we were big on circle time. Then the weather got nice and we didn't feel it any more. So we played outdoor games and made nature crafts. We are gettting ready for a huge move, so we've spent the last month getting ready and visiting the wonderful museums and natural places where we live now, since we won't be seeing them for a very long time.

Other than running your finger under the words as you read, I wouldn't recommend teaching reading to a child so young. She may figure it out on her own, which is fine, but at that age more harm than good could come from reading instruction. (Read Jane Healy's book "Your Child's Growing Mind" for more info.)

[Queen Gwen]

Boy, you've got some great replies here! My 2cents: As long as the child is interested in learning to read, go for it. Dd wanted to at 4; I got Teach your child...100 easy lessons. She was BORED TO TEARS (literally) after 2 lessons, and wanted nothing to do with reading for months. Maybe another approach (like looksay, for example) would've worked better, or maybe it just wasn't time yet. FWIW she also disliked Five in a Row, mostly because she didn't like the choice of books. Both my girls (now 6 and 2)like flashcards, which are supposed to just be horrible, mind-deadening things. We also sing alot -- the days of the week, our address, the months, etc.

Some kids like routine, some don't. Some are early talkers and walkers, some aren't. Some figure out reading on their own at an early age, others would appreciate a helping hand from Mom, others have no interest 'til years later.

Other than flexibility, my suggestion would be to expose her to a huge range of experiences -- art, music, language (including "foreign"), dance, history, culture -- in a fun and playful way.

[lilyka]

I feel that kids that young should be pushed too hard accidemically. Thier job is play and they need to work hard at play. There is so much to be learned just by playing such as creativity, cause and effect, physics, math, etc... Let them play while they can. For reading I like 100 easy lessons. Short and simple. There are all sorts of games and songs you can use to teach them everthing form months and days, to history, math facts, and spelling. If she really wants to play school, get her some fun flash cards (animals, colors, shapes, numbers and letters) or some fun workbooks (we like the Blues clues ones but anything with stickers is a hit) and just sorta go from there. There are lots of ways to expand your childs mind at this age without depriving her of much needed playtime.

[anythingelse]

:)

[MoonBabiesMomma]

Thank you so much everyone for all of your WONDERFUL suggestions and ideas! You have really given me so much information to work with and I really appreciate it.

Mary-my dd "pretends" to write her name and other things but she does not have the patience to sit still long enough for me to help her. I got her some workbooks with wipe-off crayons (Trend wipe-off activity books) that she can trace different types of lines and circles to prepare for writing. She enjoys that. I got her the next level book that has actual letters but she does not like that and so I have not pushed her. Aside from reading, she wants to do everything by herself and does not want me to help her. In fact, she is almost obsessed with reading. She lays in her bed at night and after I read to her she reads to herself, sometimes for more than hour and with at least 20-30 books in her bed. We get about 40 books each week from the library because she always wants new books in addition to her few favorites. Your ideas about making books and tapes and menus are great.

BTW, I looked at the 100 Easy Lessons reading books and decided is was not for her. I think she will learn best with a whole word approach to reading or a multi-media approach like Reader Rabbit and 100 Easy lessons looks like a complicated phonics system but I could see how it could help children with other types of learning styles.

I forgot to mention we also use a variety of software. Both of my dds love to work on the computer. My 1.5 year old plays Reader Rabbit Toddler and Fisher Price Preschool on her own. Hailey, my 3 year old, is using Reader Rabbit Preschool, Miss Spider Sesame Street Preschool (which is not all that great) and likes them because she can do it be herself. I just ordered Reading Mansion and Max on the Moon from Discovery Toys. I know Waldorf specialists do not advocate the use of the computer but for us it has been tremendously helpful.

I have a M.Ed. in Educational Technology and I am writing my Ph.D. dissertation on the educational use of the Internet so I am a big fan of the benefits that computers can offer kids with certain learning styles.

[Linda in Arizona]

We tried 100 EZ lessons and my DD really hated it. Then we tried Reading Feflex and she likes it a great deal. She also likes the Explode the Code primer books, which are far better than workbooks I've found in stores.

[erika]

May I suggest that you allow your preschool age child to teach herself to read, as she is already doing, ala John Holt? Think of it as an observational experiment. That's pretty much what I'm doing with my daughter - lots of experimentation! We also read lots of books together. While she says she wants to read and takes a great interest in books, I see that the process is a slow unfolding. A few times I have tried a little "teaching" - using phonics and getting her to sound out words, but she usually tires of this very quickly. So I mostly sit back and observe, and encourage her. Slowly she is moving into invented spelling, and I am confident that at some point in the future she will be a proficient reader.

However, I understand a need for structure, even for moms of preschoolers. I would echo the earlier endorsement of Before Five in a Row (thought it has Christian content if you are comfortable with that) or suggest Oak Meadow preschool or even kindergarten.

Good luck.

[Lillian J]

I wrote an article not long ago to address this question - because I had been writing and rewriting the same things over and over for many years, and finally decided to just put it in one place once and for all.

It's loaded with fun ideas and links - one of the links is to a wonderful article written by David Elkind, Professor in Child Development at Tufts University, and the author of Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk and many other Books. Dr. Elkind is a consultant to schools, mental health associations, and private foundations. The article explains in some depth why he feels that certain common educational practices for pre-schoolers and kindergarteners are not only inappropriate but harmful; and he describes the kinds of educational activities that are appropriate for that age group.

A Homeschoolng Curriculum for Pre-K and Kindergarten (http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/lillian_jones_ps_kdgtn.html)

I hope you enjoy it! ; ) Lillian