[festivefeet]

Hi there.

Most would say, just play, right?

But....I feel like I should be doing more. We don't have a schedule that we follow each day, except for meals and sleep. But we do read, do art, play, pretend, outside time and others.

Is there something else I could or should be doing?

Do others schedule their day with their young children?

Should I set a day for certain things, like baking, art, science stuff, that kind of thing?

She has an interest in letters and sounds and knows some already. She will be three in early OCT. So I am just wondering if I should expand those interests with some activity. She refuses to learn the ABC song though. She would much rather learn her own songs and make them up as she goes along.

Just wanted some input from other Mommies on what you do with your three year olds.

J.

 

[Lillian J]

It sounds as if you'd be more comfortable with a schedule and rhythm, so I'd say yes, do go ahead and set blocks of time for certain types of activities, and see what she actually has interest in from the things you offer. It sounds as if you're doing plenty, though - all I would add is to get her together with other children she can share imaginative and/or active play with.

I certainly wouldn't be concerned with the alphabet. If she's going out of her way to let you know she wants to learn about it - without it being a response to your own desire for her to want to learn about it - then you could point out letters here and there from time to time, and she might be perfectly happy with just that. But she isn't going to have any particular need to know about letters for some time to come.

You can find a lot of fun activities among the sites I've linked to underneath the box of articles on this preschool/kindergarten page. And the first two articles up a the top in the articles box also have lots of ideas for fun and enriching things to do with her or provide her with.

Have fun!

Lillian

 

[laurata]

Sounds good to me. I've struggled to try and get a rhythm/ routine for years, and it never quite works. We just live life, and somehow, our rhythm goes in and out and learning happens. Figure out what you both like to do and go for it!

 

[naismama]

My dd just turned three. She is very much into the alphabet and sounds, but I don't do anything formal with her. She has a white board with magnetic letters and loves to pick out the letters and practice the sounds. I have also begun to show her how to write the letters when she asks. We do some baking project maybe 2x a week. We do coloring, glue, scissors, LOTS of trips to the library. Right now we are planning a garden to start planting next month, and she is very excited. We get books about plants and vegetables and go to nurseries to see all the plants and fountains. It seems that once she is interested in something, that interest leads to activities.

I am a mama who feels comfortable with some kind of (very loose) schedule.

We do an outing in the morning.
Back home for lunch and nap
Baking activity or craft/ drawing
prep for dinner together
eat
play with dad (mom collapses)
more random play
bath and bed.

This works well for us. I just try to provide her experiences related to the things she asks about (songs, trees, bugs, whatever).

--naismama

 

[milehighmonkeys]

We don't have a structured day. We do stuff as we are inspired to do it. Most of the time, I just follow DDs lead. Other times there are things I need to do that I involve her in. We made ice cream yesterday and she helped, but I don't schedule that kind of stuff. They really learn so much just from spending their day with you if you involve them in your day-to-day activities. We will add additional reading or activities based on her current interests, though. For example, she asked for caterpillars for her birthday, so a few times we've gone to cut milkweed to feed them. We also checked out some butterfly books from the library that she's read. They get so much more out of things when they are interested in them.