Homeschooling a pre-schooler

[iMom]

Any references, links, or anything you can offer about your own homeschooling methods.

We're at a point that we have to pull DD out of pre-school/daycare for financial reasons. It's tearing me up inside to have to do this. So I am wondering if there are any resources out there for pre-schoolers? My DH will be teaching her, so I want to be able to prep things at the beginning of the week or at night for the next day, just to give him focus.

I also intend on signing her up for dance and maybe some other program to interact with other kids.

This is so hard on me, I can't even start to explain how sad I am about it. I'm just trying to look on the bright side and see what tools I can provide to my DH so DD does not get bored.

[P h o e n i x]

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/

[iMom]

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/

That looks so cool. I wish I could stay home with her. I would totally do all these things.

I'm going to make a list though and start prepping things for DH. DD needs to learn something besides racing cars and bikes.

[luvinmykids]

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/

This is the greatest site ever. I love her curriculums and her ideas. So great.

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

I love confessions of a homeschooler. I plan on buying her curriculum soon. Are you on Pinterest? I have found so many cool learning and arts and crafts activities from other members.

[hanvan2]

another great site is www.notimeforflashcards.com

it has a lot of crafts but those are also important too!!!

[pepperlru]

I love No Time for Flashcards! Others I use a lot are:
http://childhood101.com/playopedia/
and
http://www.productiveparenting.com/default.aspx

This is a great resource for toddler busy bags for you to get together the night or week before:
http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/...-resource.html

And a few more blogs/sites that I've found useful:
countingcoconuts.blogspot.com
http://naturenest.wordpress.com/
http://www.infomontessori.com/practi...troduction.htm
http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/

Aaaand a couple of general homeschooling sites that I've found really full of good information for all ages:
http://www.secularhomeschool.com
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

[iMom]

Ok, my next question... How are you kids doing being homeschooled? Do you feel like they get enough interaction with other kids? What do you do for playing with other kids?

My DH is not much of a "play date" type. I'm looking into things I can do on the weekends to get her out, but I'm not so sure that DH is going to want to be around a bunch of mom's or most dads. He's pretty shy.

[iMom]

I love No Time for Flashcards! Others I use a lot are:
http://childhood101.com/playopedia/
and
http://www.productiveparenting.com/default.aspx

This is a great resource for toddler busy bags for you to get together the night or week before:
http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/...-resource.html

And a few more blogs/sites that I've found useful:
countingcoconuts.blogspot.com
http://naturenest.wordpress.com/
http://www.infomontessori.com/practi...troduction.htm
http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/

Aaaand a couple of general homeschooling sites that I've found really full of good information for all ages:
http://www.secularhomeschool.com
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

wow! Thanks!

This is almost overwhelming.. but super cool!!

[JennTheMomma]

I'm homeschooling my 4 year old right now. I find all sorts of print outs of shapes, colors, numbers, ABCs, phonics, etc for him and then I make little packets. I also have several "workbooks" for preschoolers that I bought at Barnes and Nobles. We belong to a homeschooling alliance as well and do things with them each week for interaction time and learning in a group setting.

[AbbeysMom]

We playdate almost every day. One good thing about Texas is how homeschool friendly it is, all the museums and libraries have programs geared towards homeschooled kids. There is a homeschool preschool "class" at a nature preserve/animal sanctuary near my house, for kiddos 3-5, and several library storytimes with week-long themes. Abbey likes learning with other kids and I like being there to help facilitate and then bring the learning themes home with craft projects and activities.

TBH, I do think at her age (Abbey's 2 and a half) physical activity is just as important as any "academic" learning. She will learn more from going on a hike and talking about sounds, looking at colors, watching animals, observing the seasons changing, even collecting rocks, than she would if I sat down with her and did a printable letter activity, KWIM?

[impatient]

I have been homeschooling DS for about 7 weeks now. I bought the Letter of the Week curriculum from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com mentioned above. I love it, DS loves it. But in a way I wish I had just found a curriculum that comes with all the materials printed out already. I literally spend about 2 hours prep time for each day of school printing and laminating. So with the cost of ink, paper and laminating pouches, I could possibly be better off dropping $200-$300 on a curriculum and have it ready to go. On the other hand, I am keeping all that I printed for DD when it is her time to go to mommy's preschool.

I adjusted the curriculum to only 3 days a week. We start in the morning and go as long as DS wants to go. Some days, he completes all assignments in a single setting, but usually we finish about half and then do the rest when he is interested. I did not buy the nice drawer set that she uses, but I just got a set of small plastic bins and DS always asks to do his "boxes".

As far as time with other kids goes ... we have plenty of opportunities. On Sundays, DS goes to Sunday school during the service and in the evening he attends a preschool choir practice. Those are his structured events without mommy present. He also gets unstructured play without me during MOPS and Bible study I attend. In addition to that, we have a once weekly playdate with other kids his age and I am there with him. We usually end up meeting friends with kids a couple more times during the week in addition to that.

We also visit the library on a regular basis and he usually meets kids there to play. I LOVE the recommended reading list from the Confessions of a Homeschooler. That means we have 4-5 new books to read each week that go with the theme and we also pick up other books in the library.

I tried taking DS to story time but he appears to be traumatized from story time at preschool (we pulled him out of preschool after having many behavior issues - he was unable to sit for story time like the rest of the class). He got very upset when the kids were asked to sit down for the story. So we do not go to story time often. I will slowly try taking him and see how he reacts.

[hanvan2]

Ok, my next question... How are you kids doing being homeschooled? Do you feel like they get enough interaction with other kids? What do you do for playing with other kids?

My DH is not much of a "play date" type. I'm looking into things I can do on the weekends to get her out, but I'm not so sure that DH is going to want to be around a bunch of mom's or most dads. He's pretty shy.

I actually don't homeschool myself but I don't feel like my kids NEED preschool (sounds weird right...don't need it but we do it) Anyway, IF I did homeschool for prek I would just make sure my kids got to play with other children. We would probably do library story time (our library does it by age groups) and we would do things like play outside with other kiddos, go to the parks, things like that.

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

Ok, my next question... How are you kids doing being homeschooled? Do you feel like they get enough interaction with other kids? What do you do for playing with other kids?

My DH is not much of a "play date" type. I'm looking into things I can do on the weekends to get her out, but I'm not so sure that DH is going to want to be around a bunch of mom's or most dads. He's pretty shy.

We do belong to a MOMS group, so there are opportunities almost every day of the week, plus our regular playgroup. During nice weather, we would go to the same playground and see the same parents and kids all the time. Some of them got together for a playgroup, too, but we could never attend. We also do library story hours. I am shy, too, but I know it is important for DS to have the opportunity to interact with other children so I do it. I do see a lot of dads at the library and playground.

ETA: I love all these resources for the PPs!!

[Hoping2Be]

Personally, for me it's been easier to teach DD from books rather than doing all the online printouts. I tried the online printouts and it was just time consuming and wasting too much paper/ink. I have a color laser printer though and my color toners are too expensive to use (I use it for work only). I love the books and my DD has learned a ton! We have also started to do riddles, where I make up questions and ask her.

For playdates maybe you could have your DH joing a Meetup group.

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

Personally, for me it's been easier to teach DD from books rather than doing all the online printouts. I tried the online printouts and it was just time consuming and wasting too much paper/ink. I have a color laser printer though and my color toners are too expensive to use (I use it for work only). I love the books and my DD has learned a ton! We have also started to do riddles, where I make up questions and ask her.

For playdates maybe you could have your DH joing a Meetup group.

do you mean workbooks or literature?

could you share some of your favorites?

[marmar]

I second the importance of books. My library has a kids reading list and one of the reading lists is suggestions for each letter. So we do a letter of the week and I reserve a bunch of the books. We also do a collage with the letter of the week and put the collage in the scrap book so they make their own alphabet book. And while I know the Usborne flip flap books are geared towards older children, my kids LOVE them and have learned a lot from them. DD loves math and I recently found some math workbooks in the Target dollar section for her- She likes them and we wouldn't do them if she didn't like them.

I do have a preschool curriculum and use it more as an activity guide than as a hard core schooling thing. We do it as needed and some days go very smoothly and other days are just happy chaos. My expectations aren't very high. LOL

[pepperlru]

I actually don't homeschool myself but I don't feel like my kids NEED preschool (sounds weird right...don't need it but we do it) Anyway, IF I did homeschool for prek I would just make sure my kids got to play with other children. We would probably do library story time (our library does it by age groups) and we would do things like play outside with other kiddos, go to the parks, things like that.

It sounds funny considering the mountain of links I posted previously, but I agree. I think open-ended activities are great, and when you do a little work in the home to create an enriched environment, curriculum or structured "learning" activities aren't necessary in my opinion. Kids will learn everything they need to learn by playing and by engaging in everyday tasks with a caregiver/parent.

My older dd never went to preschool or pre-k, and I didn't do any specific "homeschool" or "preschool" with her. We just read a lot, talked a lot, did a lot of fun stuff, and she got out a few times a week to be with other children with and without me. She learned to read at 4 and didn't have any trouble socially or academically. I don't plan to send Noe to preschool either unless outside care becomes necessary, and I won't start any homeschool curriculum with her (if we decide to hs her, which is still undecided) until she is at least 5.

[iMom]

I actually don't homeschool myself but I don't feel like my kids NEED preschool (sounds weird right...don't need it but we do it) Anyway, IF I did homeschool for prek I would just make sure my kids got to play with other children. We would probably do library story time (our library does it by age groups) and we would do things like play outside with other kiddos, go to the parks, things like that.

Yeah, my kid NEEDS pre-school. We just can't afford it. It makes me sad not to be able to send her anymore. There are no public programs in our area for pre-school options. Only private. The funding has been completely cut for public options. So here we are. She thrives best on having a constant flow of information. She gets bored otherwise. I have found a lot of little programs around, I'm just not confident that DH will want to do all of them. ugh.

I'm honestly really upset about having to homeschool her with DH because I can not be apart of it.

[mommabert]

Could this get stickied PLEASE???

[iMom]

Could this get stickied PLEASE???

I think this is a fabulous idea!!

[AbbeysMom]

These might help too:
http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/curriculum.asp (for a little older kiddos)

http://www.starfall.com/ (Has a great interactive ABC game that my DH and DD like to 'play' together)

[pepperlru]

Yeah, my kid NEEDS pre-school. We just can't afford it. It makes me sad not to be able to send her anymore. There are no public programs in our area for pre-school options. Only private. The funding has been completely cut for public options. So here we are. She thrives best on having a constant flow of information. She gets bored otherwise. I have found a lot of little programs around, I'm just not confident that DH will want to do all of them. ugh.

I'm honestly really upset about having to homeschool her with DH because I can not be apart of it.

That is tough. I hope you can find a solution that works for all of you. Are there any cooperative preschools in your area? Co-ops usually are cheaper because they rely partly on parent participation. Maybe your dh would be willing?

And I get what you're saying about having a busy kid - I know I can have a lot of trouble keeping Noe occupied. I don't know if this will help you feel better about her having some downtime, but it helped me:
http://www.childperspective.com/char...good-for-kids/ (Why Boredom is Good for Kids)

[mohop]

I checked out the sample curriculum on this page and thought it looked really good: http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/bxpp.asp. Seems pretty comprehensive and like it would require less prep time than some of the other stuff you find online. The sample is 30 pages, so you get a good understanding of the program.

I also was interested in the Before Five in a Row curriculum for preschool: http://www.fiarhq.com/fiveinarow.inf...iveinarow.html

In the end, I decided we wouldn't do a formal homeschool curriculum yet. We moved to another country for a couple of years, and I enrolled her in a montessori based "nursery school" 3 days a week (primarily for language emersion and b/c I have to work) and also bought the Montessori at Home book for ideas for activities to do at home. (I also have this book for ideas.)

I'm one who doesn't think preschool aged kids need a structured school day, as long as they are being read quality books frequently and regularly and engaging in a variety of different activities. But I think some of the preschool curriculums are especially helpful to give parents some structure in guidance in making sure the kids get that variety of learning activities.

For the social stuff, look for library storytimes, local kiddie gyms (doesn't have to be something like Little Gym which can be expensive, but there are some places that just have "open play" hours for toddlers and preschoolers during the week), try to schedule regular "field trips," and like someone else mentioned, look for local homeschooling coops. They often will have programs where you can send your child once or twice a week for a couple of hours to spend time with other homeschooling kids. Instead of thinking of things in terms of what your child is missing out on by not being in school, try to think about all the things your child will be able to do because she is not in school, like have more opportunities for social interaction with various age groups, the opportunity to take more trips during the day to the park, library, museums, etc. If you have extended family in town, try to incorporate them into "school" by setting aside special "granny time" or "auntie time" etc.

[LuTruPeMo]

People make far too much of 'social interaction,' especially for very young children. How does your child actually interact with other children? If he or she is still very much in the parallel play phase, it doesn't matter a whole lot. As play progresses and is more cooperative, there is definitely benefit from socializing with peers, but again, not a lot of time is required for this, IMO. (Obviously as they get older the idea of 'friends' becomes a lot more important - my eight year old DD is a prime example )

I have homeschooled three preschoolers so far (youngest is 4). We've done all sorts of things, from very expensive (Sonlight curriculum set, Sycamore Tree prepackaged curriculum, etc) to free (pbskids.org, nickjr.com printables and activities and games). What we usually do is calendar, weather, talk about upcoming special events, read a book. We do a craft perhaps once a week (I am not a fan of crafts, but love open-ended art time). They have workbooks - usually just one or two, like math and handwriting are what my preschooler has now. She loves working in them and I don't set a time or number of pages she has to do - she works until she wants to do something else. Providing lots of different activities and forms of learning is key. Blocks, small manipulatives, music, art, dress up/dramatic play, gross motor play (either outdoors or dancing, trampoline, fort building, other things you can do indoors). Limit TV time and try to make it as educational as possible. Make snack time part of learning.

[cheeksy]

I have been homeschooling DS for about 7 weeks now. I bought the Letter of the Week curriculum from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com mentioned above. I love it, DS loves it. But in a way I wish I had just found a curriculum that comes with all the materials printed out already. I literally spend about 2 hours prep time for each day of school printing and laminating. So with the cost of ink, paper and laminating pouches, I could possibly be better off dropping $200-$300 on a curriculum and have it ready to go. On the other hand, I am keeping all that I printed for DD when it is her time to go to mommy's preschool.

I adjusted the curriculum to only 3 days a week. We start in the morning and go as long as DS wants to go. Some days, he completes all assignments in a single setting, but usually we finish about half and then do the rest when he is interested. I did not buy the nice drawer set that she uses, but I just got a set of small plastic bins and DS always asks to do his "boxes".

As far as time with other kids goes ... we have plenty of opportunities. On Sundays, DS goes to Sunday school during the service and in the evening he attends a preschool choir practice. Those are his structured events without mommy present. He also gets unstructured play without me during MOPS and Bible study I attend. In addition to that, we have a once weekly playdate with other kids his age and I am there with him. We usually end up meeting friends with kids a couple more times during the week in addition to that.

We also visit the library on a regular basis and he usually meets kids there to play. I LOVE the recommended reading list from the Confessions of a Homeschooler. That means we have 4-5 new books to read each week that go with the theme and we also pick up other books in the library.

I tried taking DS to story time but he appears to be traumatized from story time at preschool (we pulled him out of preschool after having many behavior issues - he was unable to sit for story time like the rest of the class). He got very upset when the kids were asked to sit down for the story. So we do not go to story time often. I will slowly try taking him and see how he reacts.

starfall.com is a way to go for you then. They have all the materials ready. You can use some online or buy them!

[ColtsFan1912]

i see most people posted the links i use. We also ordered the Horizons curriculum for Caleb. We really like it.

[ColtsFan1912]

I also love
http://www.2teachingmommies.com/
they got a lot of free downloads. We just downloaded a turkey themed one. Caleb loves the "mazes"

[marmar]

We've been pre-schoolifying Expedition Earth from Confessions of a homeschooler and it is going very well. It takes us about a week and half to get through a country. I pick up whatever picture books from the library that tie into the country. We do a ton of art projects related to the country, usually one cooking/food thing, the song(if there is one) and so forth. I do it more as an activity-go to thing than formal homeschooling and we do not use all the books that she has in her curriculum (they are not all appropriate for this age).

I also paid for the more.starfall and feel that it is worth it. DD and DS do the phonics and maths games together and I can clean house, make dinner- whatever. The "teacher's lounge" also has worksheets, word wheels and so forth to print off. I made word finds this last week with the kids names in it- DD loved hunting for her name and DS simply hunted for "T" (which I thought was pretty good!)

I'm not very formal but having a go to plan really saves me on days when we can't get out due to the weather, illness- winter in general.

[viola2012]

Lot of interesting information on the site in www.stepinlife.com . Look can find there something interesting.