HomeSchooling/ Preschool Help

[blakehlhs]

Hi! My dh and I are seriously condsidering homeschooling our 3 soon to be 4 boys. We have a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a one year old and I am having a c section on Feb 16th. I am anxious to help my older two to begin learning basic school skills, but I don't even know where to start. They are both very smart. They know their colors and can count to at least 10, recoginize their first letter of their name. We have purchased some preschool workbooks and they love to do these and I think they do very well. I just want some tips on what else they should know and how to and what resources I should use to get them going. Also, I want to know where to start with the whole "homeschooling programs". I searched the web and it is overwhelming. Any tips? TIA for any help that anyone can give!

[TheWoman]

Preschool workbooks are a good way to go as most preschoolers seem to like them. The best thing you can do is read to them a lot and teach them stuff in the course of everyday life--point out the letters on a sign, count the cookies with them, that kind of stuff.

Having been right where you are about 5 years ago my best piece of advice is to relax and enjoy your children. Kindergarteners don't need a science or history ciruculum. Teach them to read and do basic math and they will do fine.

When my 9 year old started school this year (her first) her teacher was astounded at how much she knows about everything. She may not be the best at writing but has so much more to write about than the other kids in her class. I attribute that to the times we talk that aren't part of the schoolwork. At meals we often talk about current events. Most of the time this leads to an explanation of the background necessary to understand what is happening. We have a large map on the wall right near the table so we can look up where the stuff is happening too--which leads to learning to read maps. This has helped ME be familiar with geography far more than school ever did.

[amys]

I agree - enjoy your children.

WM and Sam's club and even Wags carries some basic pre-shool books all the way up to 6th grade. They are sufficient for learning the basics.

Since yours are all boys I will recommend a curriculum - especially if they become avid readers - Robinson Curriculum
check it out - it is interesting.

Most of all, just relax - kids are natural learners. Let them explore in the learning part of the environment - don't worry too much about too much structure until around second grade.

Make sure to check what the requirements are for your state too

[3boysathome]

Ditto! Enjoy your boys and use this time to observe their learning styles. This will help you pick a curriculum later. Your local library will probably have info on local homeschool groups that will be more than happy to have you join - they're a good way to keep up with changing regulations as well as extra curricular activities. Check with your local board of education for the requirements in your state - every state is different.

[3boysathome]

Oh, and don't worry about buying a big "package" deal in curriculum. You probably won't need the half of it. Most packages contain a lot of "busy" work and tests that you won't need if you're not teaching 25 kids at a time!

[talk2ham.1]

There are tons of free downloadables online for this age level too. They work great if you get a creative streak and want some coloring pages, crafts, or stories to go with a particular topic that is interesting or relevant to something you are teaching.

You could always check out the library to see if they have curriculum textbooks you could look at for free without buying. Then you can at least get an idea about what sorts of things are out there and what might suit you best for your kids' learning strengths.

Structured curriculum studies are not really too important at that age. Though, it is always good to practice structured learning at least a little so that when things do get more regimented as they get older, the kids won't be taken by surprise and become suddenly deflated about school in general.

[talk2ham.1]

Some ideas for starting are:

Teach the alphabet. Begin with A, E, I vowels and the sounds they make. Then teach a few consonants and help them start putting those letters together in blends to make words. "Can" "Ben" "Bin" "Pan" etc. It will really motivate the kids to continue if you teach the letters in simple sequences that make real words so they can see results quickly. But don't worry about rushing them either. Since you will be starting them early, they will have tons of time to learn it and can go at their own pace.

Play number/counting games, shape and color games, animal and insect games, nature walks, field trips, safety drills, coordination games, crafts, make regular trips to the library and read, read, read to them. (But don't bother trying to do all that in one day or even one week or you will overwhelm yourself and them too).

Get books on teaching Kindergarten from the library. They have lots of tips and ideas and sometimes craft and project ideas. But remember not to push yourself too hard. Just let them learn from real life and help them draw conclusions about what is all around you already. Teach them to observe and enjoy observing and learning.

God bless and have fun!

[TanyaMT]

I agree with the people who said read to them. If you absolutely want a "curriculum" though, try the "Five in a Row" series. It is a little book with ideas. I think they have a preschool level one. You read the same children's book 5 days in a row with new activities each day. Most kids love the same book over and over anyway. :)

A website my 3yo likes (and my older one did too at the preschool level), is Learn to Read at Starfall - teaching comprehension and phonics with printable coloring sheets and interactive ABC stuff, beginning reading and so forth.

[bugface711]

I homeschool my kids and love it! My oldest started 2 years ago.
This summer I started with my 2nd daughter who was 4 1/2 at the time. She was ready for sit down workbook type stuff. My little guy turned 3 in October. He does not do any kind of structured learning. I just provide an enviroment that helps him learn.

For my daughter, I use lots of workbooks. We started out with ones that reviewed things she knew, colors, letters & numbers. We then began to focus on words.
Everything is an opportunity to teach. I wouldnt get too hung up on a major curriculum at this point.
Car rides would be lets do all the "ing" words and for the ride I would say how do you spell bing, ding, ring etc. She knew ING and had to sound out the first letter. We did this on every car ride for months. That kid is flying through phonics workbooks now.

So, just have fun with it for now. You will be surprised how much turns into a lesson.

[PirateQueen]

Free online, letteroftheweek.com has a nice little preschool-k curriculum that you can print out. (I used it for a time 2 years ago.) And I second the starfall.com recommendation. There are lots of daycares/preschools that have their curriculum available for printout on the web too. Preschoolprintables.com (I'm pretty sure that's the correct name) has some real cute stuff too. For that age range there is so much available for free on the web that I wouldn't even worry about buying any workbooks, other than the ones you can get at The Dollar Tree. Lots of yahoo groups also for local and statewide homeschool groups to help keep up with all the events going on.
Thats all I could think of real quick like, but I'll update if I can think of anything else. Hope that helps a little!