Hi Everyone. We have a 3yo dd, 19mnth old ds, & 4mnth old ds. We would really love to hs our children. The homeschooling responsibility would lie on me. I was just wondering what is a great way to start out. My dd is 3 and very intelligent. Her vocabulary is increasing every day! What is something I could start now to get into the grove of homeschooling? Any suggestions would be great. We want to hs because we feel it is in the best interest of our children. I grew up in a very crowded school system in Los Angeles and my dh has had bad experiences in schools in AZ, CO & ID. Also,we are a christian family and want to incorporate christian teaching as well. Im glad to have found this forum. Ailene
Welcome! There are great preschool curriculums out there (I like Abeka for preschool), but you can find all you really need for free as well. Take a look at www.starfall.com, www.letteroftheweek.com, and even your local library.
Hi there, We haven't started hs yet either, our oldest is 4 and we have 2yo twins. I have been visiting this site for a while, educating myself. The people here are awesome. I have learnt to bake my own bread, cinnamon rolls, laundry soap, I learnt about the above suggested websites as well, which my daughter loves. I have learnt about the realities of hsing and the people here are fantastic if you have any questions. You have come to the right place Katrina
You have already started teaching your little ones at home! Read, read, read. If you feel you must have worksheets, there are tons on the internet for free. Let your 3yo "help" around the house. When you're picking up toys, sort them, count them, name them (lion, tiger, bear, whatever), say what color they are. Talk, talk, talk - about colors, sizes (big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest, tall, taller, tallest, etc.), shapes. Have the 3yo tell you about pictures - first naming stuff in the pictures, then telling you what is happening in the picture. What color is the little boy's shirt? and the trees? and the ball? what's he going to do next? (even if what she says has nothing to do with the story that's actually in the book) All of this is developing language skills, math-related skills, all kinds of stuff! You're already on your way! There's no need to actually buy curriculum materials until at least first grade. Art and craft materials will do just fine! Have fun~!!
First off, welcome! It's been a while since my kids were that age. I didn't do anything formal at that time, but sometimes I wish that I had just to get ds used to sitting down to work on paper. If you want to incorporate vocabulary right now, you could do an internet search for Dolch sight words and make your own flashcards to go with her spoken words. You can purchase all sorts of premade flashcards for things like that at Staples or even Wal-Mart. For dd in pre-K/K, I used material for reading and math. For reading we used Explode the Code series primers (Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code, and Go for the Code). They start off with getting the child used to writing, following directions, and consonant sounds. We also used McGuffy Readers--my dd LOVED them! For math we used the primer for Math-U-See. Again, my kids love MUS, other people don't care for it. We liked it because it was so easy to start and seemed to progress in a natural way while using manipulatives. So excited for you! And I think you are wise to be looking into ways to start yourself on a new "habit of homeschooling" early so that when you are required by your state (???) to do things, you will already be doing it.
Hello and welcome to the forum! I also have a 3yo. I am using Hooked on Phonics pre-K which teaches letter recognition. I also use some other reinforcement such as dot-to-dots and coloring pages. I have started the Hooked on Math pre-K as well. I am satisfied with both. Besides those two I do what the others have said. Cook together, sing songs, and read a LOT!
