My ds (almost 3) wants to school with us (dd6) most days. That is fine, and good for them both to get used to being patient and staying on task while I help the other one. We have a bin of schoolish things for ds, abc and number flash cards, simple workbooks, various manipulatives. Anyway, I'm not feeling very effective at what I'm doing with him. I feel too loose, given his interest, but I feel he is too young to be more scheduled. Anyway, I've been mulling my options in my mind and wondered what your thoughts and experiences were. I also have a 9 month old that I have to stay aware of and/or hold during school time! Thanks for your time!
I don't personally feel it's possible to be "too loose" at that age but I'm lax through kindy. I work loosely on letter sound recognition, shapes, colors, numbers. We start a little bit of writing practice in the 3 and 4yr range here but I don't really push anything. I've found leap frog to be super effective for teaching both letter sounds and numbers to my 2yr old. I wasn't trying to, just trying to feel a little better about having to stick her in front of tv to school the boys. :lol: Happy side effect. We watch right on netflix. She asks for paper when she wants to color or draw or write. She can write one or two letters decently. Now with my 4.5yr old I'm trying to put a little more effort into making sure he really has the letter sounds down for the fall when he will start kindergarten and learning to read but it's still very light and informal with him too.
I would make a copy of whatever the older one(s) were doing in a notebook. So whenever the toddler wanted to "do school", I would give the same page the older one(s) were doing. And if it got scribbled all over, that was fine. When my middle one was two and my oldest four, the neighbor was SO afraid her daughter (oldest's bf) wouldn't be "ready" for Kindergarten. So she'd come to my house once a week and we'd do letter stuff. This included a phonics page, where you would color all the pictures that began with.... My 2yo was doing this, too. Then one day, I noticed that her scribbling was being confined to the "correct" pictures! She had figured out there was a "right" and "wrong", and she would wait until she saw which ones were "right" (whether by watching the older girls, or figuring it out on her own, I don't know!), and only scribble on those pictures, rather than on the whole page.
I don't think it's possible to "underdo" it either. My kids both learned their letters and letter sounds without any formal teaching...someone they just learned! I think kids learn best through play and exploration...play with and read to your kids....that's all these little guys need!
My 3 year old wants to do school too. Right now, he is sitting at the table with Reagan and I. He is playing with the pattern blocks from our math... I have printed out a ton of different patterns for him to copy.. right now he is making a caterpillar. A few years ago I came across a complete Sweet Pickles Bus, which was a mail club preschool thing when I was a kid. He asks to play his school game.. that is what he means by that. On occasion I will ask him if he wants me to read to him, I will grab the What Your Preschooler Needs to Know book and read him something. I sometimes turn on Leapfrog DVDs... and he watches "way too much" NickJR and DisneyJR and PBS kids. I don't really believe in doing anything formal at this stage in the game... he learns soooooo much just from floating around, but because others are doing school he wants to too, so I appease him. PS... he can count to 10, but has no clue about his alphabet yet. I'm totally ok with that. He is only going to be so little for so long. He has YEARS to learn everything.
Is he interested in sitting down with his own work or is he wanting one-on-one time with you? If he wants his own work I might have fun coloring, reading aloud, singing songs, building with blocks, and/or having fun with art. If he is wanting one-on-one time I would spend time in pretend play. Pretend play builds cognitive connections that will help future academic skills.
I wouldn't worry about not doing enough. He's 3. However, that's no reason to say "no you can't do school" if he's wanting to. Follow his lead. Don't push. But if he wants to do worksheets, even if he can't form letters or hold the pencil correctly, let him draw on them. There are many free websites for preschoolers. Google them. LeapFrog makes great videos and 'toys' for that age. Check out Activity bag ideas http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=preschool+activity+bag 1+1+1=1 has lots of cool printables for that age
Phillip, at almost three, wanted to know if he would be able to read when he turned three. I explained that he needed to learn his letters, first. Did he want to do that? YES! So I started to do a little more formal letter teaching. After about two weeks, he was DONE, lol! So we put letters away until the interest was there again. The point, like Josie said, is let the kids take the lead at that point. As long as he's willing, go with it. But should he become resistant or uninterested, back off.
This exactly! I also do what Jackie said and make extra copies of my kinder or 4yr olds school pages for my 2yr old to color on if she wants to join.
Plus, at 3, they are learning all the time. It may not be the 'academic learning' that we can easily label, but trust me, just 3 short years ago that kid didn't know how to walk or talk, and look at him now. You didn't use a curriculum or have someone tell you every little thing to teach him up to this point. He learned things just by hanging out with mom, observing his world, testing his limits, experimenting with anything he could...he's learning, even if you don't know what he's learning...he's learning.