I want to start preschooling my child at home who is 3 years old?

Question

Does anyone know of any good resources that I can find for preschool worksheets & materials online or anywhere else that has been helpful for their child. Any good suggestions would be great too. She is 3 so her attention span is kind of short but she's very smart. She can count to 15 & can recognize her numbers 1-9. She knows her basic shapes & basic colors & can also count from 1-8 in spanish. I am working with her on the alphabet especially right now. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

You can get preschool workbooks in almost any book store. To broaden learning, add some activities like 'roller skating' using the little plastic skates(physical development), play grocery store (math, colors,vocabulary),paint(writing skills and colors) Read to your child. The fun stuff. She will learn to like it  and to be good at it by listening to you. And...if she is having fun she'll work longer and learn more. Learning should always be fun for the kids this age.

Answer 2

Great!  There are many a resource out there for you on the internet...and free at that!  I'll give you this website...I don't use everything in it but it's a great jumping board.  www.childcareland.com  she has free daily art (I don't really consider it art :-) 3 year olds need open ended art explorations; daily learning sheet, and daily printables.

Your first tidbit to think about is how serious are you?  How far do you want to go?  I have people ask me what they should do to teach their preschooler at home and I take the time to give them suggestions to find out that they are a "fly by their pants...do it when they have time" sort of people.  So you'll need to think about how you want to do it.  Personally, I'm a structure person :-) and I find that my kids and those I care for/teach love that structure and thrive on it.  They know what to expect every day.  ROUTINE!  See what works best for you and your child.

She's three...and your right...they don't have much of an attention span.  So instead of sitting down activities...get as many large motor activities in their as much as possible.  There are a great many basic concepts that can be reinforced through large motor.  For example... "hopscotch"...make a hopscotch board outside and in each square, draw or write a basic concept and as she "hops" have her yell it as loud as she can.  :-)  Go fishing...use a plastic wading pool, magnetic letters and numbers and a homemade or purchased magnetic fishing pole set.; Bounce-roll a ball back and forth and orally state the abc's or numbers or spelling her name.  I can give you more ideas if you email with a specific concept.  :-)

You'll want to decide what you want to teach.  What I like to do is to decide what I want the children to learn before Kindergarten and we go one step at a time.  I don't say that...just because you are only three you can't learn skip counting...because some can :-)  I don't say that you can't learn to read until your five...because some can do it earlier.  It's better to take it one step at a time.  You might find it interesting to get on your State's website (if you live in the U.S. and find out what standards are for Kindergarten and go from there.

At three your best bet is to do as much "exploration" as you can.  Have an area set up where your child can explore with different materials.  

*  Writing supplies are something you want out and available every day.  You can go beyond crayons and paper.  Use your imagination!  I can give you more ideas here if you would like as well. Just email. It's good to have some tactile letters...either purchased or homemade available.  Learning the strokes of the letters is a big help.  Also, drawing circles, horizontal lines, vertical lines, etc.  Check out the Kumon Writing Book that is available in most places :-) Target carries it I think. Amazon.com; Barnes and Noble.

*  Art exploration:  have a time set each day for art exploration.  In your kitchen where it's easy clean up...if you don't have a set area for "school".  Painting is a wonderful open ended experience and you can vary it by changing the colors, using more than one color, changing the brushes, making your own brushes, fingerpainting, adding texture, changing what you are painting on, painting at a table, painting at an easel, painting on a huge piece of cardboard or small pieces etc.  

* sensory play is a definate hit amongst this age and so beneficial.  I use a plastic wading pool with a plastic dish tub.  I've used sand, water, bean mixture, flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, pom poms, corn off the cob, pop corn kernals, etc.  You can vary it by changing the tools you have with it... spoons, cups, tweezers/tongs, bowls, plates, icecube trays, different size bottles, squeeze bottles, play sets.  

* music and movement is a great daily acitivity.  Make your own rhythm instruments or purchase them.  Sometimes the dollar store has them.  A child with a sense of rhythm will have an easier time with learning to read.

* Literacy components...brush up on what literacy actually entails.  :-)  It's more than just reading.  A preschooler who learns early on about syllables, rhyming, beginning sounds, stretching sound, etc. will definately have a "head start".  I can help you out here as well.  You may wish to frequent your parent/teacher section at your local library.  If you are in the States there is an awesome preschool magazine called The Mailbox Preschool.  Easy to make and cheap ideas for activities.  I make much use of it.  :-)

* Mathematics:  it's more than counting orally.  You know that, I'm sure.  Counting with meaning, shapes, beginning addition/subtraction, measuring, patterning, more/less,  (can be done in sensory), etc.  Again...if you check your state's standards it will give you an idea of where you start.  I would suggest you do baking with your child...and talk talk talk :-)

*  Science:  at three you want to encourage curiousity.  Answer the questions she asks...if you don't know the answer then have her join you in the "research".  Get non-fiction books from the library.  Do simple science experiments.  

* scissors...there are more parts of a preschool curriculum but I do want to mention scissors.  Please allow your child to use them!!!  :-) I like to use the wading pool again.  Providing different types of papers to cut.  Younger children I provide long strips of paper so they can snip cut.  As they progress I add wider paper, lined paper etc.  Kumon has a great scissor work book as well.  Foam is a very nice media for beginner cutters.  Straws are really fun.  :-)

Feel free to email. :-)

Answer 3

It sounds as if you are on the right track! Be sure to also provide her with quality experiences like visiting local businesses and play. In a high-quality preschool program, the curriculum is intertwined with fun experiences. For example, to teach numbers during spring, I would make ladybugs with numbers on them, and black dots to place on the ladybugs. When she sees the '5' ladybug, she puts 5 dots on his back. Children learn best when they are interested and when the content is relevant to their lives. Doing themes would also help both of you to stay organized. Try the website below, or try searching yahoo!.

www.preschoolprintables.com