What is the Best way to Home School a pre-schooler?

Question

I have a three year old but she is highly advanced. She can count to 50, sing her ABC's, speak some French, and spell her name - all on her own.

She enjoys doing connect the dots and pretending to read he favorite books. She even recognizes certain letters on signs and loves pointing them out to me.

I was home schooled but not this young and I don't know the best way to help her tap into the knowledge she seems to crave.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Read to her alot and slowly start to teach her what you think are the easiest words....such as cat, dog, he, she, I, you, me,..etc...keep going over shapes and her writing skills...and even into kindergarden but more advanced.

Answer 2

Read to her a lot, answer all her questions, buy her a set of wooden alphabet blocks and provide paper and fat crayons. Avoid coloring books. Buy some paper with wide lines. Above all. keep it light and let her teach herself.

Answer 3

reading to her, repetition,my daughter is only 2 1/2 and knows all her colors count up to 20 recognizes alot of letter almost all

and knows alot of animal names (weird ones too not just common ones ) sing abc, and other songs (i play childrens cd in the car all the time and sing along ) i think is just pointing things out to them the whole day and talking alot

heres a good site for crafts and printing out worksheets

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/...

Answer 4

Your daughter is amazing.  

In my believes, there are 6 major subjects: language, math, science, geography, art and manners and I know that home schooling is a  hard job.

Why don’t you try to make a daily plan and dedicate a specific time for the class let say from 9 to 10 and let her wear some kind of costume. Even you can skip Saturdays and Sundays like in schools. This way your child will know how to dedicate a real time for a real education. Good luck

Answer 5

Just keep supplying her with things to help her learn, and don't push her.  She is eager to learn and loves it, the most important thing you can do is maintain that attitude.  

I have a book suggestion:

1-2-3 Science

Also check out http://www.starfall.com

and http://www.abcteach.com

Answer 6

No need to set up a special time for learning...as learning happens naturally in every sort of situation.  Sounds like you are a great support and inspire her curiousity for her world.  

Games are always fun.  Bingo can be very versatile since you can make your own cards with any type of topic, such as, numbers, letters, shapes, colors, etc.  Activities that strengthen her fine motor skills are important, as mentioned above.  You could introduce opposites, rhyming words, position words, such as up, down, in, out, left, right, etc.  Take nature walks and explore the many wonders that are bugs, flowers, and trees.  Physical activities, such as swimming, gymnastics, soccer, any type that interests your child...Body awareness, safety... Kids always love baking and cooking.  Measuring and stirring are fun!  They do make prek workbooks that could give you ideas on other topics and activities.

My daughter is also three and knows a lot of the things you mentioned.  One of her favorite activities was her "number cups".  I took some plastic dixie cups and wrote a number on each cup.  She had to count out something, like cheerios, or m&ms, and put the correct amount in each cup.  This helps with recognized the written number, as well as the value.    I homeschool her older sister and she loves to learn right along with us.  We have maps hanging on the wall and a globe that she likes to look at and ask what the different places are called.  We also have several jig-saw puzzles of the States and the world.  Just having things around inspire learning without even "trying".  She can name most of the continents, and knows where she lives on the globe and maps.  

Another idea would be to teach about community helpers, what their roles are, who helps us when we need it.  (police, fire, hospital, mailman, etc)  

Seasons and their changes....this is where taking nature walks turn into scavenger hunts for the signs of the new season!

Basic weather terms

Calendar...we have extra calendars that my daughter can look through.  She's beginning to learn the days of the week.  And she knows her birthday.

Upper and lower-case letter recognition, as well as their sounds.  Putting things in ABC order, or, like with the number cups, mixing them up and having her line them up in their correct order.

Lots and lots of creative projects are always so much fun!  Painting, sculpting with clay or playdough, practicing using kid scissors, glueing collages, beading necklaces, etc...

Self-care....getting dressed, buttons, zippers, shoe tying, etc

nutrition...learning healthy foods and what the body needs.  Sorting them into groups...veggies, fruits, dairy, etc

safety symbols...the universal choking sign, poison or danger sign

can't think of anymore right now...hope some of that jumbled rambling mess is of some help.

Whatever you do...keep up the good work with inspiring and supporting your daughter for her love of learning!

Answer 7

My daughter was also very advanced at this age. I actually started her on Kumon Books. {Barnes and nobles} She loved getting to do them. Try getting flash cards and games for her to play. My best advice would be to feed her interest. If she is advanced go by her pace. Don't get stuck saying well she is only three. If she is ready for things that are not really in age level. So what. My daughter just turned four and I am homeschooling her, There are some things that she does at first grade level such as math . Just do whats best for her. I would never push her to far, but if she is interested than go for it.

Answer 8

You can let her draw, string large beads, and paint to help with her fine motor skills, let her help measure things and pour them into a bowl and/or play physical games for gross motor skills, read (can't read too much), sing songs, keep up with the French. Just make sure she's getting the English down solid. I'm sure she is, but I tend to be a "just in case" type person.  Let her get involved in gymnastics or dance which will improve her poise, gross motor skills, and will also teach her that exercise can be fun.  Play catch. Let her ride her tricycle.  Swings and slides are great for her learning balance and cause/effect.  Sand box time, water time, clay/play dough time, these all help her to get a grasp of different textures and different "forms" things can take.  Play imagination, where you make up stories.  Play games where you have to take turns, like memory games or Candy Land.  Go to petting zoos and other places she might enjoy.  Just remember to have fun, and she will, too. You've got a great start.  Just keep up the good work!

Answer 9

try to help her learn to spell to and three letter words. pick out 8 words for a two week time like

to,the, and, mom, dad, an, top, mop

Answer 10

Children at this age are so much fun and want to learn everything.  If she already knows the letters in her name, start introducing the other letters and the sounds associated with each.  There are a lot of great songs that teach letter/sound recognition.  Check out some parenting/teaching sites, a great one for kids is starfall.com, there she can "read" books, print them out and color.  The books are sorted by reading levels so they can build upon each other.  The books can be read to her by pointing to the words.  There are also games that teach reading readiness.  Math is another important area, have her learn shapes, sort objects, count out loud and count on from other numbers.  Don't forget the number 0, many kindergarten kids have no concept of 0.  You can also let her set the table, to help her get the concept of one-to-one matching.  These are all great preschool skills.  She really sounds ready to learn!!

Answer 11

I am in the same boat as you - my son is 3 (in June) and we are starting home preschooling him starting on Monday.  I have found many books at garage sales - preschool workbooks and such and I don't usually use the sheets themselves, but use them as guidelines to develop curriculum to use.  I also have several websites that I love and use to add crafts, snacks, activities, etc.

Here is a basic outline of what I am doing on a daily basis with my son:

Every morning to start class we: Go over Month, Day of the Week, Weather, the Schedule and the Bible verse of the week.  He also gets to draw a picture and write if he chooses a journal page.

M-Th - Handwriting/Letter of the Week, Math, Geography, Science, History, Sign Language, Craft, Bible Verse

Friday - Literature/Narration, Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation, Music (he is learning piano), Free Time, Story Telling, Computer Lesson, Chess Lesson

We also attend a Mommy & Me playgroup and library story time each once a week, and we read books before Quiet Time and Bedtime.

I have developed my own curriculum because nothing I found was what I was looking for and I feel like I can meet my son where he's at in various areas by creating this around his individual skills.  My mom did daycare for 13 years and recently gave me all her old craft and activity books which have helped tons, but my absolute go to is Teach Me Mommy.  It's pretty old by now, obviously, but most of the basic curriculum is still relevant (they do 3-4 day units about animals, homes, people, places, etc.).  I use this ALL the time.

Whatever you do, just do it because it's fun.  Once it starts feeling overwhelming to you, it will definitely be overwhelming for your daughter.  Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions!

Answer 12

Sounds like you're doing a really good job. If she's not stressed by it and you can keep it fun, Teach her to read! Then add tools to help her pursue her interests. Introduce her to opportunities to be interested. Advice I wish I'd applied better was: when the child wants to play in the toilet is the time to teach them to clean it! Even though it takes longer etc. have fun including your assistant in all your everyday tasks. I recently was introduced to loveandlogic.com and am very impressed with their recommendations.

I have sons. My husband let them play with the computer even before they could read. (he did a lot of rebuilding!)