Hi,
I live in southwest of houston tx. And my daughter is 4 years old she cant go to prek cause she was born in nov. i dint know how to keep her busy she dont wanna stay home and i can not afford expensive montessori or other preschool.
Pls help
Call your local childcare counsel and ask them for papers to get enrolled in state childcare etc. There are childcare programs available if you can't afford it. Call today and get your daughter enrolled asap! She will have so much fun in preschool!
Do you have transportation? Maybe you could take her to a park/playground a couple of times a week. One within walking distance would probably be even better then she could get some more energy out on your walk. I know you are closer to Houston, but the public libraries in Austin all usually have a story time scheduled on the same day each week. If you're concerned about like academics and her being able to keep up with the public schoolers you could also order a workbook for her, or find one at your local bookstore. Maybe just do one or two lessons a day out of it. At this age, I personally think they just need to get outside as much as possible and play and explore. I know my kids seem to lose their minds on the days we don't get outside. Hope this helps! Good luck!
You can look into a head start program. Also, many Houston elementary schools offer free preschool to 4 year old if you qualify. You have to call your local school district for information.
How exciting that you have a daughter who wants to go, do, learn, explore, etc. Check out your local public libraries. Some have more programs than others. Find all the parks in your area. Kids learn so much about themselves as they move about and try out different playground equipment. Go the the pet stores and let her see different animals. They will allow her to touch some of them. (Just be sure to tell her ahead of time that you are visiting, not buying.)
You can also set up an area at home that can be like school. You can buy workbooks at Walmart or any store that has books. You can get a small white board for her to practice letters and numbers, shapes, etc.
Find some safety scissors, glue, crayons, etc. for her to create. You may have to prompt her if she doesn't have ideas on her own. Google "4 year old arts and crafts" for ideas. Most kids rely on their parents to entertain them. Teach your daughter to come up with stuff to do on her own. Give her lots of materials to choose from and let her create. You can show her some things that you like to do but encourage her to come up with stuff on her own.
Put boxes together for her to climb through or stand in. Make "windows" to look out of.
Google "fun foods for kids to make" and teach her how to cook. My kids loved making soft pretzels. I would make long ropes of dough and they would put them into shapes they liked. You can Google just about any recipe you want.
Take lots of pictures. Show her how you can save them on the computer. Let her press the buttons if she is not already comfortable on the computer.
You can also Google "fun things to do with a 4 year old." My kids loved the park and going on a scavenger hunt. Sometimes I made a list of things to find. Other times they just looked for things to collect. You can bring a little bag or you can put some masking tape backwards on her wrists and let her stick on little things that she picks up. Find a trail along the bayous or trails in a local park. This is a great time to explore this beautiful creation.
Unless you intend to keep her in Montesorri, it's just as well you can't afford it. They instill a LOT of bad habits in kids that don't translate well when they enter public school!
My friend Monica runs baby sitting in her home at reasonable rates. Call Monica's Loving Care, located near I-10 and Wilcrest. ###-###-#### and she can probably work out part-time or full time hours for you.
There is a really neat and FREE curriculum online called Letter of the Week. You can find it at http://letteroftheweek.com/ I used this to teach preschool to my youngest son and he LOVED it. We had a set time each day we did 'school' and it added structure to our day. Look at the examples on there & see how much fun it can be.
It's free, you'll take trips to the library, and you can add field trips depending on what you're learning. We had so much fun with it.
