SAHM Seeking Curriculum

Here is the link to a wonderful homeschool newsletter that I subscribe to. You may have to do some adjusting for a three year old but it is a great place for ideas. http://www.HomeSchoolFreeStuff.com

I use this site for fun activites and will be using it for preschool work as well. For a year membership is $20 - Not Bad!

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html

Hi I teach preschool and my students are all 3, here are a couple of websites I found that I really like. You can find so much information on the computer.

http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/

Have fun!!!

First, let me say as a homeschool mom myself, play is the best mode of learning. Our society is so institutionalized and our kids are made to grow up so fast, we need to encourage their creative genius as much as possible, no matter what their age! Be encouraged, but in your zeal to "fill" his days, however don't neglect the joy of just "being". Being in one anothers presence, looking at bugs and birds just for the sake of looking at them, taking in the sun and moon and stars and how amazing they are without trying to figure out how to teach about the solar system... the more classical stuff will all come in due time! Take him on nature walks, to museums and the library and he will see that you love to just be with HIM. This is the greatest investment you can give. If you want to incorporate something more classical the website http://www.starfall.com is good. Also, My Fathers World is a good curriculum with preschool stuff that allows for creativity while teaching fun basic concepts. http://www.mfwbooks.com

G.,
We are about to start our eleventh year of homeschooling. Welcome to my world! I know you are excited to start spending time with your son and help him learn successfully, whether you continue homeschooling or eventually use a traditional school model for his education.

The very best thing you can do for your child is let him play. I know it seems like the opposite of what he should do, but a child's job is to play. He needs to move, move, move. Though we tend to think about learning as being all in the head, that's not entirely true. The entire body is involved in learning. So, he needs to run and jump and climb and swing and roll and do all those boyish things. Then, when he's settling down from all of that, you can read some to him. Go on nature walks with him and explore the real world, too. The single biggest reason why kids today face obesity issues PLUS schools are seeing test scores go down -- they have taken movement out of the school day.

Absolutely do not push writing at this point. Let him switch hands. Let him doodle and tell you he has drawn something or whatever. His hand-eye relationship is not ready for writing.

Read to him, and let him look at pictures, but no matter how much he may try, do not, do not, do not push reading. He's not old enough. He's not ready. It takes 365 different brain processes to read. Give his brain time to develop those.

Some simple little picture workbooks that he can attempt are fine. All attempts are correct. Don't push perfection. He will get plenty of that later. Just use the ones you can get in the store. Don't try to find something elaborate.

Magnet letters are great. Spell his name so he can see it. But if he turns them upside down or something, don't sweat it.

As someone who works all the time with families whose kids learn differently, I can tell you that pushing him now could have negative consequences later. Just let him be a kid.

Blessings,
P.

We use Sonlight and love it! Although the upper cores can get pricey they have a couple for preschoolers that I believe are affordable. You might want to consider their P 3/4 core curriculum which is really a bunch of wonderful books to snuggle and read together. Here's the web-site: www.sonlight.com.

Have fun!
A.

I taught preschool for years before homeschooling my own son.

At three, you do not really need a curriculum. I suggest you use the book, The Everything Book for Early Learning. I got mine at Wal-Mart in the book section. It is about 1 inch thick and has worksheets, etc.

Play is an important part of his learning at this age. The actual "lessons" should be in 15 to 20 minute activities. Alternate activities with play. Ask him for ideas of things he wants to "learn" about.

Simply focus on one color, shape, number, and letter each week. This makes it easy to learn them. When you do colors, do several activities with the color of the week. When you do shapes, use several triangles (for example) in various colors. Teach to count "items" as well as ID numbers. For letters (at this age), I recommend the Leapfrog video called "The Letter Factory".

For other learning: Read to him, Read to him, Read to him, Read to him. My 11 year old STILL loves to be read TO. Kids are never too old to be read to. Find books that tell a "story" about "facts" (Examples: animals, historical figures, etc). Just be sure it is not over his head. I highly recommend visiting the library REGULARLY. Checking out books keeps you from spending a FORTUNE on books, but keeps the stories fresh and new.

Good luck and be blessed! :o)

P. <><

I used Before Five in a Row and Letter of the Week with my boys when they were 3.

www.fiarhq.com

www.letteroftheweek.com

At this age I never used a cirriculum. I used a book by Hirsch called "What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know" I don't have it in front of me for the correct title. I also used some pre-school workbooks from Staples. They usually hit the big key subjects, phonics, elem. math, letter, numbers. Did lots of crafts. Lots of reading aloud. Lots of puzzles, sewing with cards and shapes, stringing beads, cutting etc. Really at this age you want them to learn to love learning. There is no really set anything for pre-school.
I would also recommend some books from the library on homeschooling to get you started. There is also the "Homeschool your child for Free" book. As well as others. If you get a book on homeschooling in general, it will give you different ideas and places to get cirriculum, websites, and many methods and thoughts on your educational style, learning styles etc. Practical advice from people who have been there done that.
I would also check out Mardel. They have lots of stuff to get you started. The things you get don't have to cost a lot of money to be functional, like the counting bears. You can easily use cheaper things to group. You just have to be creative. Like painting rocks. ETC.
We used the books where you have to find hidden things in them from the list of items. It helps train the eyes.
Mainly, we educated ourselved on what we wanted them to learn and then found or did activities to re-inforce them. Like for learning letters, we play go-fish with animals on the cards, one would be a Momma Fox=F, adn the match would be a baby fox=f. Memory, candy land, chutes and ladders. Lots of games are teaching whether you think they are or not. We also did things like cooking, grocery shopping etc. To start teaching them to help, life skills, following directions, etc. So we begin at this age to let them help clean the house by letting them clean the glass they can reach, dusting etc. There are also shapes and colors.
Anyway, I think that you can get by without a cirriculum. Utilize your library first. Especially if you plan on staying at home for a while or plan to continue to homeschool him.
Good luck,
L.

"Slow and Steady Get Me Ready" by June R. Oberlander. It is a paper back book with weekly suggestions from birth thru 5 to make sure your child is ready for kindergarten. It is not specific to homeschooling but I used it with all 3 of my homeschoolers. It is designed to ensure you cover the right skill set at the right time and don't miss anything.

I have homeschooled for thirteen years. ABeka Curriculum has excellent preschool material. An inexpensive source is Christian Book Distributors. They have a variety of books and videos at discounted prices. Mary Pride has put out a book you can find at a good price on Amazon on the "how to" of homeschooling.

Hope this helps..

http://www.mothergoosetime.com . I use it in my daycare and love it. I hope it's not too expensive for you. Their Talking Hands DVD is a wonderful sign language reference, too.

My daughter is 2 1/2, and we've been doing some pretty informal lessons with ideas I've gotten from http://www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.html. It's free and has some good ideas, although it's probably not as good as something that you pay for. But if you're looking for something free (like me), it's at least somewhere to start.

As a director of a pre school I would encourage you to let your child be a child. There are so many "teachable" moments in life. Count out carrots for lunch, talk about health and hygenine during bath time, repeat letters and sounds as you pick up toys, make up songs to help your child spell their name etc. Go on the internet and you can find great themes with songs, finger plays, art, science etc. If you really feel that you need a curriculum go to Mardel's and they have a wonderful school section. I highly recommend Alphabet Themasaurus for letters and they also have a science and math book. Good Luck!!

Try starfall.com for something free. Also, Before Five In a Row is a good program. Most of the learning should be done through fun and activities like you said (nothing too formal) at this age. Enjoy spending time with your son!!! :)

I used Hands On Homeschooling with my preschoolers www.handsonhomeschooling.com.

I have used Carol's affordable curriculum, Adventures in Learning and this year I will use Mother goose. You can do a search and find out more about these and their prices. Carols's is the cheapest and may be good for your personal use. I have a home daycare and used it but didn't feel it looked professional enough.
Lonie

Congratulations on getting to be a sahm. I have enjoyed it so, so much! Your son has plenty of time in the future for "book" learning. At 3, the most important teaching you can do with him will be through daily activities and play. Start letting him help you cook, make edible playdough together then use a cookie cutter or knife to cut out shapes to start teaching him shapes like circle, square, etc. Let him paint to teach him his colors. Take him to the zoo, on nature walks, and to children's museums. Read, read, and read some more with him. Encourage him in every way to use his imagingation. It will help build his creativity! He really, really needs hands on, tactile activities at this age. It is also important that he is developing communication skills through play. If he is interested in doing some worksheet type things, there is a ton of free stuff on the internet. There are also free educational games online, like at pbskids.com. If he is a typical 3 year old, purchasing a curriculum at this age would be a waste of money, imo. Good Luck and enjoy! Ps. If you live around Arlington, I am a member of a moms group you might be interested in. Go to meetup.com and look for the ARlington Mommy Meetup Group.

I love the book "Einstein Never Used Flashcards" which helped me when I wanted some information.
What does your son like? Definitely try some fun things and to explore themes that he is interested in. Bugs, trains, etc. It will all come together. Have fun and enjoy your time with him.

You don't really need any set curriculum at this age. Just have fun with your son and read with him a lot. If you're set on using workbooks and preschoolish activities, Half Price Books stores usually have an awesome Education and Homeschool section.

Hi G.. Just wanted to say, before you buy anything, check into what you can find online for free (curriculums, worksheets, etc). When my kids were younger I always had the greatest intentions of doing lots of at-home curriculum before they went to school. Well I got so busy playing with them, reading to them, doing my own thing, etc that I never got around to it. This happened 3 times! (You'd think I'd have learned.) Anyway, print some stuff off the internet and look at the library before you invest lots of $$$ and if you are disciplined enough to do it, then go ahead and buy supplies. That's just my thoughts.

G.,

I didn't start homeschooling my children until they were older, but I have heard that Interlock from the Weaver Curriculum is a very enjoyable "unit study" type program for the littles. Before you dive into a purchased program though, I would suggest reading, coloring, outside explorations (still summer so you could have lots of fun with wildlife, making leaf rubbings, pressing flowers, etc.) You could even check out some books from the library to save on the costs. If the local library has anything on lapbooking, Charlotte Mason or something similar, that could get you off to a great start.

Have fun!

Blessings,
C.

Check out Mardel's they have a great selection of teaching supplies for homeschool, preschool and just about everything a teacher can use. I used to have a home childcare business and bought tons of things to teach alphabets/numbers/shapes & colors. Really any good teacher supply store works, but I know Mardel's has good prices. You might want to check into a Mother's Day Out program your son can attend 2 days a week (during school yr) they are excellent in helping get them a little prepared for big school. Good luck and welcome to the SAHM club! T. C.

I was in your same position last fall. I found a group called Mom's Club of Weatherford that keeps me up on local activities. They also have play dates, etc. Another idea is to check the 'calendar' area of your local paper. Enjoy your new adventure.

Rod and Staff Publishers a Mennonite company has an excellent preschool series. They have 7 workbooks for $19.95. They also have some simple activity workbook specifically for 3 and 4 yr. olds. These workbooks are $2.00 each, and there are a total of 4. I have done both of these books with two of my three children. You just have to remember to let the child work at their own pace. Even though these are mennonite books they don't seem to push their belief. Hopes this helps. Enjoy your time with your little man! S.

G.,

Congratulations! I think you will love staying home and teaching your son!

When my kids were that age, I used the big, thick workbooks that they sell at Wal-Mart. It deals with colors, counting, letters, then progresses into harder things. As you start homeschooling, you will find other fun things to use as well. We used those "counting bears". They are a set of about 10 bears per each color, and they all come in their own color matching cup. As you can imagine, there are a TON of things you can do with these bears!

Really, anything hands on will work wonderful.

If I can interject my humble opinion (all homeschooling parents have them!) ask yourself *why* you want to homeschool. Then, teach accordingly. All I am saying is don't limit yourself to the curriculum that companies sell. I suggest getting a book on "UNschooling".

Whatever you do, you will pick the best course of action for your little guy. I just remember when I started, and I didn't know there was any other way to do it. I am SO glad when I realized otherwise.

Good luck!
E.

There are tons and tons of resources on the web for homeschool. At this age, you really don't need much. Get a library card. Be willing to play outside and in the mud. Finger paint. Building blocks. Color books. Magnetic alphabet letters. It doesn't have to "educational" to be of worth. Spend this time learning his style and needs. Just play.

G.,

Congratulations and good luck to you with the transition! I highly recommend that you spend some time learning about early childhood development to give you a good idea of what your son is learning on his own right now and how you can provide opportunities for him to grow. I recommend the book "Teaching Montessori in the Home" by Elizabeth G. Hainstock (Copyright 1968, Random House Publishers). It has great, economical ideas for you to foster your son's independence and love of learning! Before you invest in flash cards, or make them, check with your local ISD (assuming you don't plan to move before your child is school-aged) to see which alphabet they teach. I know McKinney ISD uses D'Nealian Manuscript, which has a slant and a pre-cursive look to it.

I also highly recommend reading anything by the British Child Development Specialist Penelope Leach (I've loaned all mine out, so I can't refer to them at the moment, but a wonderful resource for learning about how your child is learning and growing). Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss anything!

All the best to you!

I have friends who homeshool their kids. They use Smarty Crafts for arts & crafts time b/c it's based on kindergarten concepts. I hear it's super easy for moms. www.smartycrafts.com