Teaching 4Yr at Home

Don't forget foreign language at this age. When my son went to pre-K, he discovered that the software on his school computer could be changed to Japanese. He learned the entire software in Japanese! There is no telling how many languages you can teach a child at this age. One idea would be to get some Latin flash cards and when he learns Latin, he will pick up many languages easily and it will help him greatly with the English vocabulary as well.

Hi S.,
Our children are the exact same age---all 3 of them! There are a multitude of websites that you can try. Here is one that I use; http://www.highreach.com/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=35

Hope this helps.

Leap Frog has wonderful resources that are educational. Also, the Wright Group has a great reading series. Foreign language is so easy for kids this age, try it.

Hi S.,

The Phonics Game was an absolute God-send. (Please teach him phonics and not the "sight and see" method. SandS will only handicap him later and he will also have difficulty learning other languages.) The Phonics game was simple and fun. The whole family can play or just you and the little one. This will take you all the way from Pre-K to 12th grade and you can get it on ebay for almost nothing. I paid "full pop" at $250.00 ten years ago...a friend of mine just got a used set in good shape for $10.00 the other day. There were many there to choose from.

As far as math goes, I use money....kids can remember money much easier than things that don't mean anything.

Hope I helped.

Regards,

M.

Hi S.,
My son missed the kindergarten deadline by 2 weeks. I felt better about teaching him at home instead of having him in a 5-day preK program and I am so glad I made that choice! This has been a special year for us. Mothers of older boys tell me not to rush and that boys especially need more time at home with their moms.

Calvin adn I go to the library once a week and read together a lot. One of the best ways to prepare a child to read is to read together and have fun doing it. We stop and talk about the story or laugh at the pictures and make predictions about "what next". We also emphasize rhyming words and make up other rhyming words. Sometimes I'll have him say a letter and the sound it makes then we sound out words together. He's not in a hurry to read and I'm not forcing the issue, I just keep read to him and introducing small steps. Most importantly, we both love the time together. I know that when he's ready he'll take off.

We also do workbooks like Leapfrog and basic kindergarten. Again, for short periods of time to keep it fun.

Math is in the kitchen cooking. It's talking about how much things weigh, cost, or the amounts we put in the bag at the grocery store. It's pushing him in the swing and counting together. It's measuring things at home for home improvement projects. It's real life math. We also count things in books and write letters in his workbooks.

Oh, another thing is we do an outing a week to Stone Mountain or the Fernbank or the park. It's play time, which is jsut as important as the other.
Best wishes,
rachel H

I have to say that I agree with Karen M. I used those exact same workbooks from Barnes and Noble. I still use them to this day and my son loves them.

I do have a concern though about keeping him home until kindergarten. Are you sure this is the best thing for him? There are a lot of rules and regulations put into school these days and I believe that my son atending a Pre-K program was a God-send. I suggest you dig really deep into the kindergarten curriculum because it is NOTHING like when we were in school.

I just get those work books at walmart, the ones with the little school and the kids in the corner cant remember the brand.
But here reading and early math is all done in K not pre-k. Pre K is alphabet, shapes, colors, numbers, and writing their name.

I too keep my son home I am lucky since I tutor and babysit.
I use leapfrog utside games library and a twice a week classes at gymboree which he enjoys

I have seen really great material at Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores. I forgot what the name of the books are but they are grouped into pre-k, 1st and 2nd grade, etc.....
the books practice reading, colors, opposites, etc.
hope this helps!
K.

you should go to "the school box"...there is one in the gwinnett area, i think it's on the same road as costco...venture blvd...they have great supplies for teachers, all kinds of materials that parents can use at home...

Look into the Montessori method. It's mostly a child-led method with the adult as a guide. I think parents get bogged down in the HOW to teach as opposed to the why children actually learn best. Explore your options and pick and choose what you like. You don't have to have set "class" times at home with a desk. Keep it fun for both of you. (IE math lessons can easily be done with dried beans or with measuring cups and cooking.)They're such little sponges at this age, enjoy.