Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Homeschooling a 3- or 4-Year-Old

The past couple of days I've been thinking that I need to send an email to unschoolkansas and ask the ladies to talk me out of ordering homeschooling materials, specifically a curriculum. I'm very eager and excited that the boys will be coming home to me this fall! However, I'm going overboard in my head. I even had a chart of the "subjects" that Sonlight (Pre-K and K) covers and which levels I would get:
  • Instructor Guide - Pre K
  • History/World Cultures/Geography - just a couple Pre-K books we don't already have
  • Read-Alouds - ditto
  • Readers - new K readers
  • Bible - use our toddler story Bible
  • Language Arts - nothing special -or- follow Ruth Beechick's recommendations
  • Science - just Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature from Sonlight
  • Readiness Skills - maybe Developing the Early Learner (book 1 only to start)
  • Math - Math-U-See primer or Singapore Early Bird
  • Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears - beginning level
  • Electives (Music/Art/etc) - just fun stuff at home
  • Resources - Ruth Beechick's Three-R's Series.

    Fortunately, I got Three-R's on inter-library loan, and I'm reminding myself that although DS1 is very smart and is even beginning to read, he is only 4 (next week) and that "school" isn't even required in Kansas until age 7! We should just continue to do stuff and have fun together. I'm sure his reading will blossom without any "academic" effort on my part. And his math skills and thinking skills will improve on their own also. Maybe, just maybe, I'll use the above list for a year from now. What I really want to do next year is play -- WIHS playgroups, Parents as Teachers, and even some playdates we set up on our own if we make any friends :-) -- and go to the library, and visit Grandpa, and trade babysitting with my sister, and to go to our place in Colorado more often, and fun stuff like that. I want to have a library / reading corner in our living room for the boys and their books and have a bunch of pillows on the floor behind the couch. That's what I really want for next year.

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