Preschooling at home any good sources or guidelines?

milligal

This year my husband and I decided to keep our 4 year old home to preschool him at home. Partly because of expense and frankly because the area we live in is not known for a strong school system or high standards : ( So I am going to tackle this, but if I am going to do it I want to do it right. I do have some background in child psychology and early childhood development, but I am wondering if anyone has done this before me and has any advice or resources. Right now I am putting together a schedule which includes:

Hands on learning

Social learning with other children

fine motor skills practice

alphabet, colors and basic counting

Any other ideas? Any good experiences or sources you've used? Thanks!

yknot

I would suggest Glenn Doman's Program of multiplying intelligence first & formost!

Just google his name you should come up on the Institue of Human Potential. I went for the week long class but I found the program when my stepmom an occupational therapist used it in our home for her brain injured clients. They have a plenty of stuff for non-injured kids.

My youngest is going to be 4 in August and while I still believe in sending him to school (3hours) 3 days a week for socialization he is already about 1st grade level in most subjects.

After that I would suggest a 'classical' education..... The use of older materials from the last century when graduating 8th grade was equivelent to 12th now. There are several good sources like free google books or A-Squared (K-12) but K can be modified for PreK in my opinion. I would be happy to send you some information if you want via PM.....just let me know.

Any homeschool program for Pre K is beneficial too. Bob Jones, Abeka, Sonlight, & so on are always considered excellent.

There are several sites that can help you freestyle as well. Just google Pre K lesson plans

For learning to navigate online we let Kyle use PBSkidsonline, Starfall, & JCplayzone (which is put up by the Lutherans).

yknot

Of course you child's favorite place to go should be the Library (and then maybe the Park to read!)

Here are some wonderful sites I have found when you can't get to the library...

http://www.icdlbooks.org/

http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library.htm

http://www.storyplace.org/

http://www.ipl.org/kidspace/browse/rzn0000

http://ebooks.nypl.org/812DC61A-F967-4795-8E06-1D9044D2A000/10/225/en/BrowseChildren.htm

http://www.archive.org/index.php

http://books.google.com/bkshp?hl=en&tab=wp

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

The more reading a child is exposed to the better!

Don't forget that outdoor learning is the some of the best science classes in the world.

Basically we try to make everything a learning thing....(ie what type of grass we have on our lawn, cycle of clouds, weather etc)

Check out your local Ag-Extention office, museums, any colleges that have teaching programs, children's theatre, classical music in the park and anything else you can think of social/learning that you can expose your child.

OH and forgot to endorse Saxon Math!

....geez can you tell I love homeschooling!.....

chickpea

look into the montesorri methods

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori

i had the great fortune of homeschooling
with several families and one mother
was also a 2nd generation montessori
trained teacher....

her mother was visiting on one occasion
and started a demonstration of a skill
before the kids had settled down...
she absolutely captivated them without
saying a word.... she later told us that
trying to "quiet" them would have meant
being louder than they were... which might
have, as it often does, escalate the noise...
their natural curiosity allowed them to
settle and focus on the instruction....

just one example of the strategies
montessori method encourages.....

S3RAPH1M

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/

sweet pea

All the best with this course Milligal - I personally haven't got the patience to be able to do this but fully admire all those that do.

Sam

whitman

I'm all for home-schooling in theory, but I have watched friends of mine go down that path with terrible consequences. You sound like you know the major issues, and I'm glad you included socialising on your list which will hopefully allow you to avoid what has happened to my friends.

The mum is a trained montessori teacher and so is home-schooling her kids. The only socialisation that takes place for these kids is through meeting other home-schooled kids. Unfortunately there is a bit of a culture amongst the home-school community which tends to treat the children as special if not out right geniuses. So these children have a very very skewed perception of how they fit into their wider community. The home-school group are all white middle class, so these kids get no exposure to cultural diversity. The parents tend to run about after the kids making sure that all of their problems and challenges are taken care of - so these kids don't get to experience conflict within their peer group, and nor do they know how to solve conflict or problems when they do arise.

These kids went from being delightful, playful happy little boys to terrified, nervous, anxious children. If I didn't understand that their behaviour and approach to life was a result of home-schooling gone wrong, I would suspect that they both probably have a learning disability. Their fine motor skills have deteriorated, they no longer know how to engage in conversation with anyone but their mother, and to some extent their father. They have become dull and listless, and seem to have lost interest in anything that used to amuse them. They no longer climb trees, they are terrified of new people, they catastrophise about issues of safety, dirt and germs. It's pretty sad. There is no way these two will be able to be integrated into the public system now - in fact, I don't think they will be able to integrate into any school or social structure at this stage.

Good luck with the home-schooling. I'm sure you will have a much better experience than that of my friends. It would be great if you could keep us up to date with how it is working for you...I might need some tips myself when the time comes around.

truthsearcher

Have you seen the Core Knowledge materials "What your .....grader needs to know?" by Ed Hirsch Jr? I picked up the series on Ebay for a song, but you may find it in your library.

www.coreknowledge.org

milligal

Wow what a lot of information thanks to everyone!

I actually am not a 'pro home school' advocate, I only think it's for those very dedicated, and skilled parents (like some of you seem to be). The reason we are choosing to home preschool this year in addition to the other reasons listed, is that my son has some developmental delays that he sees an OT for as well as speech therapist. He has such trouble with loud noises and a lot of visual stimulation that I felt keeping him a controlled environment until he completes his therapy (at which point he is expected to be 'normal') would be easier on him and the rest of our family

I remember the constant social struggles of sending my aspergers boy to preschool -that was of course before he was diagnosed. The poor guy, he had such a hard time, it was heart breaking. Nine months of behavioral therapy and medication for impulsive behavior and he is doing SO much better. He has made huge strides socially. I just want my younger son to have a chance to develop before we put him in a publc school situation.

By the way, both my boys attended Montessori preschool. It is a great setting and I had planned on using the 'nido' setting at home with separate work, eating and play areas.....Good advice....

zagor

yes my little one is about the same age and attends one of montessori schools. I think they are really awesome. I'm sure there must be some nearby where you live too.

Preschooling at home any good sources or guidelines?

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