Homeschooling a toddler?

[Dolcezza]

Hello there! I posted this in an LDS home school forum, too. :)

My son is almost 8 and thriving at school but as for my almost 3 y.o. daughter, I intend to home educate her for as long as she will allow me to.

She is a cuddly lady with rare temper trantrums, quite diligent, loves drawing little circles and colouring (walls, fabric, anything!!!), she likes jumping and dancing, and helping in kitchen and garden.

She is already repeating numbers because she hears her brother asking math questions to us often.

She holds her pen perfectly and can concentrate for a long while on a task if she likes it.

My question is, where do I start?

I have been reading for 2 years about homeschooling and following forums etc and I am looking for a way to get her started with homeschooling and incorporating LDS values, home making skills and creative skills together with strong math and language skills.

We are bilingual at home and I speak to her only in Italian while all the others speak English.

I looked everywhere for curriculums but I will never have that money and honestly at 2 years and 10 months I doubt I need that.

I am lost - so much information - don't know what to do and how to incorporate schooling into day to day chores (cleaning, cooking etc)

Any suggestions would be very very appreciated!

Thanks!

Dolcezza

[Julie]

I got some preschool workbooks and laminated the pages. That way they could be used and used. I used brightly colored washable markers. Some pages where they learned to cut, I made copies so they could practice and practice.
I also a preschool curriculum book that had each day set up for me. We would learn a letter, have an art project, etc... I have it stowed away for the grandkids and I can't remember the name of it.
Now days there is so much free on the internet.

Good luck and have fun.

[Julie]

I just remember the name of the curriculum I used. It is by Bob Jones and it is their K4 Foundations Kit. It is $114.00 for us so it should be less for you. It comes complete with everything you need. My kids loved it and I used it on the last 3.
You can get it at Christianbook.com. This is the best price for books.
http://www.christianbook.com/k4-foundations-home-school-kit/9781579241155/pd/063792#curr

[Dolcezza]

Thanks! I looked at the covers and they look like they have been made in the Seventies. Are they up to date in your opinion? How long do you think a toddler could sit and do something specific, say 30 minutes a day?

Thanks again...

Dolcezza

[Justme]

I use a wonderful program from church members Linda and Richard Eyre (he was a Mission President in England at one time) called JOY SCHOOL. It teaches values as well as skills that your children need, and is a lot of fun-brings joy. I used it at times with other parents in a cooperative type situation, at other times I used it on my own with my child. You can find it here: http://www.valuesparenting.com/joyschool/ Don't know what it costs now but it is worth a lot. I liked that it had recorded music included for the children to learn as I am not very good with music.

They are so have programs for older children to supplement their academic training with opportunities for deeper thinking and especially thinking about their values.

Our local library have what they call Prschool Kits that one can check out for one week at a time. They are in a large, portable, file box and contain a different subject in each such as animal, seasons, etc. In the kit are stories about the subject, flannel board stories, activities with numbers and letters, and usually a hand puppet to go with the subject. They are a lot of fun and educational though they don't follow a specific curriculum. Perhaps you can find a library with similar kits. The materials could be found online but all the cutting and preparation is already done in the kits for the flannel board stories, matching activities, etc. Oh, yes, several books on the subject is included in each kit.

[Julie]

That is just the way Bob Jones books look. It is old and my youngest is almost 12 so it has been a while but a classic is a classic. The basics are still the basics. If there is something outdated - maybe a recommended reading book- you can just substitute it with a book of the same topic that you library has.
It is out of print and it looks like this one is the last one left. It is a complete curriculum so the child learns writing, numbers, science, etc.... It uses the seasons etc... to teach with.
If you order this make sure it is returnable if you are disappointed.

[prairiemom]

I would recommend reading about the Charlotte Mason method. I think it's the best way to teach little ones, esp younger than 10yo. There are lots of good free websites with TONS of Pre-K learning activities. Your dd might like janbrett.com

[LoudmouthMormon]

"Homeschooling" for our 3-4 year olds involved little more than crayons, tickle fights, and maybe some boxes of elbow macaroni. We had a checklist of "by age 4, your child should be able to X" that just somehow got pretty fully checked off just through living our daily lives.

We didn't get serious about official curriculum-type stuff until age 6-7.

LM

[Dolcezza]

I agree, however certain skills can be learned to a high standard: i.e. I always loved drawing, my husband is a fantastic piano/organ player, so we wonder if we are early in sharing this stuff with her if she is interested.

[Toni]

Just a warning. I started my first child on abstract arithmetic too early (doing math problems with numbers instead of objects), which caused her to hate math. I didn't know that young children aren't ready for abstract thinking until 7 or 8 years old. Going slow, easy, and fun is the key for young children.

You could have her dictate stories to you. That way, she is learning to "write" stories before she can actually write. My younger daughter did that a lot. Then she went to public school for part of a year (second grade). By the time I pulled her out, her sentences had gone from compound, intelligent sentences to mono syllables with juvenile meaning. Luckily, she quickly retained her storytelling abilities.

And don't use writing books to teach them to write (I'm speaking about letters and words, not grammar and stories and such). Just like you can teach her to write her name, you can teach her anything else regarding writing (and reading). Let her set the pace. Young children love to learn.

[Toni]

After I learned my lesson about math problems, we had a lot of fun as a family playing store. I had gotten a bunch of tiny erasers in several shapes (ice cream cones, flowers, gingerbread men, etc.). I stocked the children's store (we'd be at a table or sitting on the floor). Then I'd use pennies to buy the stuff from them (I think they set the price, not sure though - but a penny for this thing and two pennies for that). When they got low on things - or out of them, I was the supplier. I'd ask them how many items they needed to bring the total back up. And helped them figure out how much they had to pay the supplier to get their stock (until they were experienced enough to figure it out themselves). They loved it!

I didn't continue it into multiplication, but I suppose I could have.

[Dolcezza]

These are very clever observation, thanks! No worries about abstract math, I always hated math, LOL!

[prairiemom]

Just a warning. I started my first child on abstract arithmetic too early (doing math problems with numbers instead of objects), which caused her to hate math. I didn't know that young children aren't ready for abstract thinking until 7 or 8 years old. Going slow, easy, and fun is the key for young children.

You could have her dictate stories to you. That way, she is learning to "write" stories before she can actually write. My younger daughter did that a lot. Then she went to public school for part of a year (second grade). By the time I pulled her out, her sentences had gone from compound, intelligent sentences to mono syllables with juvenile meaning. Luckily, she quickly retained her storytelling abilities.

And don't use writing books to teach them to write (I'm speaking about letters and words, not grammar and stories and such). Just like you can teach her to write her name, you can teach her anything else regarding writing (and reading). Let her set the pace. Young children love to learn.

About teaching the abstract: You really ought to read Dorothy Sayer's Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning. http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html She points out that there are stages where the child's mind and body are receptive to different types of learning and that they are incapable of abstract learning until 10-12 yrs old.

Dictation is a concept that Charlotte Mason advocates. It not only takes the form of retelling, but also play-acting and drawing what it was you read or learned.

[trublubyu]

I used Joy School curriculum as well, and it is good. Later I learned about Charlotte Mason, and it just can't be beat. I would encourage you to learn about her and her methods. Narration, drawing, etc. Just great.

In fact, in college I gave a presentation on Charlotte Mason and her focus on Narration--using the Narration method as I did so. Built in object lesson, lol.

[Dolcezza]

Thanks to all! Still pondering...