curricula choices

[jillian]

dd will be 3 at the end of this year but could conceivably school work now

We also plan on getting:
- Phonics: CHC's Little Folks Letter/Number identification and writing Letters/Numbers stuff, MCP K Phonics (seems like a lot of resources but we will move at her pace)
- Reading: Little Folks Readers and McGuffey
- Religion: Little Acts of Grace, Who Am I?, and various Coloring Books, and Bible Stories
- History: trips to museums and history stories from the library, and First History Encyclopedia
- Science: First Science Encyclopedia, Science and Living in God's World (and the experiment book)
- Life Skills: Mother's Little Helper, sing Little Acts of Grace for virtues,
- Math: MCP K and Kumon books (simple addition and subtraction).
- P.E.: Gymnastics (for sure) and perhaps toddler yoga

A lot of this is going to be incorporated into daily life especially the Life Skills, P.E.

Does this seem like to much or no, if she can't handle it we will back off and as always we will go at her pace

[chiguirre]

The curricula you listed all expect a child to be able to form their letters and numbers. If your dd can do that already, awesome! If not, look for curricula that are not workbook based, like the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (this one's a WTM rec) and RightStart Math A. Both of those programs start at the beginning with letter sounds and counting and move quickly from there. Obviously, OPGTR isn't a Catholic resource, but you can use the Little Folks readers alongside it once your dd starts blending.

[MaMa2005]

Please don't take what I am going to say as being criticism - just some thoughts to mull over. Your DD is still sooo young.

I think you may be getting ready to spend lots of money on things that might be a little above her level. As the previous poster stated, with all the workbooks, DD needs to know how to write.

Maybe do more age appropriate games that incorporate what you want to teach vs. all the formal curricula.

I know we love to get a head start on our kids education, but remember to let her be a child first.

[MissKNG]

At that age, I let my big girl just pick the subjects she was interested in and went from there. It's wonderful that you are excited but I think that's a full course load similar to the kids who are at "reporting" age.

In regards to writing, my big girl loves workbooks and her lack of writing skills didn't stop me from using them. There are ways around it like writing for her or dotting answers for her to trace or making little stickers for her to stick for her math answers. I did those things until her writing took off last month.

[EKS]

I found that it worked well to stay away from workbooks when my son was young and instead to do things that facilitated interaction.

Is she already reading? If not, here's how I taught my son to read at age 2 without a program. I made power point slides with really big letters starting with consonants and taught him the sounds. Then we moved on to short vowels. Then I made slides with animations where the letters appeared one after the other to form words. Anyway, he loved sitting in my lap and "doing the letters" with me.

A wonderful math curriculum for young children is RightStart A. I did not start math with my son until he was 3 and then just did it informally using things I had on hand from teaching his older brother. But if I had it to do over again, I'd take a look at RightStart. We used RightStart B when my son was in kindergarten and it was excellent.

For everything else, I'd just get books out of the library and read. And I'd spend lots time having conversations and experiences in the world with her. They are little for such a short time.

[2smartones]

I'll be the oddball here. Workbooks are like gold at my house. Both of my kids were born with a backpack full of books (don't worry... both were c-sections :lol:). The oldest didn't even learn to hold a pencil correctly until he was 5. He was absolutely NOT writing at 3 at ALL. That didn't matter to him. I did the writing, or we did the workbooks orally. No big deal. He had a full load of subjects starting at age 3, but he was still finished in about an hour a day. When a workbook asked him to write a sentence or paragraph, he typed it (one-finger). He enjoyed it.

Some kids learn through play, and some prefer workbooks. There's nothing wrong with either scenario. Figure out what works for your situation and run with it.

If you decide you're doing too much, you can back off, but certainly don't tell a child you're backing off. Don't leave the impression there's something wrong with her when the real problem was your lack of understanding what/how much she could handle. You're testing the waters, and that's great. Change course or back off slowly. Don't just drop things when the going gets tough. ;)

[jillian]

we are working on the writing stuff this year and she is getting pretty good at it.

thanks everyone for the opinions :) i appreciate it.

[EKS]

If you decide you're doing too much, you can back off, but certainly don't tell a child you're backing off. Don't leave the impression there's something wrong with her when the real problem was your lack of understanding what/how much she could handle. You're testing the waters, and that's great. Change course or back off slowly. Don't just drop things when the going gets tough. ;)

:iagree:

It also helps to establish appropriate expectations about lesson time when they're actual school age.

[MissKNG]

Some kids learn through play, and some prefer workbooks. There's nothing wrong with either scenario. Figure out what works for your situation and run with it.



:iagree::iagree: You are definitely not the odd ball! My big girl thrives on workbooks!! She is very bright in math and she has no interest in math games or activities and plows through math workbooks.

Doing what is best for your home is the greatest thing about home schooling!! Not one else's is the same as yours - no cookie cutter classrooms!

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Some kids learn through play, and some prefer workbooks. There's nothing wrong with either scenario. Figure out what works for your situation and run with it.



I totally agree. Figure out how your dd learns best and go with it. I loved workbooks as a child, but my kids, not so much. They learn best through hands-on play. Don't be afraid to get a little out of your comfort zone to teach in a way that works better for your child. I've been trying out various things and I think I've found a hit for my oldest for next year. Wish I would have found it earlier.

[Brindee]

I'll just relate what I've seen as a teacher, and as a friend who has seen friends kids grow up.

LOTS of people have kids that could conceivably do schoolwork at young ages (my oldest and youngest were in that category). So the parents did workbooks with them. The kids enjoyed it. They did well. Parents were pleased. Kid got praised for how advanced/brilliant/intellectual/etc. they were. Basically that became their identity. "I am a brilliant child. People like me because I am brilliant."

School age. Kid is way ahead of peers. Everyone is impressed and thrilled. Kid enjoys the attention. After awhile, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, the thought occurs to them, "Wait a minute. I've been doing schoolwork since I can remember! I'm tired/sick of it!" So they "rebel", which takes on many forms, some minor, some rather severe.

I'm not making this up, I've seen it happen many times, and heard stories of it happening. The kids get overwhelmed with the expectations of others to be "brilliant", and just don't want to do that anymore. But they're scared of NOT doing it, because that's how they're labeled and get their attention.


All that to say, be careful starting them so young! They have SOOOOO many years of schooling ahead of them. They ARE brilliant, and obviously you CAN do the workbooks with them, but make sure they're not only labeled for their intelligence. Many parents that say, "Why not? My kids love doing workbooks!" have fallen into this and regret it later!

Don't mean to be a doomsday person, I'm just sharing THE OTHER SIDE of the story that many don't see or think about! Parents often say, oh, it won't happen to me or my child, but it can. There are LOTS of ways to expand their horizons and intelligence. Make sure you help them develop and have other aspects of them be important! And if they hit a wall, allow them time and space, and help them regroup and possibly slow down or head a different direction.

Best wishes!