| Author | |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: Feb 20 2008 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Aren't girls so different to boys. I have a 3 and a half year old girl who is so eager to work. Every morning she sits for hours 'working in her books'. Basically I have just been giving her old workbooks to color in. But she takes such care and has amazing fine motor control and concentration I realize I really should be doing more than 'filling in time'.
Yesterday I gave her a huge pile of classification cards of animals and she had no trouble matching without any help. I find 3.5 a difficult age as it is a bit of a no mans land.
I am hoping for some help, I feel as if I have been searching through the archives for hours (actually its only been an hour  )looking for ideas and links relevant for my three and half yr old daughter. But most of the articles are for toddlers or pre-schoolers, she is not quite either although she would be closer to the pre-school group.
I would love some links to free downloads etc. I realise that some people have done some amazing work but I have already spent a fair bit this year. I guess I'm needing lots of independent work as sad to say most of my time is taken up with the older ones. (A sad embarrassing fact of my life to admit ) You would think I'd know what to do by now but none of my others have been this keen this early.
Thank you all so much. I just told dd 3, Genevieve that I was asking the ladies for ideas for her and she was just beaming.
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
montessori_lori
Forum Pro
Joined: June 06 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 322
|
| Posted: Feb 20 2008 at 10:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't know if it's a boy/girl thing...my son, at this age, loved to work and my daughter fights it.
Anyway, there are hundreds of things for her to do. I printed my Comprehensive List the other day and started going through it, checking off things we've already done and finding new things. (Sorry, don't mean to be too self-promotional but I do use my own stuff!)
A few suggestions:
Any and all nomenclature cards (the kind with one picture, one label, and one picture/label together)
Math - if she knows 1-10, you can do teens and ten numbers and simple addition
Practical life - making snacks, using a spatula, blunt knife, measuring cup; folding, polishing, etc.
Geometry - geometry cabinet or nomenclature cards
Language - all the sandpaper letters/sounds, all pink series work, tracing and punching, cutting shapes and patterns
Kids this age should, hopefully, still be using as many hands-on materials as possible, not printed card materials. Of course if they've completed the 3-6 cycle of hands-on materials then they can do more printed stuff.
If you do have lots of stuff on hand that the older ones use to do, pull it out. What they were doing at 5 might be perfect for your daughter right now.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
wahoo92
Forum Rookie
Joined: Sept 30 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 59
|
| Posted: Feb 21 2008 at 6:56am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My 3.5 yo girl is extremely active and hard to settle down with table work like you are describing, but I will share something that she does love that you probably already have.
She absolutely loves playing with a lot of the big kid games like Blokus (she makes designs with the squares), Boggle (she "pretends" to make words), Scrabble (placing tiles in grid), Chinese Checkers (patterns) etc. I mention this because with my older girls I likely would have kept these things "hands off" for this age.
Lucy is not one to put everything in her mouth, but obviously, these are things that I only let her do when I am very close by.
Sarah
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: Feb 22 2008 at 3:37am | IP Logged
|
|
|
montessori_lori wrote:
Kids this age should, hopefully, still be using as many hands-on materials as possible, not printed card materials. Of course if they've completed the 3-6 cycle of hands-on materials then they can do more printed stuff.
|
|
|
Lori
This really struck me, you're right, I kind of forgot that. 
Thanks for the other suggestions, I think I really need to sit down and plan more and not try to 'fly by my pants' so much.
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
montessori_lori
Forum Pro
Joined: June 06 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 322
|
| Posted: Feb 22 2008 at 9:45am | IP Logged
|
|
|
You're right, if you have a child who will sit quietly doing workbooks, etc., it can be tempting to just let them do that. But it's so much better for this age to be doing "hands-on" materials.
You can always browse through Shu-Chen Jenny Yen's albums for work ideas - they're all perfect for 3-6:
Montessori Albums
I'm always surprised at how even 5 minutes of planning can make a big difference!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Let's Talk 3.5 yr olds
