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setonmom
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| Posted: Sept 18 2012 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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I started this year of preschool thinking the goal was teach my son his letters. AS we are going through this though, I am seeing that what he is really learning, and what really should be my focus, is teaching him more background knowledge( things like that kitty cats have whiskers, red light means stop, stuff like that). He is picking up some letters here and there. So now this will be my focus next year also, when he will be 4. So this will be a big factor in which curriculum I choose for next year.
Any one else have any input or insight on teaching background knowledge versus abc's to three and four year olds?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 18 2012 at 3:39pm | IP Logged
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I would work mainly with pre-reading skills (it moves from left to right, up to down) and gross to fine motor skills. It may seem like "playing" but those are the things they need to be successful when they start school work.
Then I'd add in the wonder.. catepillars become butterflies, seeds grow into plants, water becomes ice and then water again, magnets attract some metals but not plastic or wood etc.
The background knowledge type of stuff I'd get to as we went about our daily life.. Oops the stop light is red, we need to stop. We'd count out loud while folding towels or hanging clothes (child hands the clothes pins and we count them) or scooping measures of flour etc. We'd sing songs and look at pictures and go places like the store and the post office and the library.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Mimip
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| Posted: Sept 19 2012 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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For Preschool, we work a lot like Jodie. Our family has issues with fine motor skills so we work on that for those years. Things like using scissors well, cut and paste and moving balls from one bowl to another. LOTS of puzzles, starting with big pieces and gradually moving to smaller pieces. In our house because of the olders, the littles just start to learn the ABC's and numbers naturally.
Also, this is where read alouds come in to our home. Have you heard of Five in a Row and Before five in a Row? We LOVE these books and have used them when our children were in the kindergarten years.
We read a loud everyday for quite a while. Sometimes its with an older sibling, sometimes with mom. Sometimes with something I choose and sometimes just because they saw something they liked. This is also a way to get to know what they want to learn about.
Good luck, this is such a wonderful time of exploration!
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In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 19 2012 at 9:31am | IP Logged
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Habit formation -- key at this time. So much of the Montessori practical life applied at hoome helps build good family habits.
Charlotte Mason speaks about this at length for these young years.
The seasoned moms in my local homeschool group say don't worry about the other goals -- habit formation is key.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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kristacecilia
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1. Habit formation.
2. Getting outside.
3. Reading good books together on the couch.
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: preschool goals?
