I didnt want to start her too early, ya know, more work for me and things like that. But it was proving more work to 'entertain' her with those 'activity box' ideas etc, (go ye Pinteresters), so we leapt. "We" being I did the planning, and Sam cheered me on telling me how great it is that our girl will be reading by four a half. No pressure or anything.
So here's what were using
Character:
This is first up on our day but we have this amazing little series by Agapeland called "Character Builders". A set of 16 episodes of animated stories about kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control, patience, obedience, faith, honesty, responsibility, thankfulness, sharing, confidence, love, politeness, joy and peace. The old version can be found on you tube, but it isnt as good as the newer one. You can see the newer animation on you tube under Character Builders Trailor. I used to teach my kids in Sunday School from these.. and I still get teary eyed when I hear the song "peace". My boys have all watched these through several times over, so I dont make them watch them, but somehow they always can be found grouped around the screen and noting their favourite episodes and laughing at the same things that tickled them when they were Amys age. Character is timeless. So are these DVD's, I think. NB: Agapeland often has a voucher online, google it. They retail $69US from Agapelandmusic.com
Maths:
I found a neat starter book by Gold Stars called Starting Maths which comes with gold star stickers.. and what kid doesnt like stickers?! Its fairly basic and requires me to be on hand, but I like that.. its relationship building. There are many others in the series and I have a feeling we will be chowing through them over the next few months. c/o Book Depository $7.35. Free shipping worldwide.
When Im confident she has these under her belt, we will start No Nonsense Number Emergent activity sheets. I own the books to stage 2b, and love them because they fit NZ curriculum. They were a pricey investment at $44e, but worth it. From that we jump to Math U See.. but thats a couple of years away.
Reading:
It all starts with phonics and weve happily followed the Jolly Phonics programme for years with great success.
We use the Phonics Handbook (Book Depository $45.94) which has all the printable activity sheets and teacher suggestions. I also use the pupil workbooks 1-7 ($23 set) for ease of having all the work bound, and the sequence set out for me. We also use the Finger Phonics books in the series ($66 set) which are great, not least because they have these neat grooves in the pages where they can feel how to form the letters. I also have the DVD ($21) which backs up the learning at the end of each week. If you can, purchase the whole set.. otherwise start with the handbook alone. That will more than adequately suffice.
In addition to phonics, I read to Amy, a lot. Daily. We make weekly use of our mobile library (the library bus) that stops just down the road from us. We choose lots of picture books, as well as early readers. While Amy cant yet read those, she often sits beside my youngest son as we work through them.. and is becoming familiar with sounding out and patterns in reading. I try to keep an eye out internet wise, for great book recommendations and often put a hold on these so they are ready for us each week, on the mobile library. It costs .50c per hold.. but still cheaper than the parking and petrol, I justify.
Handwriting:
Im using Letterland Handwriting Practise 1 ($8.19 B.Dep) , and again, I sit beside her and remind her of her pencil grip and formation.. ie "letters always start at the top".
Spelling:
Were just working our way through the top 100 right now. Heh. I joke. Actually, when we have letter recognition at about %50, I will introduce the sight words. We often play sight word bingo (I got given it) with the kids so that helps. I'll introduce the plethora of sight word activity ideas soon enough. See pinterest for ideas here, be warned, you will need chocolate and coffee. Just sayin.
Science:
Mudpies to Magnets by Williams. Rockwell. Sherwood. Look no further. (B.Dep $17.79)
Theyre simple activities, and often I have one of the boys work through them with her, or I alter it slightly to fit what suits me. For example, todays sheet was on seed sorting.. but I wasnt in the mood for grouping seeds, so we planted tomato seeds instead. She thought that was way more fun anyway.
Art:
The worlds your oyster! I personally dont think anyone needs a resource book when there are just a world of ideas for art everyday found on the internet. We use activity books like the one in the picture, My Town, by Delphine Doreau (B.Dep $17.01) for special events like eating out, visiting somewhere special, and particularly for Amys love of things European following our trip to England/ Paris last year. I try to feature crafts around her interests and learning and were never stuck for ideas :)
I hope this list helps those who are wondering about homeschooling and where to start, or like me, trying to recall the best things to do with a preschooler when the older ones are well under way. Im glad this list will be here too in another 4 years when this bundle inside reaches the same stage and Im wondering again "how did I do it?" :)
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