Peter has been asking to go to "big-kid school" for a while now. He won't start Kindergarten for another two years because he has such a late birthday. I'm not ready to send him to Preschool, but I do like the idea of an in-home, joy school kind of thing.
I guess a bunch of women in our ward did this last year, but they had the boys and girls separated. The girls would actually be taught, while the boys would play. They said it was because boys are slower academically than girls. What? I think there may be truth to the whole boys-and-girls-developing-at-different-rates thing, but I think it's sad that they just assumed the boys wouldn't be able to learn.
Anyway, I would like to try a different approach. I know that some of you have done similar at-home preschool programs. What did you teach? How often did you meet? Did you use a specific curriculum, or did you make it up as you went along? Lots of questions, I know, but I have discovered that when I ask a question here, I am showered with a fountain of knowledge.
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You'll have to let me know how it goes. I think I'm going to need some pointers there too. I'm not sure what to do with Sam. He just turned 2 and knows his alphabet, can count to at least 10, and in general seems to be filling his head with anything that looks interesting. Boys can't learn that early? Ha! It all just depends on the child and what speed they want to go and if the parents are willing to try.
I am a firm believer that there are skills that girls learn earlier than boys, but you've shown a few things on your blog that shows that Peter's the exception that makes the rule (the kid writes his own letters already, right?? And can read a little, even? Seriously, I can tell he is SMART). Regardless, the whole approach of "boys play 'cause they can't learn" is totally backwards to me. They're the ones that would need MORE help, yes?? Oh well; I do see the point of not wanting to turn them off to learning at such a young age (even if I think that's a little extreme, to teach the girls and not the boys. Let the girls be the example to the boys!)
Our preschool was two times a week (M/Th) for two hours (though our first rotation, we just did 1hr 15min -- helpful for us getting used to teaching and for the kids getting used to preschool.)
We set up a schedule for the first half of the year of who was teaching what weeks (we taught both the Monday and Thursday of our week); also we decided on a theme for the day. We did letters on Monday (until we ran out of letters) and some other topic on Thursdays (for example: fall, Halloween, jungle animals, zoo animals, colors, shapes, opposites ...)
It was hard to know exactly what the schedule was at others' houses, but we tried to have a few things in common: first was circle time where we read stories and did other activities; we'd always have some kind of snack midway through (we agreed that the mom teaching would just provide the snack); we'd do some kind of craft (I mentioned several that I did on my blog); and at the end we'd allow for some playtime. I'd also incorporate songs and games and such. I'd do Google Searches and there were lots of free worksheets, coloring pages, writing worksheets (we really focused on those more in the second half of the year). When we did letters, one of the moms printed out block letters on cardstock and then we would get stickers or stamps or something to represent that letter that they could decorate it with (the idea was they could hang them in their bedroom or something so they could review their letters).
It was interesting, too, to see where other kids' levels are -- everybody had strengths and weaknesses (Logan could read put couldn't peel stickers, for instance). I'd try to make sure that each kid got as much one-on-one time as possible with whatever they needed (tricky to do since I was teaching seven kids at once and usually had Josh to keep entertained at the same time ... THAT was the hardest part, keeping the younger sibling happy!)
I thought the program was really good for Logan and fun for me, too, to take an active part in his learning. I plan on doing it for Josh next year; hopefully I can find some people who are interested.
(Sorry for the ridiculously long comment.)
I am just starting one with the women in my ward. We have 3 two year olds, a 3 year old and 3 four year olds. We are just doing one day a week for 2 hours. (the mom's of the 4 year olds are doing an extra day by themselves). We are using an awesome book written for homeschooling preschoolers. Yet I don't have the book yet, I can email you the name if you would like it. But basically we are doing letters, numbers, and themes with the usual things for circle time, with snack, and play time in there. If you want more details just ask. :)
It's true: the best way to get comments is to ask for advice. I love the following blogs:
http://abcand123learning.blogspot.com
http://mytwohappyhomeschoolers.blogspot.com/
There are lots of things out there to get you started. :) Good luck!
Oh, and also remember that a child's work is to play! :)
We did a co-op preschool when Andrei was 3 that worked really well. There were only 5 kids, but that made sure that every kid got a lot of one-on-one help. We met 1 day a week for school and 1 day a week for field-trips and the like.
Andrei was the only boy and even though he has some learning disabilities, he kept up with the girls just fine.
On school days we rotated between reading, writing, simple math (counting, etc.), general life-skills (like cooking, buttoning, folding, etc.), and crafts. I would even teach a Spanish lesson when it was my turn. The group met for 2 hours, including a half hour activity/play break in the middle and a 15 minute snack time.
Each week we'd have 2 adults run the group- 1 would teach, 1 would bring treats and help out. The other three had the day off. We set up a calendar and rotated responsibilities and locations.
It was the best. Andrei's math skills really developed doing this, and he is now one of the top kids in his grade for math. At 7 years old, he can add and subtract up into the thousands and millions. He is even starting to do decimals and fractions.
We had so much fun planning lessons, field trips, and parties. My favorite was our Halloween party.
I think that any book that has a curriculum for home-school preschool is ok, although in our case we just got together and made up our own based on what our kids' needs and aptitudes were and what our own learning goals for them were.
Hope that helps!
Girls do NOT learn faster or better than boys! Science has proven that boys learn DIFFERENTLY than girls. Boys learn more by moving while interacting whereas girls learn more from sitting whiel interacting. I think some of the women in your development need to take a child development class. If the teaching approach is customized to the way the child learns than the child will learn better and faster than if he or she is forced to conform to a difficult style of learning. For example, a girl may learn her colors and animals best from looking at books about colors and animals whereas a boy may learn is colors and animals better from visiting a farm or driving through the neighborhood and naming the things they see. Also, if a caregiver focuses on what a child wants to learn first (so they can discover that learning is fun) then the child will be more willing to learn new things that may not interest them as much later on.
Sorry, child development is my soap box and I really struggle with narrow minded attitudes that place limitations on children. Children are ready to learn if we are willing to take the time to teach them and share our world with them.
As for the school thing, two or three days a week would probably be good, and at this age exposure to a variety of topics (science in the form of gardening or hypothesizing, math in cooking, reading together, etc.) is more important than learning to add, recite the scientific method, or read Dr. Seuss. I think you are on the right track and if you find anything that works please let me know! My children love to learn on the go rather than sit still (and for other readers, I have a boy and a girl who are toddlers).
I'm just sending Luke to preschool for 2 days a week, 2 hours a day. We'll see how it goes, he starts next week.
I have also heard people say that boys don't learn as quickly as girls and it makes me mad. Like I want to start yelling at them.
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