Friday, August 22, 2008

Squeaky's Adventure


Squeaky loves doing school. Every week day between 1 and 2 in the afternoon we pull out a workbook. She surprises me with her eagerness to learn and she couldn't understand why we didn't do school on Saturday and Sunday. This little preschool time has lit a fire in me to start researching curriculum for kindergarten next year. I hope I can find enough workbooks to get us through until next August!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

good for you!!
Gramma

Sarah said...

if she knows her ABC's - sounds and how to write them, and how to count she doesn't need kindergarten. Just jump her into first grade. I would highly recommend the MY FATHERS WORLD that we used for Caleb. It is highly focused on reading. ( if you are out of country it might not work as well as you have to use a library a lot) BUT we used it with Caleb and the phonic/reading program is great. It is very economical as well.!! ( which for us was a big bonus.! We are using ABEKA for his second grade and from what i can tell he will be able to jump in with out any problems. anyway.. if you are looking that is what we would recommend just from our little experience with it.

Dennis and Valerie said...

Sarah, she does know her letters, etc., but what kinds of math skills would she need for first grade? Counting how high?

Anonymous said...

This is Mom. For numbers, get out a yard stick, or meter stick and do a lot of just visualizing how numbers go. It is easy to see that when you leave 9 and get a 1 for a ten digit the pattern continues on and on until you get to 100. I'm not telling you anything that you do not know, but eleven, twelve and thirteen are the only oddball numbers as they are said in any give hundred. I also visually would make a box of 10, 10's. First row is one through ten, 2nd--11-20. Kids can see the pattern very easily. Once a child knows the pattern for counting, they can count indefinitely more or less. I had to stop D. at 300 when he was 4 because I didn't want to hear anymore.
The number line is also a good tool for visualizing addition and subtraction. So are peas on a plate. Math at preschool level as well as "reading" can be done a lot with manulipitives. It can really be fun. I also did the ABC verses with you guys in "preschool".
I am so glad that you and Lael are having this special time. I'm sure if you go on to homeschooling, there may be less teachable moments, but when a kid wants to do something, that's a good time to get started. (especially if they want to use the brush to clean the toilet bowl! :-))
I'm enjoying my second trip to CA this summer. Love you lots. Mom

Kate said...

Her love of learning will make it so much easier and more fun as you begin to school - or so I've heard :) Have fun this year - and start her early if you want! Who says you have to be a certain age in a certain grade? :)

Sarah said...

in answer to your question... I am not sure. The first grade Math is simple addition and subtration. If she can count to 10 she is doing well. She can learn the rest in 1st grade. Realy the key in K4 or K5 is learning letter sounds, how to write lower and upper case letters,and basic numbers. Maybe a few basic sound blends like the short vowel sounds etc ( ladder blends). But first grade repeats all this anyway and Lael is a fast learner then she will have no prob. I would seriously look into it for htis year. If she alreadyknows her abc's then why not start her up early . you can take it slow and do it over two years if need be - hey that is the joy of homeschooling. do it at your pace adn at the kids pace. :)

look it up on the web and they have a lay out of what is covered. Iknow Dennis thought it (MFW)looked a little to simple but the main focus is learning to read which is what gets the kid a long ways once they have that down.
Any way.. we can chat on the phone some time.. I am NOT the expert, I just know what worked with our kids so far.