So anyway, we've started a few things here around the house, but I haven't really kicked it all in gear. In my opinion, preschool should be about play, play, play. And learning through that play. I want to take the opportunities as they rise, in a natural setting, to teach Isaac. Granted some things will be structured, but not much. He's only 3. I'll also spare you some of the educational jargon. There is actually a reason I do certain things with him. There is a bigger picture to all this in my plans.
I've already implemented a chore chart that kind of gets our day going. This was taken from Gwendolyn Webb's "Train Up a Child Following God's Plan." Isaac loves it so far. He helped me make his posterboard, and we discussed his chores. Everyday, we get up and look at the chart. As he completes his chores, he moves his clothespin to the top of the posterboard. At the end of the day he receives a nickel to put in the appropriate baggie: God's, Savings, or Mine. We put our money in God's every first day, to teach that we should first consider what we give to God. The second day, his nickel goes into Savings, and third day: Mine, and so on. He may not completely grasp this right now, but it is a start. I know he understands God's because this last Sunday morning while we were getting ready for worship, he said, "I need my money to give to God today!" I was so excited. I didn't even have to remind him. He was very proud.
Next week, I'm going to write the days of the week on separate sentence strips. Each new day, we'll pull the appropriate day out of our Days of the Week pocket and hang it next to his chore chart. Any exposure to written word is good. So this will help him begin to grasp the idea of a calendar and perhaps recognize these words as you would sight words.
I also plan on doing a morning message sentence. We'll talk about things that happened yesterday or the things we plan on doing today. I'll write one short sentence down on chart paper or a sentence strip. He will help me come up with the sentence. I'll draw attention to letters, we'll count the words in the sentence, whatever I feel needs to be addressed for his development.
Isaac loves to help cook, so at breakfast, if we make pancakes or waffles, he helps measure things out for me. We count, we talk about more and less, following the recipe. The other day he even grabbed one of my measuring cups off of the drying rack and said, "Hey a fourth cup!" I think he was referring to a 1/4th of a cup, what we always use in cookies.
So yesterday, we were enjoying the breeze while sitting under a shaded tree in the front yard. Isaac was exploring and playing. I decided this could be a good learning time! (to me, this is homeschooling!) I asked him to go find me a rock, so that he could show Eli. Isaac goes and grabs a rock. After examining it, I ask him to find a bigger rock, then a bigger rock. Then I ask him to find smaller rocks. We count our rocks. I asked him to go explore and find other things that might be interesting. He collects another rock, a leaf, a stick, and a locust.
When it was time to go inside, Isaac asked if he could bring his treasures indoors. I said yes and that I wanted to sit down and look at them. I have a ton of printer paper at the house. You know the connected paper with the holes on the sides. So I pulled out four attached sheets. I asked him to lay each item on a different rectangle of paper. I grab my sharpie, and we talk about each item. I write the word of the item beneath it, drawing attention to the first letter and first sound. At 2 Isaac could sing his alphabet, at 2 1/2 he recognized all the letters, could put them in order, speak the alphabet, and knew most of the sounds. Well, somewhere along the way, he has forgotten quite a bit as far as the sounds go. When Eli turned 6 months, my life got busier, and I didn't remember to continue to address the alphabet in daily situations. So after we write the words for each item, I asked if he could find any other items that have the beginning sound like "sssssssssstick." We were eating watermelon, and he shouted, "Seed!"
When it was time for me to put Eli down for his nap, I had Isaac get on starfall.com. This website is basically where he learned his alphabet at 2. He loves it. Great review.Starfall is pretty much self-guided, so I don’t have to sit there and help him out. I love it!
While Eli was still asleep, I read aloud a few books to Isaac. I let him pick them out. He picks the same Bible Story books that we've been using a bedtime. Gets old, to me, but repetition is good! I'm trying to make my questions a little more difficult for him since he should be becoming VERY familiar with the stories! I want to soon incorporate some cutting and pasting activities related to his storytime. Perhaps some learning centers....
Concept sorts are very important for Isaac’s age. I have a variety of folder games we'll get to eventually with concept sorts, but today he helped me unload the dishwasher. Sorting and putting up the silverware is often his job. Big forks, little forks, big spoons, little spoons, slotted spoons, baby silverware, knives. Our sorting continues with what else, but LAUNDRY! Isaac sorts the colors for me. He gets to fold washcloths. Helps with more motorskills. These things may sound so simple and silly to be calling it school, but sadly, so many parents don’t teach their kids these simple things anymore. Not only is he learning some basic things like number, colors, categorizing, he's learning about responsibility and helping out around the house!
In the evenings, Isaac helps Daddy in the garden. Oh the possibilities for school here! More to come!
So today has been slow. We were playing on the back porch with chalk, and Isaac said, "I want to write some words!" I asked him to spell his name to me as I wrote it out. Success! What word do you want to write next? Mommy! How do you think you spell Mommy? I know he's seen these words many times, so I wanted to see how much he knew from sight. He said, "M-O....ummm." That was it, but I was still proud and encouraged him through!
We drew a series of pictures, and he asked me to write the words beneath. Kind of like our activity yesterday! he wanted to help out. He said, “Look, Mom! I made a G!” Sure enough, it was a G. Only backwards. I still encouraged him with such a good try. I’m pretty sure it was an M that followed the G!
So many beginnings, it is exciting to be apart of the process! I pretty much let him take the lead, and I guide the learning as he guides me. It is such a wonderful way to learn. He is excited.
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