'Home Curriculum' for children going to preschool

Hi everyone,

I am a working mom of a 2 and a half year old. My son goes to Montessori preschool 3 days a week (this will change to 5 days a week 8:30-2:30 soon so that he has a routine). I have been doing many activities with my son but now I am not sure how I should follow the ‘curriculum for home’.

I was worried about over stimulation since he already does Montessori activities in school but he enjoys what we do. One of my family members warned me that if I teach him everything at home, he may not have the drive to go to school and learn there since he already knows most things. He does get bored when they do things he knows but his teacher gives him other activities that he shows interest in (I love Montessori :slight_smile: ).

I wanted to know what curricula other ‘non homeschooling’ moms follow and what are your kids routines like? Do you do more right brain activities at home Tweedlewink etc to balance what is done in school? I am afraid most of what we do is ‘left brain’ stimulation. Most of the curricula I see online are for home schooled children and I am not able to always follow them.

Right now, we are doing (over one week, one subject a day):

Hooked on phonics
Jones Genius- math and English
Some Singapore math
Soft Mozart
Will start Swimming next week
I want to do flashcards but am not able to do LR daily so I was looking into Tweedlewink- any suggestions?
I would love to make activities like those suggesting in ‘counting coconuts blog’ but am not able to do more than 1 a week.

Thanks in advance,
Shaman

I think a right brain program like Tweedlewink or Wink will balance out the left brain activities that he’s doing most of the day. Also, how about a preschool art program like Artistic Pursuits?

Right now, with Ella, I am using:

Artistic Pursuits Pre-K curriculum
All About Spelling level 1
Handwriting Without Tears program
Tweedlewink (will be starting Wink soon)
Soft Mozart
Right Start Math (she has finished JG Matrix Math but I think Right Start is a better fit for her learning style)
Early Start French program
Rosetta Stone Spanish
and, of course, reading lots of books in English, Chinese, and Spanish. (I leave the French-reading to her daycare teacher because my French is atrocious! :blush: )

In August, she will be going to the Yamaha Junior Music Course once a week, and also, swimming and soccer.

That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard :wacko: . That if you teach him more at home he’ll be bored with school. Not true at all and even more so with Montessori. Since Montessori is about discovering to being with.
A child in a Montessori setting will always be learning something they didn’t know and they do have the flexibility to challenge him too. So that’s just crazy to even hear. Children are always learning and they never want to stop. So if he happens to get bored then its your responsibility as his parent to go to his school and make the proper arrangements to make sure they are working at challenging him. You don’t dumb down your kid in fear of him being board. :frowning:

I understand the bored sentiment, and sadly in some situations it is true. Steps can be taken differently though, doing “horizontal” enrichment (things not taught in school) ir advocating for the child. It’s just less of a problem in Montessori.

With that said, I am doing what you are doing. :slight_smile: I have a 4 year old in Montessori and I supplement at home. One thing I’ve done I wish I hadn’t was having Montessori materials at home. They were no longer novel at school, and his attitude of already knowing how to do it was not all that appreciated. (I’m not advocating for not supplementing though!). I just wish I hadn’t used the tools someone else was using with him elsewhere. I did not give him an edge. Perhaps if he were more mature, or more compliant, instead of an active boy, he would have just been able to demonstrate his knowledge and move on. It’s mostly straightened out now, I just won’t be doing that again with my second.

Is your child in a toddler program or primary? Perhaps going into primary next year? That would definitely give so much more in terms of education.

What we are doing right now, and basic schedule:

Calendar/Geography lesson upon wake up (home-made, just look at the day, read what’s on the agenda, and talk about and locate one state each day)

Math worksheet at breakfast table (we are currently using 1st grade Jump Math workbook, but will soon change to Jones Geniuses)

Memory work at breakfast table as a family. (using CM method)

School (listen to Suzuki music in transit)

Home from school, we have snack and he does Handwriting without Tears program (I really cannot say enough good things about this program). He’s almost done with the pre-k version, and then we will move on to the kindergarten workbook

We then either play word or phonics games. Sometimes I print out words for him to decode and pictures and use the brillkids binder. I’ve also got a lot of other games. Sometimes we play go fish or memory with phonogram cards. Some days we don’t have time or one of us is grouchy and we skip it. I’m using the curriculum “Rocket Phonics” and adapted it a little for him. We are about to ramp up in the summer though, I’m excited! I would like to try All About Spelling when we are done with this program (which is a “light” phonics program), and go through all the levels of AAS to give him a thorough phonics education. (I never did any whole language learning with him, but am using little reader with my second, I will have to see when we get there for her which phonics programs we use).

Then, he can pick a quiet activity (legos, modeling clay, etc.) and I do a read aloud. Currently, I pick a book and then he picks a book.

After that, on days he doesn’t have any extracurriculars, I encourage him to play in the back yard for a bit. Or, he’ll play with whatever he wants inside, or he’ll follow me around…

We’ve just stopped (or are taking a long haitius) from Suzuki violin, but if your child is receptive I highly highly recommend it. I’m looking into private percussion lessons instead, as my child is much more interested in percussion instruments. We haven’t ironed the details out yet though. Some after school music instruction or class may be fun though.

He has Tae Kwon Do twice a week in the afternoon, and a science class at the library once a week (that’s stopping for the summer though).

At dinner, I sometimes have more Jump Math or Kumon worksheets, if he wants to do them. He also sometimes watches an educational video (leapfrog, preschool prep sight words, bill nye, readeez, etc.), but moreso on the weekends. We usually don’t have time on the weekdays. I some times flash him EK bits I have for my daughter (he actually really likes them, I could probably do more, but they are honestly of low priority).

After dinner and before desert, he reads a book to us, and we keep inching up the level. He’s currently going through the BOB books, though they are quite easy for him now, he gets a new one each day. When we’re done with them, I plan to purchase the Usborne graded readers and work up those each night. We add a paper link to his paper link chain in his bedroom for each new book he reads independently. While he eats dessert, I read some more to him (this time, it’s usually picture books, his choice). Then it’s bedtime.

Oh, and one more educational thing I fit in was a “tie breaker” cup. A mason jar with craft sticks in it and each craft stick has a number on it. When the kids get into a fight (or even a kid an adult and need to decide who gets to pick something), each person picks a stick and the “greater” one wins. Right now, random numbers between 0-100 are educational for both of my kids, but in the future I plan to use equations (getting more and more complex).

Our ‘homeschool’ curriculum I do with my 4yr old is :
Touch Math, Brillkids, and Christian Light Curriculum ( love it). I do it when she asks or if I have a spare moment. She’s already in preschool so I don’t like to press my luck. Whatever we get in, we get in.

Dear aangeles
when u mentioned early start french program . do u mean this one http://www.earlystart.co.uk/es-french1a.htm#
if so, can u please tell us if u like it and how it is different from other french DVDs?
thank you

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

Aangeles,
thanks for suggesting artistic pursuits, it seems like an interesting program. I will look into getting Tweedlewink- I had stopped flash cards and LR for some time and started it a couple of days ago to see if he is still interested in those and the response was good. :slight_smile:
How do you fit all these programs in a day? or do you plan it on a weekly basis?
I think I need to get more organized with his curriculum.

TracyR4,
even when my son was a baby, he would look away from flashcards after some time- that was when he knew what they were and would show interest with the new cards. He does something similar at school. I have met with his teacher multiple times and have explained to her what we did and are doing. She watches him closely and gives him something that is a little more challenging. I am lucky to have found such a teacher for my son. She did mention that I should try methods other than Montessori for my son. He is a well behaved and a non-aggressive child but the boredom problem is very true in his case. It is becoming a challenge for me to keep up with his hunger for learning something new all the time- its amazing how kids soak up things!

Maquenzie,
Thank you for sharing your experience with me. I was making the same mistake of doing Montessori at home too and his teacher asked me to do otherwise. The materials don’t seem to be as interesting at home sometimes- I tried to use chop sticks as counters once and asked him to place it with the numbers- he looked at me and asked ‘where is the box my teacher uses?’- He was talking abt the spindle box :blush: and didnt want to do anything with the chop sticks anymore- he probably didnt want to count at that time, but this became a good excuse for him to use :slight_smile:

You have an awesome schedule. I will use that as a guide to get more organized and plan his day well. My son is in the toddler program now- hopefully the ‘5 days a week to set a routine’ thing will work.

Thanks again :slight_smile: ,

Shaman