Preschool at Home

I use this website:
http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/index.htm
You can try to plan out things, but really there isn't any real reason to. Shapes, colors, cutting with scissors. That is what I would focus on.

There's really nothing she has to learn. The best schools don't use a set curriculum, they let children learn through playing with each other, doing crafts, and reading time. As long as you keep working on letters and numbers and take her to play groups for social interaction, library story times, museums, etc...she'll be fine:)
There are plenty of people who can't afford preschool and don't have an option other than schools that charge a tuition. They do just fine in kindergarten:)

It sounds like she is doing great for her age. Read to her a lot and count everything. Have her make journals by drawing a picture of anything she wants and "write" a story about it. Her "writing" can be anything she considers writing. You can even show her how to writer her name. She can trace her name. This is all just fun practice. She's doing great already. Congratulations on your new little one!

I have a copy of the standards that are expected for a prek child in CT if you would like me to send them to you then I can attach them via email. I got them from where I used to work, it is a teaching school also, and they are they offical standards for ct.

Colors, shapes. I think really, that children this age need character boot camp. :) It's a great opportunity for you to really help her learn to share, to be kind in speech and action, to think of others first, to be polite, to be thankful. So many children struggle with these basic principles. What a blessing that you get to spend this time with her to teach her these things. I would read to her as often as she is interested. Ask what color various things on the pages are, what shape they are, what letter is that (capital and lower case), etc. Do puzzles, have her practice "writing" in either sand or rice or something like that, color, fine motor skills. All the things that 3 year olds naturally do at home among the family who loves them.

when i was a kindergarten teacher the things we expected our kids to know coming into kindergarten was: letters, numbers to 20, colors, shapes and how to write their names (one capital letter and the rest lowercase). seems like she is right on track.

I think the only thing kids really learn in pre-school is how to play with others. I'm sure she is doing fine, and maybe you can just find her some little friends to play with so she can develop her social skills.

Sounds like she's probably on track. You didn't mention colors or shapes, I think she should know some. I remember my kids entry to kindergarten, they checked that they knew colors, shapes, numbers (I think they wanted them to know up to 20, but by the end of the year they knew up to 100), body parts (elbow and knee includes, and ankle). They didn't need to know the sounds of letters, they learned that in K, but I'm sure it helped if they did they should know how to use sizzors, even if it's not great, glue, etc. If you do crafts with her and she just learns though play, that's the best. Even at preschool kids don't do a lot of structured learning, it's all learn though play. Like maybe let her help you make cookies one day, or use playdoh.

Pick up a copy of "The Well Trained Mind". I use it for homeschooling my kids. It has an embedded curriculum (resources and how to use them) for pre-k through high school.

You could always take her to the library for story time. That way, she is practicing sitting still and listening to another person.
Also, I love watching my 3 yo interact with other kids her age. Do you have a neighbor who has kids- or try to find a playgroup.
There are lots of MOMS Clubs, Mothers and More, or early childhood PTA's.
Have fun!

Truthfully she is 3, there is nothing she needs to be learning academically.

I didn't have an agenda when my children were young, we just interacted with each-other at home. Cooked together, talked together during the day, sat and read books today, etc.

There are plenty of things out there that can accomplish more than that, just remember that they teach the basics in kindergarten. She might be pretty bored if you teach her everything now.

I have a day care at home and my children are from 1-5. I copied a huge sort of book from online the Texas Cuurriculum Guidelines and go by that. They know come computer skills and are learning words but three are over 3 so you have time. My children have learned to drop and drag and control the mouse and they have gone through writing all the letters and are still learning the sounds. I got some simple books they can remember the words and then I flip pages for them so they have to recognize the words as well. They can write their names. Count and we are learning adding and subtrackting. Just keep pushing more things one at a time. They are like sponges and the ones that do not want to learn are still learning by watching the others interact. I got work books from Staples and copy the pages for the kids to do. They trace the letters over and over. G. W

I am a veteran home schooler of 12 years. Numbers can be tricky. Just recognizing numbers and names of numbers is one thing, but learning relationships between numbers and what they mean is another thing. You can get a tape measure or a yard stick and go around the house and measure things like a book, refrigerator, door, their height, you name it.

Colors are good to work on. Read interesting history books for children. Coloring books or punch out paper dolls about history characters.

As far as reading, you can start with books that have some pictures and words in sentences with mostly short vowel 3 letter words. Other than that, just open the world to her by reading to her. Let her fall in love with the written word. This will give her a love of books that she will take with her for a lifetime.

Don't push too hard. One hour a day of "school" at the age of 3 is more than enough. Go with her interest level. Good luck.

K. Voigtsberger
www.wholeheartbirth.com

Definitely colors and shapes. Also sorting, learning how to categorize items, and being able to generate a list of items in a particular category without prompting. For example, your child may know what a flower is, but would she know how to list types of flowers, such as a rose or a daisy or a dandelion? Or if you ask her to name types of food, could she say beans, broccoli, chicken, etc. without prompting? I was surprised that my child was referred to a speech therapist because she could tell you what category a particular noun belonged to, but she couldn't come up with examples of other nouns in that category on her own. They're really picky about communication skills these days, perhaps because kindergarten is so much more structured than it was back in my day. Preschool is where they want to get children up to speed so they can be prepared for the rigors of kindergarten. It's sad, really.