Friday, June 29, 2012

PreSchool

I almost have a preschooler...Wowser!

Isaac is turning 4 and that means preschool time.  And since we aren't super crazy about the idea of sending him to preschool for various reasons (mainly his learning style and our parenting philosophies) we are planning to "homeschool preschool".  Since I'm such a planner I am in the process of going through Pinterest and keeping my printer hopping!  I'm a big time planner so I need a structured lesson plan and schedule, now I dont think 4 year olds are ready for all day lessons, so as far as HE will know, there is no change. 

Parents/teachers, what skills do you think he really needs to focus on in "preschool".  We arent sure yet what our plans for Kindergarten are so I want to make sure he is prepared whatever we may chose. 

My list so far:
Alphabet
Numbers
Writing
Fine Motor skills (coloring, cutting, line tracing, etc.)
Matching
Shapes
Sequences (first, second, third, etc and smaller to bigger, and patterns, etc.)
Calendar/Days of the Week
Seasons
Units like insects, plants, weather, etc.

Okay moms and teachers...any input?  Any creative ideas for a rambunctious 4 year old boy?

2 comments:

Maranda said...

Academically, it sounds like you are right on track for your plans. Don't forget about things like being able to take care of himself totally in the bathroom department. Obviously going to the potty alone, but also being able to unbutton and unzip, and then vise versa.

Other items of importance are being able to recognize colors, write his name and recognize the letters in it, and be able to make a connection between letter sound and recognition of at least 10 letters. Being able to re-tell a short story and the ability to quickly catch on to rhymes or poems is a great skill. He needs to be able to put small puzzles together, skip, draw shapes, hop on one foot for at least 10 seconds, and identify major body parts.

I have a 4-5 year old progress form that I'd be happy to share with you if you'd like to look at it. It's the Kindergarten readiness form that many schools us. Paige was prepared through this method and is reading on a 2nd grade level during the 2nd week of Kindergarten.

Erin said...

I'd like that! I've been looking at the Kindergarten readiness off the Dept of Education webpage.
He knows all his colors, cant count to 15, knows almost all his letters, can spell his name, retells stories, works puzzles like a pro, and knows his body parts.

He is struggling with some fine motor stuff (buttons, snaps, hopping, skipping, writing, drawing), however we are in the process of evaluating for some PT/OT and he is about to start speech therapy as well.

This week he DID write his name, not that it was recognizable to anyone but me, who saw him do it, but it was a start. I was excited about it!