The Preschoolers Home Ed Thread

[MathsMadMummy]

Hi all, I thought we could do with a thread for posting activity ideas and so on, for those of us with preschool-age children (whether or not you're planning to HE them officially).

Today I made a papier mache mountain and we talked about the letter sound /m/. This built on /h/ which DD has been obsessed with since seeing a helicopter. We're gradually making a start with Jolly Phonics.

Been a bit lazy with 'learning stuff' lately though, as potty training has been the (very successful) project this week!

Looking forward to hearing what you're all up to with your little ones

What a fab idea for a thread...thank you!
We had a magical day yesterday, hope you don't mind if I share it with you!
DD1 (age 2.9) DD2 (4months) and I took a water taxi down the canal (new exciting experience for all of us) and then a train to the next village, had a walk and picnic then spotted some artists painting in a park.
DD1 was fascinated and got talking to a lovely lady artist who invited her to come and see her paintings in a local gallery close by. So we went in and found a room full of artists from all around the world painting local scenery and displaying their work.
DD1 has only started making marks on paper in the last month or so- absolutely no interest before that, but was spell-bound. When I mentioned that it was time to leave she had a huge tantrum (witnessed by all!) and I was just contemplating how best to tuck her under my arm and beat a hasty retreat when our artist friend came and asked her why she was so upset.
DD1 (hiccuping and sniffing dramatically) announced to the whole room in her most emphatic voice "The thing is... that I just wanted to paint a picture too!"
Cue 20 artists running around fetching a chair, a table, brushes, paper and finest gouache paint "if the child wishes to paint let her paint!"
So DD sat happily and painted a splendid abstract picture which was duly framed and exhibited for the rest of the day...
Couldn't have orchestrated a lovelier art lesson if I'd tried!

aw that's so sweet! hope you've got some paint at home

DD does painting at nursery but I'd never done it at home with her. finally did the other day - found it quite stressful I must do it more and learn to relax about the mess!

I'd got some cardboard numbers 0-9 so DD was painting them. when they're finished we'll add some sequins/glitter/varnish to keep them nice and then we'll use them for various number games, if I can think of any!

Can we revive this thread?

I've been doing a few HE bits with DS1 3.1 and DS2 22mths, but I want to get really stuck in after the holidays.

So far we do something outside in the morning- a walk, shopping, swimming, charity litter pick 1 day per week. I'm trying to do different activities with them each afternoon such as drawing, play doh etc.

I'm struggling a little as I'm trying to cut down on their TV watching but their attention spans are quite short so I need about 4 activities in an afternoon to keep them occupied!

I was just thinking about this thread the other day, you've saved me the effort of finding it :o

I'm the OP, have namechanged a few times.

DD starts back at her second term of Playgroup tomorrow, long story short she loves it so we aren't HEing... Applied for school place this week actually. Sad, but exciting IYSWIM!

Anyway, DD has suddenly got very good at writing over dotted/faint lines so we've decided to start doing letters properly, as it's hard to undo bad habits like writing letters the wrong way. Got various resources including a poster and workbooks and she is desperate to start writing tomorrow!

It's been quite stressful for a while, DH has been off work with a back injury and will find out this week if he needs surgery. The positive of this is that he's been around more - DD's speech has improved too.

Looking forward to sharing more ideas :)

I've just been reading this thread (will have to go back and read more in-depth) and think it's a wonderful idea. BabyScout is 14 months and I'm always on the look out for new experiences to offer and things to try, as well as our daily things like trucks, books, crayons/paper, etc.

We have set up a "pom pom table" -- think water and/or sand table but with pom poms. It's too cold to do sand and water outside and too messy to do inside (plus we do lots of water play in the bathtub). We also painted and for the first time in AGES BabyScout didn't try to eat the paint and/or the brush. I have wonderful sunshines on my refrigerator now. It's been a fun Friday!

Over the last few days, DD1 has drawn maps, written her first ever word without help (it was "car"), found out about flags, the digestive system and floods and done lots and lots of playing :)

I miss her :( She's at nursery every day, and i work full time, but I've had a few days off ill and seen her do all this from my vantage point under the duvet. She is registered to start school in september - I'm not happy :(

Are any of you in Eastbourne??! I'd love to meet up with you! You're on my same wavelength!

This thread had come off my watched list. Glad I found it again. Now in a home of our own and dh has found a job so I'm back on track with home learning etc.

We've done lots at home and dd has started playschool. She only goes one day a week but seems distraught by it. Everyone is telling me to put her in more to build her up but I want to use that time at home. I've ditched eyfs because dd seems ahead of their checklists. But I'm stuck, I can see her developing but not really sure how to build on things. Like she knows shapes and can draw a circle or a straight line but how can I build on this? Drawing them over and over she's bored with.

And previously she could count to say five, but now she just runs away with herself reciting up to say fifteen without actually counting anymore. I feel a bit lost as to where to go with it. Hence we play shops, count and use money. Is that enough?

Yes, that's enough, TDW. If you concentrate on doing stuff rather than on totting up if it is educational and if it is on a line from previous skill, it may all get easier. If you do anything involving numbers (e.g. baking), let your DD do it and support her if she needs it.

She can draw (paint, chalk, etc.) whatever she wants rather than "practising shapes". Make greetings cards rather than buying them, then she can design her own.

What is she interested in? Do that - who cares if it is in EYFS? Have you considered learning an instrument or another language?

OK, full time job QUIT. I can earn enough part time from home.

Wednesday - day trip to the winter gardens. DD1 learned about maps, read signs (including the new concept of capital letters), felt plants and talked about how they were adapted to where they grow, looked at a reconstruction of a mine and one of a kitchen, and talked about how the kitchen was different to hers, looked through magnifying glasses at things that had been found under the ground, made up a story about living with fishes in a bed of leaves and generally had a whale of a time :). DD2 did some crawling, standing up, practised fine motor control by eating peas, and learned to say "ffffffffff...sshhhh" (ie fish).

Thursday - Aquarium trip - lots of different fish and animals, talked about all the differences between them, had a frankly baffling game of octonauts, lots of public transport so timetables, fares, reading, chatting about what we saw, singing to keep the baby amused, ride on the ferry, long chat about all the different shops and what they sell.

Friday - nursery day (during which I phoned the potential school, as well as the HE lady at the local council...HE lady was the friendliest. Trying not to let this colour our decision. Have made appointments to look round the school and to speak to DD1s nursery key worker about how she is doing). When the kids came home we opened a letter they had been sent from my Nana and replied (DD1 dictated a letter to me, both kids drew pictures, DD1 signed her name) DD1 has been invited to a birthday party of a friend, so she is excited about that.

Today - I attempted to have a bath in the daytime, which of course meant that DD1 decided to come in and ask me questions about my body. Quite an interesting conversation about why some adults remove body hair, and how men tend to only remove it from their face, but some women remove it from under their arms and on their legs too, but they don't have to. Then off to a local library that was reopening after a refurb, to see the gruffalo making a celebrity appearance. Then DD2 did some walking/climbing/general rough play with me while DD1 played snakes and ladders with DH and helped him clean the kitchen.

Now the kids are at the ILs for a sleepover and I really should be doing my tax return!

Butter - you've inspired me. I need to look more at what dd is achieving through our activities. She's just announced that snails eat lettuces and gave me repeated renditions of "two fat sausages". So she must be learning something lol.

Sdeuchers - you filled me with horror, if her skills on her recorder are anything to go by, I can't see her taking up an instrument. But we do lots like making cards etc. I need to look at what she's learning rather than worrying about what I'm instilling.

I am pleased this thread is alive again! I have 9 day old DS2 so I am otherwise engaged with him at the moment but my DH made a card post box last night and has bought DS1 a notecard set so he can write letters to post, we can also talk about stamps and maybe use his blow up globe to ask which country he would post things to and how the post could travel there. DS1 is 2.11.

At the end of my pregnancy we made paper mache for the first time which he loved and we have a proud robot creation which he wanted to make like the harry and the dinosaurs book. One session making it, one session painting it and one session decorating with stickers and feathers. So it was a good little project!

DS1 doing lots of unprompted counting at the moment, we got some orchard games at Christmas and he has enjoyed those too. He also has started asking what signs say so I am going to make some signs to put around the house.

Ives no sorry we are in Newcastle!

Sorry I'm in the east mids.

Getting some good ideas on this thread. We've not attempted papier mache yet and I just know dd would love that. Last night she kept telling me she was a plane ready to take off. Today we made a picture of vehicles and stuck them in their respective areas of land, sea and sky. She amazed me by knowing a hot air balloon. Then we went to east mids airport, took her inside to see and then to a hill nearby to watch the planes take off and land.

A really great day where she talked about all things we could ride on. We've promised her a train journey later in the week.

Well, part of my family is still "pre-school", so I am going to stay on this lovely thread :)

Today we went to the local supermarket. We worked our way through the shopping list, and the children scanned all the items at the automatic till, and put the money in and put the change in the purse. They also chatted with the lady who looks after the automatic till and helped her key in the number of one item whose barcode wouldn't scan.

Then they led the way home (quite a complicated route), pausing only to investigate (closely) a postman doing his rounds, some workmen digging up a road, and some leaves blowing wildly in the wind, round and round in a vortex, which they joined in with.

Sometimes it is the most ordinary of days that are the most creative.

We used to make a papier mache pinata for birthday parties. You get the fun of making and painting it and then bashing it to bits at the party! Lots of fun.

Hey butterpie! Wow, so does that mean you are possibly back to HE?

Anyway, hello all :) nice to see the thread still going.

Still uber stressful here, I'm really starting to feel like preschool is tiring DD out too much. It's so weird - she's an absolute angel at school and often a stressy monster at home :( but she absolutely loves school so she's still going. It's getting me down though, I get so frustrated with her I really feel like I'm failing, not doing enough Stuff with her. ATM she goes nuts if not constantly entertained and she's constantly fighting with her little brother.

So I think I need to have a bit more structure but I've no idea how to do this... Any tips? (sorry for bringing down the mood...)

Another good morning.

The gas men came round to do the annual gas check. We all watched and helped for the hour it took them (I think reading stories to children probably isn't on their normal job sheet, but they seemed perfectly happy about that!)

And then we did sponge painting with a fabby fabby new set of sponges, and some other crafty-type stuff

:)

BabyScout has been helping me with the laundry -- dirty towels in the washer then out of the washer and in and out.... Then he's been practicing opening and closing (and opening and closing and opening and closing) by doing the door on the washer for me. He also practiced pushing by closing the detergent drawer.

Might as well start him young!

We've done a lot of playing with dyed pasta shapes and colored rice, coloring and painting. My kitchen is beginning to look like an art gallery.

Oh, and he's mastered walking (YAY!) so I'd say that's a lot of "education" in the past week or so.

Can I join this thread? Just taken DS2 out of nursery. He's 3.5. Various people have looked askance and asked me how he's going to socialise, and won't he get behind his peer group academically, but I figured that he'd get to meet a much wider range of people if he's with me all day, and I can probably help him develop pre-reading skills just as well as the nursery staff, who can't even spell things like "painting easle" and "roll play".

I have a rough plan for the week ahead, but we may just go with the flow.

welcome!

Great thread with some excellent ideas - love the map ideas in particular - my son is crazy about mazes. Can I join in too?

@skiphopskidaddle
Sounds like we are in a similar position - I have had it up to here with lousy nurseries/pre-schools and am now keeping my DS (nearly 4) at home for the forseeable future. At home he paints and plays music and gardens and cooks and is on the go from dawn till dusk. At pre-school all they wanted him to do was sit still with nice "nursery knees". And don't get me started on the illiteracy of the staff!
I am not making any promises about HE for the long term (fretting about socialisation) but at the moment this is certainly the route we are going.

Nice to see more additions to this thread.

I looked at the imagination tree blog but found a lot of stuff i already do with DD so was quite happy with that. It is a great place for ideas though. I have poached the idea of a toddler sewing basket, I got plastic sewing needles, wool and some plastic sewing mesh. DD having a great time sewing different coloured threads through.

We also seem to have the craft table set up constantly here at the moment, the imagination tree website does have some stuff with the magnetic wooden numbers and letters that you can get from GLTC but I think I'm going to buy plain wooden ones and paint them myself. Maybe for an easter gift rather than a mountain of chocolate.

My DD is as playschool once a week and she truly hates it, is desperatly clingy since starting before xmas but I have to work that one day. I'm not against nurseries etc but Im such an advocate for home play etc for preschoolers that its truly going against the grain. When they comment that DD is too attached to her key worker, I worry. Surely a 2yr old should be forming healthy attachments. I'm thinking a childminder may be better for my own ethos and her clingy state but i'm just reinforcing the problem then I'm certain.

Today my 3 year old learnt not to hit mummy just because she wont share her sweeties.

It's a valuable life lesson.