Book recommendations please!

[silkenladder]

This may be a little off-topic, but I have been asked to give English lessons to kindergarten (ie. pre-literate) children aged from 4 to 6. I have plenty of experience teaching TEFL to adults, but planning lessons for such young children is proving quite a headache.

Then I was reading a thread recently and HE came up and someone mentioned a book called, I think, Free Range Kids? It started me thinking that maybe there would be some ideas in it to help me with my kindergarten lessons. (From speaking to the parents it is clear that they are concerned that the lessons not be too formal, rather than being concerned that the children will learn a lot.)

Has anyone read that book or any others that they think could be of some use? I'm looking for information about the way children learn, especially in the early years, rather than polemics about the dangers of institutionalising children, as HE is illegal in Germany and I don't want to get ideas...

Website recommendations would also be very welcome.

How about MuddlePuddle?
A HE site aimed especially at children aged 8 and under.

Free Range Education-if that is the one you were thinking of, is a book written by 20 different families talking about HE works for them.

I don't know that many of us would have experience of planning lessons for groups of young children, except the few of us who happen to be teachers as well as home educators. Not sure why you've posted here - I should think you'd get more useful input on one of the other boards.

I'm afraid I don't have any book recommendations for you because it isn't an area I know about... but I do know that whichever book you want, Free Range Kids isn't it! That one is about avoiding paranoid parenting and allowing children to take risks. That doesn't sound relevant to what you have in mind.

Good luck figuring it out!

Reading out story books to them/with them so they can see the pictures and make fun noises/repeat familiar phrases out loud with you.

Some books are peaceful and others are more full of scary animals/dark woods...

Singing, chatting about life. All that involves using the spoken word and I would guess that is the basis for literacy, expanding vocab gradually and enjoying words and concepts. Chatting with the children at their pace, not causing embarrassment or shame for them not knowing something.

I had a lovely time being a mother helper at pre-school once. I parked myself in the book corner on the floor and the children chose the books they wanted me to read. They came and went freely and we loved it. It was a peaceful haven so they just went off when they were ready to play with something else.

Thanks for your replies.

julienoshoes muddlepuddle looks great and has already given me some ideas.

TooJung that's a great suggestion to read picture books with them. I'd been thinking, oh I can't do x until I've taught them a,b,c, etc., but of course that's how my own dd is learning language, the words that interest her most are the first to stick.

Saracen I understand that it might seem a strange place to post this query, but I thought people on here might have expertise in informal learning, whereas primary and other teachers are already teaching to a curriculum. I have found other resources on the internet which are helpful, but reading about HE has already made me realise that I can be much less linear in my approach to these lessons.

Thanks for the heads up about Free Range Kids/Education. It certainly doesn't sound like what I was looking for. I found the other thread listing recommended books, it sounds like one or two might be of some use.

It's great that what I am saying is bringing you back to what you are seeing in your own daughter.

Have fun with MuddlePuddle and any other HE blogs you find.