What learning do you do with a 4 year old at home?

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What learning do you do with a 3 year old at home?

We do some CGP maths, writing and reading workbooks. We cut with scissors, trace lines and shapes with pencil, colouring books, bake and do crafts.
I also read bedtime stories and free play with dolls, doll house etc..

Should I be focusing on something else?

No, that sounds pretty much perfect.

Playdoh/clay, squeezing a spray bottle (like to water plants) and squeezing a sponge (like if you were washing a car for example) are great ways to strengthen the hand muscles they'll need for writing.

Matching is a great pre-reading skill so games like pairs are great or giving them a range of things and categorising/sorting them is also good.

Building maths into everyday activities is great too, board games are very good for this (Orchard toys do great ones) or playing shop with plastic (or real) money.

Most important at this age are personal skills like being able to dress themselves and toilet independently and social skills like sharing, taking turns, listening skills, respecting other people's space/wishes, being able to ask for help and expressing their own personal boundaries.

We just play and read really. It's more fun for me and children learn through play, so they say! We don't have any workbooks.

No need to be doing workbooks. Read lots of good quality books to them and talk about the story. Play with them. Make up stories. Go to the park. Run around, and don’t feel you have to occupy them all the time. It’s ok for them to be bored - helps them to become more independent and entertain themselves.

They're 3, play is learning at all ages but especially as young as 3. Nothing needs to be formally planned in so definitely ditch the workbooks unless your child specifically picks it up and asks to do it.

If you're talking to them, modelling things to them and engaging with them, they'll be learning so much already. They'll be picking up vocabulary, learning about taking turns and picking up everyday skills and routines simply through watching you.

It's lovely that you're keen to help your child but 3 year olds don't need coaching. They just need someone to engage with them and show an interest. The rest will come naturally.

Workbooks definitely not right for this age - they’ve got at least 12 years of formal schooling ahead of them, so it should be more around talking to them a lot, simple counting, colouring, physical skills such as kicking and catching a ball, and life skills such as getting dressed, lacing shoes, etc.

I play with her and we read and she loves colouring and crafts but that's it. Unless there are additional needs (which my older child has) there is no need to be worried about things like this.

Lots of time outside, talk about the leaves falling off the trees and where the animals go in the winter, look for bugs under leaves , grow a hyacinth bulb in water, feed the birds…

Honestly, fuck all. We play games do crafts, go places, fulfil the obsessive requests to read Fairy magic books, cook, cuddle, watch Disney and I have a happy child.

For my older girl we were in lockdown at this age and we did all of the dough disco, phonics, maths and who knows what else. Academically she’s on track but her mental health isn’t great.

My parenting style has changed a lot.

No workbooks here.

Playdoh
Jigsaws
Marble runs / train track building / den building
Water play (pots pans jugs paint brushes)
Lots of stories
Letter recognition of the letters in their name "ooh look there's a R, R for Rosie" type thing
Self care - teeth brushing, putting coat on, already toilet trained so pants up down flushing loo and hand washing, making bed
Lots of chats about weather, plans, people, fast/slow, hot/cold, safe/dangerous etc.

You sound like you're doing plenty already.

Agree with PP that about the basic self care tasks, when my DCs started school we were given a list of things to tick that they can do, ie: I can fasten my own coat. It's a huge help for the teachers and will give your DD confidence. It's things like put on own shoes, go to the toilet and get redressed, fasten coat, use a fork, etc.

DD was 3 in lockdown and a lot of the home school tasks we got from nursery were around developing motor skills for example with PlayDoh, they used to do 'dough disco' whereby they would copy a video on YouTube to a well known song/nursery rhyme. They also used to make their names from Playdoh which helped them recognise their own name too.

You could get some fun flash cards for learning numbers, etc. DD used to love them.

Does your DD go to nursery? If so she'll already be covering a lot of things there.