Starting Education at 3

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   rachellrobinsonposted 13 years ago

   My son will be three years old soon, I would like to start teaching him some things, but I am not sure beyond ABC's what is a reasonable amount of learning I should expect out of him. Is three to young to learn how to read? What about writing? and how many hours a day should I spend on schooling? I would appreciate tips, and if three is too young please tell me also, I am bombarded with information that he should be learning stuff already and if he was in "head start" that he would be learning stuff, I don't want my son to fall behind because I am homeschooling.

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2. 62

   CASE1WORKERposted 13 years ago

   You probably are teaching him without realising.
   How many times when you are spooning sugar you say to him, one two three or lets go out to play at one and show him where the numbers are on the clock- its all teaching.
   Personally I started the reading lark when my kids were in the womb and started with earnest once they were born. Just tracing your fingers over the letters as you read the word can attract their attention. small accomplishments like writing their name can be so great- so my motto is make it fun and do as much as your child wants to do on any particular day.- if they dont want to do it- go out and look at the sky, plants, nature anything that stimulates the little mind

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   1. 84

      rachellrobinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome thank you, he likes to color, mostly scribble, at church though he likes the chalk board, he draws circles and I get so excited, I hope that helps him to want to keep learning.

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3. 62

   CASE1WORKERposted 13 years ago

   church groups are great as they are often multi age and the helpers often have no pre conceived ideas of ability and soooooo want the child to learn.
   
   well done i am sure he is a really happy little boy. mine are all much older now 12 through to 20!

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4. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   your son is still very young. there's a considerable difference between a young 3 and an older 3. at this age, learning should be fun with natural, learning activities that can be incorporated into play. you're right, there are so many different schools of thought as to what a 3 year old should be learning, but the better question to ask, is what is my 3 year old ready to learn?  a child will naturally show you when they are ready to 'learn' writing their letters. give him plenty of writing utensils to use, different kinds of paper. those dollar booklets at the dollar store are also fun for the older three.
   I have a degree in early childhood education and have taught for many years. now, the schools have basically brought the Kindergarten program to the 3-4 yr olds. although many can learn these skills early, for the most part, they are not developmentally ready to be holding a pencil properly. I have some hubs that may be helpful for you. there are some homeschooling sites listed on my best websites for preschool teachers. one of the benefits to preschool is the structure, so if you can keep a structured routine at home, it will help. their brains are like sponges at this age, so learning is optimum.

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   1. 84

      rachellrobinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well it's hard not to "compare" but what I see is other little kids my sons age who are much further a long and then I start to worry that I am not doing enough to aid in his development. His little friend who is a week older then him can practically dress himself and my son is still not wanting to even learn how to put on his shoes. But we do work on somethings, we don't work on ABC's that much, he loves books though and we spend a lot of time reading books or he likes to just sit on the couch and look at them by himself. He LOVES Scooby Doo, so I bought him a bunch of Scooby Doo Books hoping that will help him to learn his ABC's.

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5. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   I understand it's hard not to compare, it's a natural response.  I think one of the differences I see from kids that go to school is that sometimes the parents require their child to start these skills out of necessity. if parents are busy getting ready for work, they may lay out clothes for their child. maybe start with items of clothing that are easier and give him a chance to do it by himself.
   
   we could always tell the kids that didn't dress themselves, because the shirt had buttons or they were wearing a belt which was hard to put on. it's better to have easy to put on clothes when they start dressing themselves, and they will learn more easily. even if the shirt is backwards, it's an accomplishment!
   
   the library is a great place to take your child. give him a selection of books to choose from and tell him he can pick out 5, or however many you want for him. reading daily to him will help to increase his vocabulary and expose him to letters and words. a three yr. old can begin to understand that letters make up words and that's why we learn them. learning the alphabet and letter sounds should be fun.
   
   I thought I had homeschooling sites listed. there are helpful sites there homeschoolers can use.  you also might check some homeschool hubs at HP. I think there are quite a few.  here's a helpful site.
   http://www.first-school.ws/themes.html

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6. 68

   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Three is certainly not too young to read or learn. Two of my three kids were reading around the age of 3, and I was reading at that age as well.
   
   There is a fabulous series of books that I used with my kids that helped me with age-appropriate topics. My kids were not home-schooled, but I used to keep a couple of these ideas at hand for when we were riding in the car, in a restaurant, etc.
   
   What Every Preschooler Should Know is designed for ages 3 and 4. It is followed by What Ever Kindergartner Should Know, What Every First Grader Should Know, etc. Great series of books written by educators.

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   1. 84

      rachellrobinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I actually have What every kindergartner needs to know, and so on down the line, but I don't have What every Preschooler needs to know.

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   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

     this entire series is an excellent resource for parents and teachers.

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8. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   if he's almost 3, this is a good time to start. by the end of a school year, the average child in a 3 year old classroom knows the alphabet letters by sight and their sounds, numbers 1-15, basic shapes, colors, days of the week and months of the year.
   
   skills would include basic cutting skills (knowing how to hold safety scissors and hold the paper in order to cut), color inside lines, write his name, sort small counting items by size, shape and color, be able to identify which is small, smaller, smallest (just an example), be able to put 3-5 picture cards in order, like a plant growing from seed to a blossom or a baby growing into an adult. at the school (private) I worked at, the child had to know how to hold a pencil properly with a grip. we used fat pencils, but at the writing center, they had access to regular size pencils also.
   this is just a sampling of what you can be teaching your 3 year old. include songs, nursery rhymes and let him have different kinds of books. part of reading readiness comes from hearing lots of words and communicating.
   
   you could label his toy shelf with both a picture and the word on a card. the best toys are those in which he can build, connect, create, explore and count and sort. use open ended questions when working with him so he is using sentences to communicate.
   if you do this throughout the next year, your son will be on his way to school readiness. do something everyday, the time can increase as he matures. I hope this helps.
   and it helps to have him around other children at times for socialization and learning basic social skills.
   enjoy.

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9. 0

   gobanglaposted 13 years ago

   Three is a very good age to start. Try to incorporate learning into play and do a little throughout the day. Here a few things you should do:
   
   Start teaching phonics: the starfall website and Leapfrog Letter Factory are good ways to teach phonics in a fun way. Choose a letter and tape is up on your fridge and several times a day point to it and say the phonetic sound.
   
   Introduce a preschool workbook: Everything for Early Learning Preschool is a very good workbook. Only do one page a day. If he wants to do more, let him. But don't push him to do too much.
   
   Buy a tracing book: Kumon has a tracing book for 2 and up. Tracing is important for developing the motor skills needed to learn to write. At about 3.5 years, teach him to write simple capital letters, like L and H.
   
   Incorporate counting into everything: if you give him 3 strawberries count them out. If you are reading a book and there are two birds, count them. Also, do patterns, sorting and ordinal numbers. Introduce simple skip counting with chanting, rhyming and clapping to make it fun. For example, 2, 4, 6, 8. Everything fell off my plate. Then pretend that food has fallen off your plate and has made a big mess.

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