Getting into the habit of doing homework is a great one to instill in your child. As some people may know E and I have a half hour of 'schooltime' every day. Usually it is from 1-1:30pm though some days we do different things so it can change. It
started as a result of E being at home with me 24/7 and me not wanting to waste time and also desiring to encourage her concentration. It worked wonders. She learnt her alphabet, how to sound words as a start to reading, her numbers and some basic math as well as how to write her name, draw straight lines along a ruler, use scissors sensibly and various other things too. In time it will translate to homework time.
The main piece that I wrote at that time can be found here:
http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/1482/School-aged-3/
Now she is at pre-school for 2.5 hours a day. It doesnt sound long, but it has been knocking her out. I stopped doing school time for the past 3 weeks because each time we ventured to do it she got frustrated too easily and then felt she was failing. But we kept up her computer play time which has educated her a little and maintained her interest in learning as well as providing her the oportunity to learn how to spell her name on the keyboard while having IM convos with family members. These past two days she has been asking to do school time again each day, so starting next week we shall begin again with a proper structure.
This is the routine I use, there are myriad things we can do for each one, so we rarely repeat exactly from week to week anything we do. But we do cover a lot in our sessions. It is dedicated time when I concentrate on her 100% and she soaks it all up. I stop at half an hour - regardless of how much she wants me to carry on because I dont want her to lose interest and by limiting the time it keeps her interest.
- Monday - alphabet activities
- Tuesday - writing her name, joining the dots
- Wednesday - some craft type thing - drawing, ruling lines, cutting with scissors
- Thursday - number games - she is rather good at sudoku
- Friday - baking, water play, sticking, alternative activities.
When I asked at the pre-school about doing this stuff at home she was pleased that I was taking an interest and sid that what I was doing was OK (apparently some schools dont like parents to start teaching because they use different methods). Thankfully this school sees that she needs to learn certain things, and as long as the end result is successful then the method to get there hardly matters. When I asked about teaching letter names or sounds she said that although the govt. guidelines here in the UK have changed back to phonetic methods it is best to teach both! Awesome for us.
The govt. also changed guidelines for structured nursery/pre-school input this year so that they are no longer allowed to structure the activities, but must instead have many things available at all times and then the children can do what they wish - this means that some children may never do anything other than play in the dolls house, or sit in the book corner. So by giving some constructive help at home - going at her pace always - I am doing more than the pre-school are permitted to do until the term before school starts. Then they are allowed to give a limited structure to prepare the chlidren of that age group for school the next term.
If you are thinking about doing pre-school from home:
1) Check with the local school for how they like to do things, they should be able to give you some guidance.
2) Do it at the pace of your child, going at your pace instead of the childs will be too fast or too slow. Allow them to lead, just have enough info ready for each session.
3) Half an hour is a good amount of time as it leads to encouraging concentration, but is short enough that you will not likely run out of activities to do.
4) There are myriad books with appropriate activities in them be it based on some TV character or the government cirruculum booklets. All are relatively affordable and have a great variety of activities.
5) There are some great websites with pictures for colouring in as well as other activities in them. Including sending e-cards which E loves to do....Mum gets a couple most days...LOL
6) Be imaginative. It is easy to do so much with very little effort and loads of good results on part of your child.
I hope this helps some people out there and that your children flourish under your guidance.
Peace
EF.x
(October 2006) (
