Hello! And…what activities to do with my 3 year old

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  • November 28, 2012 at 8:06 pm
    HaRae
    Participant

    Hello, I am Hannah.

    I have a 3 and a half year old and 1 year old, and at this point we are planning on homeschooling them. I have been doing some reading about Charlotte Mason and I am attracted to this approach.

    I have not been able to get my hands on the “Early Years” book yet. Is it a good read? Does it have good advice on habit training?

    We love outdoors time, but with winter weather coming on, we are not likely to be spending hours and hours outdoors in the next few months. What are some good indoor activities that we can do, especially with the 3 year old? He is reading simple sentences (I’m trying not to push, just to go with his own pace and level of excitement) and enjoys listening to stories (I try to reserve quality books from the library so that we don’t get stuck with just whatever is there). We enjoy normal household activities (cooking, caring for chickens) and family games (Go Fish, puzzles, beanbag toss, etc.).

    Is there anything I’m missing? Any advice on progressing with his reading skills in an age-appropriate manner?

    Thanks for any advice or brainstorms you can give! 

    November 28, 2012 at 8:24 pm
    Tristan
    Participant

    You can get an idea of what the Early Years book covers by reading their blog 7 part series on that same topic: http://simplycharlottemason.com/series/the-early-years/

    I’ve not read that book but love all theSCM products I have purchased.

    Habit training is the #1 thing right now, so create lots of opportunities to do things with mom and practice listening, obeying, etc.

    Nature study can continue – look out windows from differentplaces, and occasionally bring in nature. We did a vinyl tablecloth piled high with snow last winter and the kids had a blast while staying warmer. (I’ve got 7 little ones age 11 down to 10 mos with #8 on the way). Bring in pine branches to explore (smell, touch sticky sap, look at needles, bark, etc). Pull down an icicle and bring it in to play with/watch it melt. You get the idea.

    For my little ones around that age I read to them, look at books and art, learn songs/hymns/scriptures, and do a lot of hands-on play and creating.

    November 28, 2012 at 9:15 pm
    sheraz
    Participant

    The Early Years Handbook is great – they have taken a lot of CM’s original thoughts on the early years and put them in one easy to reference place.  One WONDERFUL thing about SCM is that I don’t ever feel that they are pushing their personal ideas and philosophy on me – they let me digest it and glean my own personal knowledge of the material.  (This goes for all their products that we have used). 

    You can always make a Nature Study Box now for use later – place small interesting things in it – rocks, sticks, leaves, feathers, acorns and nuts, etc. I even found an empty old turtle shell (well, I recovered it from my dog. lol). I have an empty nest that blew down in a storm (that is in a plastic bag so we don’t ruin it in our enthusiasm). Small things that are interesting to touch and see are good for this.  Even pictures of animals and plants that you can look up and learn about is fun.  The key to this box is that it is up and only you are allowed to get it down.  It will also have a time limit attached.  That way the Box is always new and exciting.

    National Geographic Kids online has a fun link to learn about animals.  My 4 and 5 year olds love to look at it sometimes:   http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/

    Another fun thing to use with littles who want to learn and have fun activities without making you feel like you are pushing them or getting ahead of their maturity level is file folder games. There are dozens of free ones here: http://www.filefolderfun.com/SearchPreschool.html  

    For helping to fill time when we can’t go outside, we use playdough, plastic animals, and cookie cutters.  Another fun thing to let your little ones use about 3-4 years is the little Crayola watercolors (the little dry cakes you add a wet brush to) at Walmart.  They like to create houses with blocks and plastic animals.  Creating a fort can last for a while too. 😉

    I second Tristan’s habit training now – when the pressure is not there to be “performing” in all the areas of education.  You will see how many of us are having to stop school in order to re-train our children (lots of us were not fortunate enough to start homeschool or CM as early as you!) if you stay on this forum much. 😉

     

     

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