what to start with a 3 yr old

jlpev · January 2014

Hello! Sorry if this has already been posted but I have a 3 yr old & I'm a sahm. I am wanting to do everything I can to help prepare ds to be ready with school.
We go outside almost everyday & talk about everything, helps in the garden & feeds the horses.
He can count to 20 for the most part, most shapes, knows his upper case letters, & numbers. He gets bored with crafts unless he's making a huge mess, lol. So I'm working on different crafts I can find on pinterest.
Any suggestions? We are starting to go to a story time so he can practice something with a little structure. He is a very active 3 yr old & gets bored easily.
Any suggestions or links would be great. Googling stuff is overwhelming.

barnwife · January 2014

I agree with googling being overwhelming.

I have a 3.5 yo DS. We go to storytime once a week. Other than that, we don't do structured learning yet. We do things like you do.

I will say I did just find the books Preschool Art and First Art by MaryAnn Kohl at the library. I plan on getting both for our use. They have a variety of activities and as the tag line says "it's the process, not the product." So I think they will be very good for my active children.

Our plan for kindergarten (when J. is five), is about 15 minutes a day of phonics (either teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons or the ordinary parents guide to teaching reading), 15 minutes of math (no set curriculum, just using numbers where we can), 15 minutes of bible/religion/memory work), and lots and lots of reading.

momofmanyinthemitten · February 2014

We're hoping to use the classical approach when the kids are older, but I've picked up the preschool resource books that The Well-Trained Mind suggests. I also searched for preschool curriculum books at our library and looked through a gazillion of them and ordered several used ones from amazon. We're using The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for letters/phonics/reading. I generally turn to pinterest for crafts/games for reinforcing letters. We do a ton of sensory play, fine motor skills activities, and book reading.

sometimesalwayschaotic · February 2014

I love looking at the play at home mom website to get tons of good ideas.

wifeofadam · February 2014

DD1 is about to turn three and we aren't doing anything formal with her. She gets lots of imaginative play time. We read books. We sing songs. We color pictures and do all of the other normal things that a three year old wants to do. I think that's what is best for her right now.

She does sometimes ask to sit at the table with her older brothers while they are doing school. She may be absorbing some of their lessons, but most of the time she'll say "Gracie school, too!!!", which means she just wants me to give her a coloring book or worksheet so she can scribble on it or cut it with scissors and pretend to be like her older brothers. As far as sitting down and actually working on anything academic goes, she would lose interest within minutes and that is fine with me at this stage.

Formal lessons around here start at age 5 (or later if the child isn't ready by that time).

Rocshana · April 2014

It seems your kid knows pretty much a lot to begin with as a three year old! I would say don't worry and let him enjoy his last few days of not being an 'actual' student..!

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