Child born Sept 10...ramifications for schooling

Preschool readiness skills (birth to age 5) and the common developmental concerns of young children.

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Auntbeast
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Child born Sept 10...ramifications for schooling

Postby Auntbeast » Thu May 24, 2007 1:54 pm

Our cutoff date for schools is being born before Sept 1. Most preschools adhere to that sort of schedule so even a very beginner 3+ type school would not be available to her until she was almost 4.

My daughter is now 20 months old. She is my first and only child so far and is an absolute joy. That being said, I have family members who home school their children and have great success with it. While I have my concerns and my husband is very anti-homeschool, I do think that while it is a decision I have years to make, I feel I can begin setting the stage at home soon.

I'm curious, when did/do you start playing "school" with your children. Would I be better off continuing the unstructured way we are going, which frankly scares me that I might be missing something, or start being more structured not only for her, but for me as well.

What options are out there for very young children who are still years away from a traditional school environment, yet who absolutely deserve to learn and prosper. Ok, ok, and for neurotic, older first time parents who think that they have the most bestest baby in the whole entire world and get mentally hysterical at the idea of not doing a good enough job?

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Theodore
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Postby Theodore » Thu May 24, 2007 4:36 pm

You want to read to her as much as you can, keep the TV off, and give her plenty of creative toys. You may or may not have success teaching letters and numbers, but it probably won't hurt to give it a try. Formal phonics can probably wait until mid to late age 3, most of us learned to read late 3 or early 4.

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Postby gardening momma » Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:57 pm

My daughters were both born at the end of October, and our school's cut-off date is Sept. 30. I plan to homeschool, for many reasons, but also partly because I just can't see holding off for another full year when they're so close! --just like your daughter.

My oldest will be 4 at the end of October. If I went by the school's date (whether starting her in Kindergarten at a conventional school, or at home), she would not start Kindergarten until the fall she turns 6!

If I start her in Kindergarten "early", she still has a year of preschool before that happens. If I wait another year, she has 2 more years to go. I do plan on starting her in Kindergarten 1 year from now.

My point is, in my situation, and in yours, you have plenty of time to do what you want at home, gradually introduce colors, shapes, letters, numbers, days of the week, discussion about the different states (ie. some people live a long way away...Grandma M. lives here in Ohio, Grandma B. lives in Michigan, etc...)

You don't have to tell anyone what you intend or wish for your daughter, because whichever way you go, homeschool or formal school, she's not that age yet, and anything you do now, even if it's just reading a lot to her (my almost-2-year-old loves to be read to), will only help her later.

We started first with colors and shapes, and then used flash cards for letters & numbers. We're just now starting to learn days of the week, a couple of states, letter sounds, and some "pre-writing" exercises.

gardening momma
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Re: Child born Sept 10...ramifications for schooling

Postby gardening momma » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:09 pm


Lily
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Re: Child born Sept 10...ramifications for schooling

Postby Lily » Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:44 pm

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. Montessori
Proud non-member of the HSLDA


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