KINDERGARTEN
Charlotte Mason Style |
| Kindgergarten at our
house is very simple. The CM method doesn't require
much formal "seat work" for children under
about 6 or 7. Instead it mostly requires reading
aloud for short periods of time, music, nature, and much
play outdoors. I have done a very little with my kindergarteners for "seat work" although I do like the Rod and Staff workbooks for young children. They are called the Preschool Series ...one is Bible Pictures to Color, another one is Adventures with Books, Counting with Numbers, and others. These are very low key books that little ones enjoy coloring, writing numbers, counting cutting, pasting and such. All of our children liked these very much and they are very inexpensive...about $2.20 each. I also love their wide lined paper (with the center line) and it's cheap too. You may call Rod and Staff at: (606) 522-4348 or fax toll free at: (800)643- 1244. Ask for their free catalog.
In my humble opinion, I say just enjoy your little ones! Allow them to be little children but give them time to "sit and do" tiny bits... maybe counting with beans or crayons or sea shells or rocks, measure water in the sink (cup, pint, quart) or with the dry beans in a large cookie sheet (How many cups go into the quart jar?). Have plenty of paper and crayons on hand for creative drawing. Scissors and paper punches and rubber stamps and stickers are also fun for little children. It's fun to cut pictures from magazines and practice gluing them on paper to make interesting "posters". We make ABC books by cutting and gluing pictures that begin with each letter...A- apple, ape, apron B- boy, banana, bucket C- camera, cow, cook. Save each page and staple together with a home-made cover. Allow your child to "copy" words out of a book (just for fun) or draw his favorite pictures. Give him many beautiful picture books to look at and let him "tell" the stories in his own words (he may say he's reading the book). And always be ready to read to him on your lap. I like nice picture books with good reading besides! Some favorites are: Peter Rabbit and others by Beatrix Potter Home for a Bunny and others by Margaret Wise Brown The Lord is My Shepherd and others by Tasha Tudor The Real Mother Goose The Children's Book of Virtues by William Bennett
Together with your child, collect bugs or flowers or leaves or rocks. Find out their names. Help the child to hear the wind in the trees or the owl in the night. Point to the changing color of the leaves. Tickle his nose with the chicken's feather or let the wooly bear caterpillar crawl on his arm. EXPERIENCE nature.
I take "dictation" from my little ones and make little books for them about different things which the rest of the children may be studying. Last year my 6 year old son wanted me to read about knights, castles, horses, and tournaments and so we did. Then we made a "book" with his dictations. He drew and colored pictures of horses and shields to go with his words, and we just stapled them together into a very simple book with a cover of a coloring page he did. He thought these books were real treasures and even gave some of them to his favorite people as gifts!!
Make things out of clay or playdough. Here is a very easy recipe that your young child can make: Playdough...2 cups flour, 1/2 cup salt and about 1 cup water. Mix flour and salt. Add water gradually to make a smooth stiff dough. You may add food coloring and/or mint flavoring for smell along with the water. Allow your children to bake with you too. They can measure up the cup of flour or sugar. My children always enjoyed tapping the eggs on the counter and then handing them to me to dump into the bowl. On holidays, we always make sugar cookies and use our cookie cutters, so there is much rolling out of dough, cutting, and decorating to be done with frosting and colored sugars. Children love doing this and they can say proudly, "I helped!" Give children the opportunity to work with you. A small child can be taught to tidy up his room by putting all the legos in the box or picking up the dirty socks and dumping them in the laundry basket. He can learn to dust or spray and wipe door handles with a cloth. Teach him to fold washcloths in half and in half again (fractions) or match socks for you. A small child can take care of a pet too. He may feed the dog or play fetch with him. Children enjoy working in the garden also... digging , dropping in seeds, and pulling up weeds to put in their own bucket.
Sing with your child! Even if you're a little off key, he'll never notice and will be glad that together you are making joyful sounds! Give him happy songs of "Whistle While You Work, Yankee Doodle, Skip To My Lou, Jesus Loves the Little Children." Also play those beautful classics like Vivaldi's Four Seasons (a favorite with little ones). For more ideas, check my Music Page. One of the most important things I feel we need to give our young children, is plenty of room to "imagine" and that doesn't come from always giving an "assignment" but rather by giving free time to think on his own. Time to romp in the yard, play under his bed, make airplanes with legos, play tea party with Dolly. Even when he is much older, time for solitude is vital. Enjoy your little blessings, Jody
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