Teaching Our Pre-Schoolers

This is yet another favourite question I have been asked more times than I can count! (Dh says I should compile a list of FAQs! )

At the recent annual Homeschool Fair 2007, while I was showing the Student of the Word curriculum, of which we are the Singapore representative, many came up to check how we teach our younger children.

The simple answer is – I teach them according to the goals we have set up for them – namely to know, to love and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that means we do concentrate a fair bit on the Bible. Then comes the 3Rs – reading, writing & arithmetic. The rest (science, history, etc) are bonus stuff we do if mama has the energy and time to do them!

Do I follow a set curriculum? No I don’t. However, I must say that on lazy days, I wish I did! Coz then, I wouldn’t have to crack my head so hard to get the materials I need and the do up a scope and sequence!

I would therefore say that generally, while a formal curriculum is not necessary, it is helpful – very helpful! for those who are clueless about what to do and how to do it. And also, for those who are not very self-disciplined Why? A set curriculum saves you time and energy. And when you are feeling lazy, all you have to do is open up the teacher’s guide and it tells you exactly what to do!

Bible

Bible is covered first. What do I use for Bible at this age? I wrote about this in Doing Devotionals with the Children. We use Gospel Light’s Bible Colouring Pages which allows us to go through the entire Bible in short snippets followed by the relevant colouring picture. (A free alternative is to download pages from Calvary Chapel Colouring Pages but the pictures are not as nice, in our opinion!)

English

I like the workbooks put out by Rod and Staff called Preschool – ABC Series. There are 6 workbooks and 1 reader. Great stuff for us! After we finish that, we proceed to the workbooks available at Popular bookstore. There are loads of stuff to choose from!

Teaching Phonics is a challenge for me since I didn’t learn it in school! That’s when the tapes (cassettes or VCDs) come in handy. I use Christ Centered Curriculum’s Phonics programme. They are different from the other phonic programmes out there because it uses parts of the Bible!

Eg. A is not for apple but for Adam and B is not for bear or banana but Bible! They even have scripture verses for the child to memorise that goes with the letters! Downside of this prgramme – it is heavy going when I have older children to watch over. So I have modified it a fair bit.

I also use the letters and blends learnt for our Copywork. This way the children are practicing their handwriting plus getting bible verses into their hearts and minds.

Once they can read on their own, they would be given easy readers and encouraged to read on their own. Then we are basically home free!

Read Alouds – I used to think that once the child is able to read, I won’t have to read to them anymore! But reading aloud is actually still much needed even when they are much older.

A few benefits of reading aloud to competent readers – they get to hear how words sound! Obviously we need to read with expression and the right pronunciation! They also get to practice their auditory skills.

My children tend to be very visual learners. It is a challenge for them to sit and listen to someone read a story! They keep wanting to read the story for themselves! But it is important for them to learn how to listen, absorb and process information through their ears! So we practice this everyday by having mama read to them a short time each day.

Let me confess though it is not my favourite thing to do, especially when I am 8 months pregnant and tend to get breathless when I read aloud!

Maths

I use Rod & Staff’s Mathematics 1 for my 5 and almost 4 year old. I like it because it is very simple and repetitive. I find that my children need to have a certain amount of repetition to retain their information.

The 5 year old does 2 pages of the workbook daily and largely on his own while the almost 4 year old does just 1 page with me. Once they have mastered the concept for the unit, I will cut down on the amount of repetition they need.

Again, I will supplement with workbooks from Popular for a change and to keepup with our local requirements.

Chinese

Ah! This is one area we have decided to farm out. Once they are 5years old, they start tuition with the same tutor who teaches the older children. Before then, I will attempt to teach them via flash cards so that they can at least recognise and know what common objects around the house are in Chinese.

Farming out has its advantages in that I don’t get stressed by my weakest subject but the cost does add up when you have 3 children taking lessons twice a week! The other benefit of having the tutor come to my house is that I don’t have to lug everyone to a tuition centre and spend time waiting for each of them to finish.

Life Skills

That’s just the academics. What is also important is for them to learn what is known as Life Skills.

They learn how to live with each other’s idiosyncrasies, help with household chores (make their beds, pack the house, sort & fold their own laundry, set and clear the table before and after meals, respectively), play independently and creatively when mama is busy. And then we also go for outdoor play at the playground when the weather permits.

Click here for Teaching Our Toddlers.