Curriculum Based Activities
Curriculum based activities are done with the goal of teaching the child something through play. In our home, we have a theme that runs for two weeks and we do activities surrounding the theme to learn more about it.
When I started formally homeschooling I wasn't very sure what I wanted to do. I started off doing random activities here and there and when I got the hang of preparing and organizing daily activities for K, I looked into doing a curriculum. When K turned 2.5 years was when I decided there needed to be a bit more structure. There is no set curriculum you MUST follow. There are a whole lot out there for you to choose from: BFIAR. FIAR and K12 just to name a few. I explored my options before settling on a book based curriculum. I started following another mom who was homeschooling her child and who made materials free and available online and stuck with her ever since. Now she is doing an alphabet based curriculum and subscribes to Peaceful Preschool. I decided I wouldn't do that and just pick and choose between her activities and some others I found via Pinterest.
My main goal for homeschool at this point is not to drill K and N with academics but to engage and expose them to as many different things as possible. Princeton University's Baby lab did a study on how children learn and found that interest in, and interaction with other people were the two key factors in early childhood learning. Interaction helps children pick up the ability to detect patterns such as words and noises used to communicate as well as expose the child to as many words as possible in their early years. So as long as they get your attention and support, they are going to do just fine!
I base my activities around a curriculum to help me plan better. It allows me to be intentional about the time spent with my children as well as help to ensure I expose them to as wide a variety of things as possible. It is super easy to just keep doing the same few things because it's easy and comfortable, but as parents, I personally feel that we also need to be challenged to step out of our comfort zone once in a while for a new experience. I have learnt so much myself from just planning activities for K and I am enjoying the learning process too :)
Below, I share a few of the activities I did when I carried out each theme. I picked those that I found engaged the kids best and are super easy and fun to do. Hope you enjoy them too!
Alphabet themed:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Q&A:
1. Do I need to be a SAHM to homeschool?
NO. You only need a maximum of 15 minutes a day to do all the activities. 90% of the time, we only spend 5 minutes on activities. And the rest of the day we read, and I will try to keep talking about what we are learning (if I have the mental resources to.. some days I just can't either). All these activities are easy enough to pull out and do after you come home from work, or even bunch a couple in the weekends.
2. How can I make sure that my child is prepared for Primary 1?
Online lists of what children need to know by a certain age are widely available on the internet. There are even Singapore specific lists that tell you what they need to learn by Primary one. I am just comforted by the fact that there are checklists available if I ever need one but to be honest, I have never really felt the need to plan out exactly how I would make sure we achieve every single item on the lists. The one time I looked at them was when a friend asked me what was necessary and I went to find it to forward it to her. I of course looked to see where K was at that point in time and she was capable of every single thing required of her at that age and even more. I believe truly that when you spend time with your child in a meaningful manner, they learn without you trying too hard to teach.
Also, because you spend that one-on-one time with them, you know their weak areas and you know what interests them. All you need then is to figure out how to match the two and then rinse and repeat!
3. I have been working on letters and their sound since like forever but it doesn't seem like my child is getting it! What should I do?
Nothing. You can try to drill it in, but the trade off is that learning won't be fun anymore. For me, I would rather keep learning fun and build that hunger for learning than make sure my kid knows the alphabet ahead of his peers. I think kids who love learning naturally become geniuses. Personally if at the end of the day my children do not remember what I have said or tried to teach, I am okay with that. My goal and aim is just to expose them to as many things as possible and to keep learning fun. At the end of the day, if all I have achieved is made the day fun for them, I have done my job.
When I started formally homeschooling I wasn't very sure what I wanted to do. I started off doing random activities here and there and when I got the hang of preparing and organizing daily activities for K, I looked into doing a curriculum. When K turned 2.5 years was when I decided there needed to be a bit more structure. There is no set curriculum you MUST follow. There are a whole lot out there for you to choose from: BFIAR. FIAR and K12 just to name a few. I explored my options before settling on a book based curriculum. I started following another mom who was homeschooling her child and who made materials free and available online and stuck with her ever since. Now she is doing an alphabet based curriculum and subscribes to Peaceful Preschool. I decided I wouldn't do that and just pick and choose between her activities and some others I found via Pinterest.
My main goal for homeschool at this point is not to drill K and N with academics but to engage and expose them to as many different things as possible. Princeton University's Baby lab did a study on how children learn and found that interest in, and interaction with other people were the two key factors in early childhood learning. Interaction helps children pick up the ability to detect patterns such as words and noises used to communicate as well as expose the child to as many words as possible in their early years. So as long as they get your attention and support, they are going to do just fine!
I base my activities around a curriculum to help me plan better. It allows me to be intentional about the time spent with my children as well as help to ensure I expose them to as wide a variety of things as possible. It is super easy to just keep doing the same few things because it's easy and comfortable, but as parents, I personally feel that we also need to be challenged to step out of our comfort zone once in a while for a new experience. I have learnt so much myself from just planning activities for K and I am enjoying the learning process too :)
Below, I share a few of the activities I did when I carried out each theme. I picked those that I found engaged the kids best and are super easy and fun to do. Hope you enjoy them too!
Alphabet themed:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Q&A:
1. Do I need to be a SAHM to homeschool?
NO. You only need a maximum of 15 minutes a day to do all the activities. 90% of the time, we only spend 5 minutes on activities. And the rest of the day we read, and I will try to keep talking about what we are learning (if I have the mental resources to.. some days I just can't either). All these activities are easy enough to pull out and do after you come home from work, or even bunch a couple in the weekends.
2. How can I make sure that my child is prepared for Primary 1?
Online lists of what children need to know by a certain age are widely available on the internet. There are even Singapore specific lists that tell you what they need to learn by Primary one. I am just comforted by the fact that there are checklists available if I ever need one but to be honest, I have never really felt the need to plan out exactly how I would make sure we achieve every single item on the lists. The one time I looked at them was when a friend asked me what was necessary and I went to find it to forward it to her. I of course looked to see where K was at that point in time and she was capable of every single thing required of her at that age and even more. I believe truly that when you spend time with your child in a meaningful manner, they learn without you trying too hard to teach.
Also, because you spend that one-on-one time with them, you know their weak areas and you know what interests them. All you need then is to figure out how to match the two and then rinse and repeat!
3. I have been working on letters and their sound since like forever but it doesn't seem like my child is getting it! What should I do?
Nothing. You can try to drill it in, but the trade off is that learning won't be fun anymore. For me, I would rather keep learning fun and build that hunger for learning than make sure my kid knows the alphabet ahead of his peers. I think kids who love learning naturally become geniuses. Personally if at the end of the day my children do not remember what I have said or tried to teach, I am okay with that. My goal and aim is just to expose them to as many things as possible and to keep learning fun. At the end of the day, if all I have achieved is made the day fun for them, I have done my job.
Comments
Post a Comment