OT - Homeschool for 2 year old

[jjhardy]

I am looking into home school curriculum's for my 2 year old and would LOVE to hear what other home school moms have used and what they like.

She will be turning 2 in a month and she is a preemie so I am trying to catch her up developmentally as much as I can and have since day one and I think it shows because people are always telling me that they are amazed with the amount of words she knows and the sentences she puts together.

TIA

 

[AuroraBeauty]

Have you looked at the Glenn Doman book -- How to Teach your baby to read, How to teach your baby Encyclopedic knowledge. They have a website -- www (dot) iahp (dot) org.

I used their information and it has helped a lot.

 

[Aliceacc]

I don't homeschool, but just a thought:

My niece's daughter is a 2 year old preemie and receives lots of services from her local school district. Have you tried there?

 

[parmtoo]

Hi,
I'm a child care provider for pre-school age and I use a program called Carol's Affordable Curriculum. You can look it up on the web.
It teaches basics, like cutting, colors, shapes ect..........There are a few different programs like that out there.

 

[In a hurry]

Play and read to her. You don't need a curriculum. Skip the tv, because interaction is imperative. Talk to her throughout your day. A running comentary will expand her vocabulary, and increase cognitive awareness.

Most preemies (mine was 1 1/2 lbs at 25 weeks) even out by around the age of 5. As a teacher, i will say that there is no benefit from learning to read early. And many children have become burnt out before they start school when forced into this stuff as preschoolers.

good luck!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Play and read to her. You don't need a curriculum. Skip the tv, because interaction is imperative. Talk to her throughout your day. A running comentary will expand her vocabulary, and increase cognitive awareness.

Most preemies (mine was 1 1/2 lbs at 25 weeks) even out by around the age of 5. As a teacher, i will say that there is no benefit from learning to read early. And many children have become burnt out before they start school when forced into this stuff as preschoolers.

good luck!

This is such great advice!

 

[In a hurry]

This is such great advice!

Thanks! Both are subjects near and dear to my heart!

 

[jjhardy]

I don't homeschool, but just a thought:

My niece's daughter is a 2 year old preemie and receives lots of services from her local school district. Have you tried there?

Yes we were a part of the birth to Three program when we came home and we had a home nurse and developmental specialist. We stopped the developmental specialist when she was around 1 because she was doing GREAT! We stopped the home nurse just in March because everyone wanted her to get the RSV shot for this RSV season because of her low weight and the heart surgery she had at 29 days old but the ins. wouldn't pay because she was healthy the year before!!!!

 

[perkinsrose]

I suppose i did "homeschool" preschool for my two kids until they went to kindergarten in public school but no formal curriuculum whatsoever. I just did all the fun things i knew as a former preschool teacher were good for kids developmentally. Like other posters said, talk to child all day to foster language and vocabulary development.

READ, READ, READ & not just at bedtime. I would take 10 minutes (0r longer as they were able to sit longer) here and there throughout the day and read books and talk about the illustrations. Song books, books with rhyme, and books with predictable patterns like "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle are great at that age. You don't need a curriculum to teach colors--just comment on them/ tell her about colors all day--no need to quiz her on them. Just casual comments like--"you have the yellow ball" "That baby doll has a pink shirt", etc. will help child learn colors. The same thing for shapes--talking about and noticing them in the world and in books is meaningful rather than in workbooks.

You can teach counting in meaningful contexts too--throughout the day through play "oh you have 3 blocks, 1, 2, 3" or when reading books--"let's count the bears"

I avoided TV for the most part in the toddler years but Sesame Street and Mister Rogers are great. I never let the TV be background noise though. If we were going to watch, we watched. If kids weren't watching i just shut it off and put on kids music or classical music.

Fine motor skills (necessary for writing later) can be developed through things like cutting with scissors on a piece of paper. Tearing a piece of paper into small bits is good exercise--i've often later then had them glue these bits on a sheet as a collage. Manipulative Toys like legos (duplos or lego explore for kids under 3) are great for small motor development too. Playdoh is good for motor development as well as language if you talk to them about what they're doing. I had some old scissors in with the playdoh stuff. It's a fun way to get down the scissor motion before they're able to do it easily with paper. There are MANY recipes for playdoh with a flour & salt based one being the simplest and very safe for eating though i wouldn't recommend it! Playdoh brand is non-toxic.

Daily experiences with crayons, markers, or paints are important for fine motor skills as well as creative/artistic development. Water colors are easy and ususually not too messy. Tempera paints are more messy but good for making prints like dipping different items (sponges, pincones, apple halves, endless possibilities) in paint and pressing/printing on paper.

Don't forget finger painting when you can brave it. With older kids, I use a fragrance-free or "sensitive skin" shaving cream on a table top or tray to practice writing spelling words in with a finger. For younger kids, its just fun to play and draw in it.

Practicing pouring and just playing in water is a sure hit. Collect containers of various sizes, plastic bottles, funnels, cups, measuring spoons, etc. and use in a kiddie pool or bathtub.

We spent alot of time with toddlers (and still do) at library storytimes, playgroups, playareas at mall, playgrounds, zoo, etc. Puppets, dress-up things & props for role-playing, blocks, and a kitchen set (little stove/fridge, dishes) are usually big hits ages 2-5.

Oh-how i wish a could relive a few of those toddler age days. Enjoy them!

 

[jjhardy]

Play and read to her. You don't need a curriculum. Skip the tv, because interaction is imperative. Talk to her throughout your day. A running comentary will expand her vocabulary, and increase cognitive awareness.

Most preemies (mine was 1 1/2 lbs at 25 weeks) even out by around the age of 5. As a teacher, i will say that there is no benefit from learning to read early. And many children have become burnt out before they start school when forced into this stuff as preschoolers.

good luck!

thank you so much! I have a friend with a 25 weeker and you would have no clue he's so big!!!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I don't homeschool, but all three of my kids have been home with me when they were 2. I am a former el ed teacher and did a lot of research on early childhood when my oldest was born.

You don't need a curriculum. Don't watch t.v. Read every day to her. Play outside and talk about what you see. Cut sandwiches into different shapes. Sing songs. (I am a horrible singer and usually broke my no t.v. rule to watch the Wiggles. ) Go the library, museums, parks, etc. Count real objects. Have things for crafts but let her make them. My biggest pet peeve is teacher oriented crafts. It should look like a 2 year old made it, not an adult.

Every time you give your child a new experience, you are enriching them. If they talk about farms, beaches, zoos, forests, etc in school, and your child has been there, her brain already has a connection to make.

I now love early education, and if I ever went back to teaching, I think I would love preschool. But with that not singing thing, I am not sure...

 

[Aliceacc]

Yes we were a part of the birth to Three program when we came home and we had a home nurse and developmental specialist. We stopped the developmental specialist when she was around 1 because she was doing GREAT! We stopped the home nurse just in March because everyone wanted her to get the RSV shot for this RSV season because of her low weight and the heart surgery she had at 29 days old but the ins. wouldn't pay because she was healthy the year before!!!!

I know that Cassie, who has multiple problems because she was born so early, gets OT and Speech and a number of other services.

Also, a neighbor who was a preemie (6 years ago) still has some fine and gross motor skill issues, so you may want to keep on top of that. Leggos, blocks, fingerpainting... anything that gets her to develop her skills.

It sounds as though your daughter is doing great! I'll second the other teacher and several others: I wouldn't worry about a curriculum, just expose her to as many varied activities as you can, and keep in touch with your pediatrician about any suspected problems.

 

[LittleBlue22]

ABEKA has curr. for two year olds. There' s also those early curriculum books at Wal*Mart (or other like stores).

 

[minkydog]

You don't need "curriculum". As previous posters have suggested, just turn off the TV! I cannot emphasize this enough. Get a library card and go to storytime. Go out in the woods and do some nature hikes. Cook together(electric skillets were simply made for this!) Sort toys by color or type. Start gathering dress-ups--hats, purses, shawls, petticoats, umbrellas. Give your child some smaller-size tools and help her learn to sweep, dust, plant, pick up. Play good music. Read aloud at least twice a day. Do puzzles. All these things are important to learning and reading readiness.

I promise you, your child can learn just fine without worksheets, flash cards, or expensive computer programs. I have homeschooled all three of my kids; the oldest, who had severe ADHD, learning disabilities and bipolar depression, went all the way through high school. My middle child never did have any curriculum until she was ready to start reading, about age 6--she's a sophomore in HS now, a talented dancer/singer, with a 3.0 GPA.

But the one I really want to tell you about is Christian, my youngest. Christian is mentally handicapped. I don't mean just a little bit, either. He falls on the severe/profound spectrum. We have "homeschooled" him since birth. His education never takes a rest. Until he was old enough for full day school(age 5) he was included in everything the older sibs were doing. If they made a tee-pee, we put Christian in the tee-pee. If they looked at maps or made hoecakes or studied pioneers, Christian was right in there too, listening to "Little House on the Prairie" and flipping flapjacks. We had different colored plates for years, a left-over from teaching all the kids their colors ("Christian, pick out the red plate. Good boy! You get to eat off the red plate!")

The best crafts are those your kids come up with. I guarantee you if you keep a supply of stuff to make things out of, your kids will figure out how to use it. I keep playdoh, blunt scissors, yarn, popsicle sticks, chenneilles, scraps of material, shoeboxes, glue, beans, and water colors in a cabinet in my kitchen. Give your child a cookie sheet to work on--keeps their project contained. All of my kids learned to use scissors very early by cutting rolls of playdoh--good for weak hands, too.

Did i mention get rid of the TV? If that's not practical, then move the TV out of the living area or at least, make a rule that the TV doesn't go on until 7-8pm. I was spared the inanity of The Wiggles, Sesame Street, Barney, and Thomas the Tank Engine because we didn't have a TV until my kids were older.

Good luck! Homeschooling a 2yo is a piece of cake. When you get to Algebra, send me a note.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds like she's doing really well on what you are naturally doing. You don't need a formal curriculum for such a little one. Heck, in my state formal education doesn't start legally until 8!

That said, I bought some Kumon books for letters, numbers, and cutting at Costco, and DS does them every so often. He loves them.



A lot of people here are saying to NOT watch TV, and although I thought I was like that, and htought that Sesame Street and Mr Rogers were the only things I would watch....oh MAN I hate Sesame Street nowadays! Actually I find PBS to be pretty useless and stupid. What I like is PBS's cable channel, Sprout, and some Nick Jr.

Some say you can't learn from TV, but at one point right before 2 years, DS was worrying me with his speech. At about the same time I gave in and started watching Blues Clues, and within one week his language had exploded. It was astonishing. I talked (and still do) to him all the time, and hubby did too, but there was something about Steve and Joe that really did it for my guy, and every day he was learning new stuff that came directly from Blue's Clues.

I don't advocate TV, but I also won't say that TV is horrid, either. It's important to watch it with your kids, though, if only so you know where all the new things they learn are coming from!


Anyway, sounds like you're doing a good job since she's already learning so much, so just continue doing that.

 

[Aliceacc]

Good luck! Homeschooling a 2yo is a piece of cake. When you get to Algebra, send me a note.

Or me... I teach math too

 

[amyj1024]

I agree--no curriculum is needed. I teach preschool and am part of a program that services special ed and at risk students. READ, READ, READ, and then talk about what you read. Go to the park, look for colors and shapes, talk about what you are buying at the story, or what you see at the mall.
The other aspect is social--preschool's main goal is to teach socially appropriate behavior for the school setting. So I would try to get her out and about with other children. Playdates, open gym time, story time or just visiting the library...

If she can 1. sit and listen to a story, and 2. interact appropriately with peers...she will do just fine when/if you decide to start her in a preschool program.

 

[MineeBaby]

I second and third what everyone is saying (read read read! And talk about anything and everything that you can think of), only based on my experience with my 2 and 1 year old. I certainly don't want to throw a wrench into anything or stir the pot, but I really REALLY have a hard time understanding why TV is not viewed as a positive resource.

I think that the television is a great resource if used properly. It shouldn't be used to babysit so that you can DIS or chat on the phone, but we have the television on in the morning for probably about an hour and a half or so and I have had nothing but great experiences. We watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, and JoJo's Circus, with an occasional Higglytown Hero and Super Why (reading show on PBS). Just as an example, my 2 year old can sound out and read new words, and TV has been an integral part of her life. So learning and the TV have coexisted in our household. She reenacts some of the scenes she sees, pretending that we have our own "mouskatools" to solve problems. She can name pieces of art and music along with their artists. We will all sit down and watch a Baby Einstein DVD and my 1 year old can name the different animals he sees. I understand much of this can be accomplished solely by reading, and we do a lot of reading outside of the television, but there are many things that the TV can show that books can't. For example, they can show how animals move, how they interact in their natural habitat, what their sounds REALLY sound like (not just the English onomatopoeia sound we have, which differs from the onomatopoeia sounds in other languages). I know that many people will say to take your kids to the zoo, and I agree completely, but going every other day might not be practical. So, sorry to sound like rant--I just don't want people to think that there is absolutely no benefit to the TV. If used responsibly and not abused, it can be a real learning tool.

 

[Aliceacc]

And don't forget Cyberchase on PBS. I think it's one of the best educational shows out there. It presents real mathematical concepts in a way that young kids can understand and appreciate.

It's my 5 year old's favorite show, and I try not to let her miss it.

 

[In a hurry]

I like cyberchase, but it is for older kids. Research shows the brain waves of a baby/toddler operate in an unatural way when they watch tv. That is why anyone who believes in research, science, etc., say no tv for wee ones.

Mine watched a bit, but I'd never sit them there for a couple of hours every morning. Look at what they would miss in the real world with real conversation during that time.