Jenny asked me to share a little more about the Before Five in a Row book that I'm doing with my younger kids.
This book was given to me free when Gavin was four and Maddie was two. Since the recommended age range is ages 2-4, we thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
The concept is simple. Choose a book from the book list-- no need to go in order. (The list includes some well known favorites such as Goodnight Moon, Caps For Sale, and Blueberries For Sal and others not so well known like Yellow Ball and Angus Lost.) Next choose from the list of activities. This is flexible as well since there are SO MANY to choose from. You can even make up activities yourself because the point is to get the kids to remember the book! When I did Before Five in a Row with Gavin and Maddie, I had more time to do extensive activities. With this go-round, I'm also homeschooling a first grader, so we're choosing simpler activities.
Last week, we chose We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. We did things things like point to the different animals on the pages, growl like a bear, make a cave under the coffee table, and perform the actions like the people in the book (wading through a river, walking through a snowstorm...).
This book was given to me free when Gavin was four and Maddie was two. Since the recommended age range is ages 2-4, we thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
The concept is simple. Choose a book from the book list-- no need to go in order. (The list includes some well known favorites such as Goodnight Moon, Caps For Sale, and Blueberries For Sal and others not so well known like Yellow Ball and Angus Lost.) Next choose from the list of activities. This is flexible as well since there are SO MANY to choose from. You can even make up activities yourself because the point is to get the kids to remember the book! When I did Before Five in a Row with Gavin and Maddie, I had more time to do extensive activities. With this go-round, I'm also homeschooling a first grader, so we're choosing simpler activities.
Last week, we chose We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. We did things things like point to the different animals on the pages, growl like a bear, make a cave under the coffee table, and perform the actions like the people in the book (wading through a river, walking through a snowstorm...).
We really love this program because it is so simple (and inexpensive). It is great prep for future homeschoolers, but also a fun thing for non-homeschoolers to try! Keep in mind that little ones don't need lots of formal instruction. Just reading to them, talking to them, doing puzzles, cooking together, blowing bubbles, playing outside-- all of these are things that prepare them for more formal learning when the time is right.
Great idea! I'll have to look into that book...
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm really excited to do this with Suzi (but she's still a little young, so maybe next year)! That's neat that you can pick from a lot of activities. I thought there were only five for each book. Suzi is currently refusing to sit and let us read to her in favor of running around the house and climbing on the furniture. I'm hoping she grows out of it soon.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about the program is that while the package is expensive, it looks like you can buy the teacher's book for about $30 and then check the children's books out at the library or buy them used off Half or Amazon. So affordable!