Any One Else Homeschooling a 2 Year Old?

How funny that we have to use the word homeschooling in conjunction with a 2 yr old! I mean, weren't a lot of us "homeschooled" at 2? I know I was. ;) Still, I know lots of people who are sending their 2 yr olds to "school". So I guess if you don't do that, you're homeschooling in some minds?

We're unschooling right now. We don't see the need to push schooling at this point. There will be plenty of time for that latter I figure and don't want to burn either one of us out. We read a lot of books and talk about them. No videos or websites really. Lots of field trips, etc. to involve as many senses as possible. Lots of play too. I guess I'm just trying to expose him to as much as possible to broaden his horizons. The only "formal" thing we have going on right now is swim lessons.

Wow, you have got some great advice that I plan to look into also!! I wanted to add another site for you it is www.teachingmom.com, go to articles, then staying the course then click on Activity bag ideas for keeping preschoolers busy. It is basically different activity bags that you put together the concept is really to keep them busy while you are doing homeschooling with an older child, but they are fun and give them different learning challenges. And at two you really want to give them fun activities that help them learn.

I would highly recommend kidzone.ws is the most awesome website. My sons teacher turned me on to it last year and I have been using it all summer to him up to skill on his school while on summer break.

letteroftheweek.com is a great website for preschool curriculum. It's a free website with great ideas.

My son loves www.starfall.com I also spend lots of time reading to him and talking to him. He has a huge map in his playroom, and sometimes we just look at it together and I point things out. Sometimes I show him states, sometimes oceans, etc. Whatever you expose them to now will benefit them in the future, but I agree with others in that you don't need a structured lesson plan.

My daughter has been "homeschooling" her son since he was born, I think. Not with official programs but she was a teacher prior to birth. As soon as he was crawling a around she made big cue cards (actually strips of poster board) with words on them. Obviously, easy things, like chair, bed, etc. He could eventually identify the words. She bought a math program of sorts. It had the same type of things but with dots. I don't know how successful that was. Further, they listen to the signing program on their public TV station. Early on he had the signing thing down and now that he is two, he's making complete sentences almost like an adult. Of course, she read to him A LOT.

The above might be something you would like to do.

Regardless of the circumstance surrounding your pregnancy, just remember a baby is a gift from God. It may really be hard at first and you need to surround yourself with those who will support you with this new baby and your little family.

I wish the best for you and an easy pregnancy.

Why even call it homeschooling at that age? I homeschooled my older two but didn't call it homeschooling till they were of age that they actually would be able to go to school.

Please don't make it like school or structured. Just play with him. I don't HOMESCHOOL my 2 year old but I read to him, we play with flashcards from time to time, and we point out and name things for him.

He knows all his primary colors, the alphabet, can recognize some letters and numbers (1-10), and can count to ten in Spanish (and we are as white as rice) and knows the name of almost everything in a book because I make a point to name things in pictures of the books even when the books aren't talking about that particular thing.

Hi, I homeschool not only my 2 yr. old, but also my 6 and 11 yr. olds, lol. I have made a schedule that allows my 11 yr. old to do stuff he can do on his own in the mornings, during which, the rest of us read books, sing educational songs, art, play games, count, shapes colors, etc. My 6 yr. old is also doing some math, reading by himself, and they all get to take turns choosing one "extra" thing to learn about each day. Then in the afternoons, my 2 yr. old goes down for a nap, and we do some harder stuff that requires my attention. As far as books go, I read everything that my 2 yr. old has an interest in, we do flash cards for the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, phonics. He loves to mess around in workbooks that are too advanced for him, and I let him because I figure it gives him a chance to get comfortable with what he'll be doing in a few months/years. I hope this helps.

D.

I'll be using funshineexpress.com program Fireflies with the christian supplement this year with my 3 and 2 year old. I have samples of a few preschool curriculums and that's the one I liked the best - they're very organized - if you'd like to see, let me know.

Teri

A.,
We have been homeschooling our son for the past few months. He's 2 and almost a half. You got lots of great info, but if you have any other questions, please private message me. I have just pieced together my own curriculum to learn what he needs to know. Our son can recognized numbers up to 20, count to 30 in english, count to 5 in spanish, knows a handful of spanish words, is starting to recognize words and read them, not to mention the basic stuff he already had. Kids this age are a sponge for knowledge, so it's great that you're thinking about getting ready early!
The weekend of Mother's day, there is always a huge homeschool curriculum fair in Arlington too. You might want to think about going to that now so that you'll be ready for the next school year. Good luck and have fun!
Shannon

Another idea is Leap Frog, Inc. They have videos, games, and a website that are fun. Even if she does not sit for the entire video, hearing it will ge good. We started with letter factory. My four year old son knows all letters and sounds, and is starting to read. He started the videos at about 18 months; he would watch them with my two older children.

My son is now three, but he was reading at 2. When he was 2, I went to Half Price books and got him some preschool workbooks. I got him the Leap Frog DVDs from Walmarts. They taught him the sounds of all the letters and how to blend them together. We played lots of games (bath time is good for this) talking about letters and sounds. I tried not to do a lot of "structured" teaching until he was three, but they're little sponges at that age. If you have specific questions, email me.

I have an in-home day care. I keep children that are between 13mo and 3 1/2 yrs. We do all sorts of fun things. Read stories, sing songs, move around like animals and make their sounds. We do flash cards. We play with play doh and make letters and numbers with it. Anything you can do to teach them colors, numbers, objects, shapes. I have an opening if you are interested in having your child be around other children for the whole week or just a few days. I live in McKinney. Call to set up an appointment. ###-###-####
M.

My son and I do fun learning. I "play" with his with his trains or cars or whatever toy and ask him questions like, "Is this your red train?" And he'll say yes. I reinforce it, "right it is a red train." I try to identify everything like that. "Here put on your yellow shirt, and bring me your green shoes." I NEVER tell him NO that is not right. If he gets something wrong I say aha and repeat the correct answer. Like the lion he used to call a dog. I'd say,"Aha, that is a lion." Etc.
I also put him on the computer on Starfall.com. It is wonderful. Email me if you want to know more. My son is almost 3 and he knows his ABC's, 1-13, colors and shapes(square, circle, triangle, rectangle.) And of course I am his mom I am biased, but he speaks pretty well for his age.
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I put my son at 18 months into basically a structured play program where they just introduce him to things but that they share the same philosophy that they learn through play so there's lots of that. I took whatever "theme" for the week they had there... and those were teh things we'd work on at home too. A friend of mine Terri has a program called.. www.handsonhomeschooling.com I believe... I used that exclusivlely and we had a great time.... she sells them by year. :) good luck! I will be sending mine back to perschool because he loves spending time with his friends at school... he loves it there and has been asking to go back... and it makes me feelgood that at such a young age that he's learned the meaning of friend

I am starting to homeschool my 3 y/o son I have begun to use the Five In A Row system and he is taking to it very well.

A few of my friends and I are planning to start "rowing" the books together. If that sounds like something you are interested in please contact me ____@____.com

Happy Homeschooling!
A.