Looking for a Good "Home" Educational Program.

My son just finished kindergarten at his montessori and will be entering 1st grade at his elementary school. He also missed the age cutoff. He loves www.starfall.com which is free and has a lot of levels. My 3 year old daughter also uses the site. It starts with basic alphabet, then proceeds to letter combinations, words and simple reading. It is very interactive. My son tried the hooked on phonics, but we didn't get very far. Personally, listening to the CD's, even in the background, drove me nuts.

I was also going to suggest that this would be a perfect time to start a second language program. There is a very good "mommy and Me" type Spanish immersion class out of the Campbell Community Center. Even my ADHD child was learning to speak Spanish at 3 yrs. That gives you an opportunity to learn side by side with her. By the time she starts Kindergarten next year, she'll be able to converse with the Hispanic students and will learn even more.

HTH

S.

SInce this is the last time that you're going to have this much time with her, I would suggesttaking advantage of it in another way, as well. There are nature programs which she could avail herself of and get a great deal out of. SOme are run by science museums, etc. I even know of a preschool which i srun by a woman who tlkes the kids in a van eahc day to different nature spots. It's a very different curriculum than you see in the typical preschool. It would be a widening of horizons and a deepening of the appreciation of nature/biology/zoology, etc. If you want to know more about the last thing I mention, send me a message and I'll get you the info.

Also, remember to HAVE FUN with her. That's as important as anything else - she's a kid!

Good luck,
M.

Is she already reading? If not, there is a program called "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" that is a lot of fun and has rewards for each lesson finished. I home school and started both of my boys with this. They learn grammar through songs and little games. A little race car keeps track of where they are in the "race for the finish line". The program comes with music CDs to sing along with, and phonics books, cut and paste, everything you need from K-3rd grade. You can check it out online.

If you are interested in a Christian world view, try Alpha Omega Publishers. I think it is AOP.com. You can get her started at whatever grade level you want and can choose to either buy the full curriculum, just one subject, or different subjects at different levels.

Another good one for math is "Making Math Meaningful" which not only teaches how to do math, but really stresses why math works. If they can understand why 2+2=4 they will be able to do better later when having to analyze problems rather than just memorizing facts.

Good luck. And more than anything, have fun!

Our son is very bright also and started kindergarten early (young 5) relative to his peers...many boys from the same preschool were held back. The reason: maturity. Kindergarten has as much to do with social skills and maturity as it does with academics. HIs learning in kindergarten was challenged by his social skills and maturity. I'm still torn as to whether our son should have been held back as his peers were. I've been told that kids start to level out around 2nd grade overcoming the differences in preschool education or lack thereof. Your daughter will most likely be bored her first couple of years of school but things will level out and then she will be with kids her age at the same emotional maturity level. Your can continue to augment your daughter's intellectual and academic curiousity with all the workbooks and other stimulating experiences you provide her outside of the classroom.

Good luck!

Does your local school district have an language emersion program? Palo Alto (and I think Mountain View) have Spanish, and Cupertino has Mandarin. I think the schools like the German-American or French-American schools have pre-school programs. You could probably find a Japanese or Mandarin pre-school.

I homeschooled my daughter with Calvert School in Baltimore, Maryland. They have correspondence courses and the whole program is outlined daily for you. I loved it. My daughter is homeschooling her children with the same plan. It is not cheap, but very good with the classics, good English, etc. I am sure you could look it up on the internet. I think lots of the military families use it to school their kids overseas. Good luck!

I am in the same birthday situation with both of my children. What has worked for us with my oldest is putting him in a Spanish immersion preschool. This way he is learning a language with this extra time. You may want to investigate language preschools and see if your child could learn a second language.

It sounds like you are in an excellent situation for an education theory called "unschooling". Check out lifewithoutschool.typepad.com to see what other parents in the country are doing by letting their children's interests take them down the road of discovery.

Try looking up California Virtual Academy. I started my son in it when he was 4. They are very good. They send you all the curriculum you need, plus there is online help. It is a publically funded home school.