As I stated in yesterdays post that I have done a lot of work with Selena with my measuring cups usually during bath time. I wanted to show you what we usually do, but I didn’t want to take any bath tub shots. Instead I set up a center on the dining room table. Before you try this know that it can get a little messy but it is only water.
Materials we used:
- A large bowl of water
- A baking dish
- Various sizes of measuring cups
All that was left to do after that was to fill the measuring cup and pour it into the 1 cup measuring cup in the baking dish, and count to see if her guess was correct.
She had grabbed my 3/4 cup measuring cup and that one threw her off and confused her. I made her try to figure out how much more water would be needed to make a cup of water. She had fun trying all the different size cups until she came down to the 1/4 cup and it worked. She didn’t quite understand the formula for this, but she had fun exploring and playing in her water fun.
On another note, we have been talking about sending Selena to Preschool next year three days a week. I still plan on homeschooling her, but we thought that both her and I would benefit from one year experiencing a different scenario. The preschool here is a Co-Op so I would be expected to work in the classroom two times a month and help out with fundraisers. I have checked out their website and looked through the pictures posted there and have my concerns. I do believe we will visit there real soon and see it first hand. My concerns are that this looks to be more of a glorified daycare. While the cost is only $75.00 a month, I just don’t know that they are going to provide the educational piece that I would provide by keeping her at home. You can visit their site here and let me know what you think. I do feel she would benefit from playing, but I guess I was hoping for a preschool that had more of an educational piece or tone to it. Both my older kids attended a preschool when they were this age, that was great, they learned prewriting, reading, and basically a lot of the same things I teach here at home. It was ideally a preschool set up for the preparation of entering the public school system. I don’t get the same feeling for this one as I did for the one my children went to. Yes, it was a lot more expensive too, but believe me where we live this is all there is.
First, it looks like a great school. The room looks very open and inviting, I bet she'll have a lot of fun there. What a brave step to take.
ReplyDeleteSecond, love that idea for math and measuring. I think we'll have to try that at some point. (And how we make water play outside of the tub less messy is giving them a towel under the area they're playing in, cuts it down a little).
To answer your question, no the preschool does not look academic at all. It looks very clean and nice and like she would have a lot of fun there, playing and making friends, but I don't think it is the learning environment you are looking for. She is learning at home more than the average preschool!
ReplyDeleteThe room looks very nice, bright, and clean. It's probably more play, than learning, but that can be good too. Great idea with the measuring - we might do it too, it goes along perfectly with a math reader we have right now called "What's Up With That Cup?" by Sheila Keenan.
ReplyDeleteI love your math play - what an awesome idea to experience fractions first hand. I am amused that you have 3/4 cup! I already gave you my thoughts on preschool - I think it might worth a try - simply as another activity to do with Selena.
ReplyDeleteI took Crumpet to a "parent participation preschool" for a little while. It was oriented toward education much more than play, but I found that I had worked with Crumpet so much at home that he knew most of what was being taught. I bet you would have the same experience at any preschool. Selena is far beyond the level of most preschoolers. Still, the experience of playing with other children, and being away from you, might we worthwhile.
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