Pre-School

Pre-school was a very fun time for us. Here is a basic breakdown of what we did.
We began this journey when our oldest was two. This spanned over the next 3 years. Then our youngest joined in at two.

Reading
we read a tremendous amount of books. We read favorites over and over again until our son was able to "read them to himself" whenever he sat down to look at them and turn the pages. We read our own books and checked out picture books from the library. We read bilingual books, English/Spanish and books just in Spanish to give the exposure to the language.

We also have a Little-touch Leap pad that we had story books to that we could listen to the story in English and sometimes Spanish. Also, various other skills to learn within stories (colors, shapes, math readiness...).

When our oldest son was 2-3 we began attending story time at the library and his little brother went along.

Phonics
We began the read a-long phonics book titled Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner when our oldest was four. You sit down together and "read" it like a book. Within 15 lessons the child reads their first sentence!

English/Language Arts
We watched Baby Einstein videos together and talked about what we were seeing, describing what was going on, building vocabulary.

Foreign Language
We used picture flashcards with Spanish vocabulary for numbers and beginning reader words. We also listened to Baby Einstein in Spanish. Read Spanish picture books. We referred to certain items in our home in only Spanish, i.e. montequa (butter) and manzana (apple).

Science
We enjoyed the Baby Einstein's Baby Galileo and Baby Newton videos. I think our oldest learned the planet names that way. We are a science loving family and we fully explain everything to our kids. We may have to do it a multitude of times, but they are building vocabulary and understanding each time we do. For example, my husband is a marine forecaster and any weather related questions received full explanations. At 4 my oldest could describe air mass thunderstorms.

Math
Again, Baby Einstein videos with colors, shapes, rhythm, patterns...we also did number flashcards, we counted everything and we counted out-loud in English/Spanish to 25 and 10 in American Sign Language. We use various manipulatives such as stringing wooden beads, marbles, dominoes, pantograms, bean bags...etc.

Social Studies
Reading about other cultures through books at the library. Talking about the different ways people dress, eat, etc. at home. Also, living in an ethnically diverse apartment complex lead to having diverse friends and learning by interacting.

Art
Coloring books, finger paint, loads of blank paper and crayons, playdough, stickers. All together making collages and tracing hands and other objects.

Music
We listen to a good variety of music. We listened to the Baby Einstein music cd's, which are a whimsical approach to Classical music, various Classical Artists, Gospel, Contemporary Christian and Jazz. Any time we saw a street musician or were at a festival with free music, we took it in and enjoyed it together. Along with dancing at home to what we listened to. We sing quite a bit as well. We sing praise and worship songs, lullabies and make up our own silly songs.

Physical Education
The bulk of this is free play with friends, family or solo. We had a trampoline at this time and it was a great source of exercise and play. Walking to parks, playing at parks and swimming lessons were important. The YMCA is a super great resource for homeschoolers. So our community centers. We participated in the YMCA Youth Soccer League.

(I will continue to add to this till I feel it is complete)