Homeschooling Pre-Schoolers Question

Question:
Homeschooling Pre-Schoolers Question, can you tell me?

Answer:
-Since the objective of most preschools I've ever seen is to "socialize" young kids - teach them how to behave in a group, share their toys, etc., I can't imagine that there would BE homeschooling programs for preschool kids. My guess would be that getting your child into an inclusive setting as early as possible could only help them. And yes, it is my personal experience that parents have to fight slightly less hard for inclusion for kids that have already "proven" that they can do it in preschool. If your district hasn't ever done inclusion, though, I'd suspect that it will be a fight no matter what you do for preschool. -One of our local Parenting newspapers, Northwest Baby and Child, mentioned these two books in a Homeschooling article a while back; I think they'd be handy for EIC and sped preschool staff just so they stay in touch with what is actually age appropriate (one of our local sped preschool teachers had a grant because she thought she could teach delayed three year olds proper kindergarten behavior that mainstream kindergarten teachers had trouble teaching their mainstream 5 to 7 year olds...):

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June Oberlander, Available from Bio-Alpha (703-323-6142) A complete readiness curriculum providing five years of age-appropriate developmental activities (age 0 weeks 1 day and up)

This volume recommended by Head Start, US Dept of Education, and homeschooling groups. The “slow and steady” theme is emphasized throughout, and when materials are needed they are inexpensive or already in your home.

Oberlander says,

Early Education at Home, by M. Jean Soyke, A Curriculum Guide for Parents of Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

Detailed weekly lesson plans, preschool basics, plus language activities, science, safety, and manners, wish list of games and toys, check lists for gross motor, fine motor, social, body awareness, language, cognitive, and math skills.

They may say that inclusion is unheard of where you are, but I bet they went to the same school as the sped admininstrator here who told me a few months ago, "I think you'll find that kids from special ed don't have the kind of civil rights olks in your area would find out that they should have heard about inclusion a long time ago, if they checked. -I have been reading the posts re: homeschooling with great interest. I also homeschool my two children. Reagan just turned 5, w/ds. For the most part I use a regular "hands on" preschool curriculum supplemented with other activities targeting her special needs including HELP series from VORT, the Woodbine House publications and a few others. I also use a language program called "Learning Language at Home" published by The Council for Exceptional Children. It has 200 lessons in a fun and games format for language skills. They are divided into 4 parts: Learning to Do, Learning to Listen, Learning to Look, and Learning to Tell. There are supplemental ideas in most lessons to help generalize the concept. It is targeted at the 3-5 year old "normal" child. We have been using it for about a year and a half and love it. We also use a speech therepist from the private sector to help us develop a home program for Reagan.

I would love to hear more from others homeschooling their children!