Saturday, February 5, 2011

Preschool: Mid-year review

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Part of why I originally started this blog was to be held accountable for what I am teaching Trevor (another is to have good reference for when I start teaching Mackenzie).  I thought that even if no one read this, the thought that someone might be is great motivation!

When we started the year, I had a plan that would take us through the end of the year, but being that I’ve never had a two year old before, I didn’t quite realize how quickly he would grow and learn.  He is two and a half now, and I took some time to reevaluate the goals I had set for him at the beginning of the year.  I honestly didn’t know what a “normal” two year old should know, so I just guessed based on what he knew when he turned two.

I would love to hear what you are doing with your 2 year old, too!  Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom.


Goals I set when Trevor turned two to be achieved by his third birthday:


  • Be able to count to ten
  • Be able to count items up to ten
  • Be able to sing the alphabet song
  • Be able to recognize some letters
  • Be able to recognize more colors
  • Be able to recognize more shapes


Two and a half year check-up:


  • Can count to 20 (as long as he is focusing)
  • Can count items up to 10
  • Can sing the alphabet song great, he can even jumble through the Spanish version! (Thanks LeapFrog Learning Table!)
  • Recognizes all of the capital letters, most of the lowercase letters, and knows the sounds for all but a couple of them.  When he looks at a word, he is starting to say the sounds of the letters instead of just reading the name of the letter, like he is trying to sound it out.
  • We haven't pushed any funny colors, but he knows all the basic ones
  • He knows the standard shapes, plus octogon


Modified goals for the rest of the year:


  • Be able to count to 25
  • Be able to count items up to 25
  • Be able to recognize and say the sound(s) of all uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Continue learning new colors and shapes
  • I may start having him trace lines for early writing work
  • I may start having him "build" letters out of cut out lines and curves


Our current "curriculum" should make it possible for him to learn all of this by his third birthday, as long as I stay faithful in teaching him!

I am already getting excited about what we are going to learn next year, but because I don’t want to push too hard or fast (and because I really have a hard time changing my plans!) I’m not planning on adding anything additional to our school schedule for the rest of the year.  Next week I plan on writing some of my ideas for next year and some items on my wish list for three year old preschool!

Do you have any favorite school related things that you do or did with your preschooler?  I’d love to get some tried and true suggestions!

Happy Learning!

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Looking for more preschool information?  Click on the picture below to find a list of all the preschool posts here at Living and Learning at Home, plus some of my favorite preschool resources!


8 comments:

  1. That is a great curriculum! Keep up the great work!

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  2. I think you and Trevor are doing great too! : ) You are doing a great job with him! I started having Tyler "write" his name about 2 1/2ish and also had him do fine-motor skills like cutting! I think it's great you are holding yourself accountable with this blog-- I should have been more diligent at writing things down because I am having a hard time thinking of what I did with Tyler!

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  3. Great suggestions, Kristina. I really haven't done much with fine motor skills, but I probably should. Do you have any favorite preschool music that you've used?

    I know, I kept telling myself that I'd keep a good record, but I never actually did, so this is really helping!

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  4. I second the fine-motor skill suggestion. Using scissors, lacing cards, playdough, threading beads or macaroni, tearing paper are all activities the boys did in preschool to refine these skills. Bryce did too much tearing and cutting of WRONG books and papers when he was 2, perhaps because I wasn't working on it with him lol!

    And you know this, but I LOVE what you are doing, both with homeschooling and with this blog!

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  5. Thanks for the practical suggestions, Linds. I guess we do some of that, just not during official "school" time. I'll have to be more aware of that now and I'll work more of it in for school on purpose when he turns three!

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  6. Tyler started cutting at a park district class we took together; the teacher covered the table with paper and let the kids cut "fringe" around the table. Make sense? lol. Could be an activity to have him do while you are getting more materials out/ organized.

    As for music, I just get different cds from the library that look fun. No method or favorites!

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  7. Kristina, I had Trevor cut fringe around a paper today =) Thanks for the suggestion!

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