Saw that you guys were looking to homeschool pre-school which we are also doing with Arianna.
Wanted to give you the link to a curriculum we're using (free too!) that has worked really well for us and even allows us to set up unit studies every week. I order all the books from the library 2 weeks in advance to ensure we get them in time. Arianna's idea of 'playing toys' is reading books, so this curriculum is great. We leave out all the religion based items and found no problems with the curriculum at all.
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Do you have to get approval from your local school commitee in order to home school? Many cities/towns require parents of home-schoolers to submit lesson plans based on your states curricula and frameworks-does yours for regulation purposes?
You rock! I went out today to get Hallie some first-word flashcards since it seems like she is beginning to identify simple words ("Bus" and things like that) already and I figure that she'll probably be reading by 3. So a summer of preschool with mama would be a great thing to do, and might also help ease the transition to the new baby. And we can definitely taper things a bit to our taste...it's odd to be part of the progressive homeschool brigade, but we are definitely out there... Even if she does go to more traditional schools later on, this will help prepare her with fundamentals. And, like Arianna, Hallie's favorite toys are books (and flash cards) and it is lovely to see her approach learning as fun, and not as a chore.
anon:
We have no such regulation here - as a matter of fact the only state that currently requires it (and its being battled at the state court level) is CA. During the Regan administration parents were given the full right (and it was actually stated then, as it is proven now, that its a better form of education) to homeschool - it is illegal to critique homeschooling parents or order them to wait for approval in all 50 states currently (thank goodness!).
Personally I like the idea of being directly involved in choosing my childs cirricula and having a say in exactly what and how they learn. I can't tell you the problems I had, specifically with math and science, as a result of a poor learning framework as was set up by my school district - not to mention the lack of time given to individual students (even those who ask for help, as I did).
There are many ways to homeschool, you just have to find the one that works best for you and your child. Personally I've found unit studies to be the easiest for me, as the teacher, to teach with. Others find unschooling and traditionally type schooling to be best - really its test and trial until you find something that works.
Abby: Do you have a parent/teacher store near you? The one near me is great for finding that kind of stuff. I've also had good luck at BJs - which I don't know if you have that in your area (I think you do though). Their book section, surprisingly, has some very good supplementary books for learning.
In all reality, at our girls age, they should be learning more through play anyway... I try to not stress about it but its not that easy.
We're working on writing now - phonics will get worked on in a few months. I'd love to get a phonics system (like hooked on phonics) but they're super pricey - I've got my eye open on craigslist and ebay for a copy though!
I can talk to my sister in law, who is a first grade teacher who has also on occasion done kindergarten to see what she recommends vis-a-vis phonics and whether she has any 'ins' on good deals. Hallie is beginning to teach herself to write (on our walls, but I choose my battles. I'd rather have her interested and see it as fun and worry about the graffiti artist problems later on). She's also picking out tons of letters on signs, in the street, etc, so the reading thing seems to be beginning, too. It's kind of weird, since we've done little to cause this, other than provide her with a language rich environment (which is something, of course). It seems to be so self-directed that it's hard not to jump on her enthusiastic bandwagon.
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