Charlotte Mason speaks about the first years simply being full of play and natural exploration of letters (and numbers).
As a remedial teacher parents kept approaching me to help them teach their children to read but again and again I saw that children had many pre-reading and pre-numeracy skills that were not yet solidified and they were trying to gain these whilst learning to read. This resulted in not only frustration and a dislike for reading being birthed but also large sums of money being paid for extra lessons and reading intervention. I kept however seeing how fundamentally important the first 6 years of play, gentle learning through unstructured days that were filled with outdoor time, reading books, and real life, play based learning were to a child’s development.
This lead me to writing a pre-school manual and program on early childhood reading and maths skill introduction. The program being rooted in a love for good story books, a mom juggling real life, often chasing a toddler and juggling a baby while trying to educate their pre-schooler. This program worked so well for our own family as it allowed us to all learn together. It included all the children and I could model it around our daily life’s ebb and flow. It was so amazing to see that through reading stories, play and daily life we could bring in all the academic, gross and fine motor skills, social skills, emotional readiness our children need to prepare them for beginning to read and dive into numeracy. It was from here that the Dandelion Days Pre-School Program was birthed.
Dandelion Days Pre-School Program is a 1 stop, get it all mix – as it covers every area of learning that a child under 6 needs to be exposed to.
This program uses daily and life ideas to teach these pre-reading and maths skills incidentally as well as using readers that you read to your child. From the Early Days Introduction Manual there are many fun games, activities and life tasks, such as sorting the washing, that will fully prepare and equip your child to read. While Growing Early Skills Through Story Books will guide you through using literature as your key to learning all the preschool skills your child would need in a natural, gentle way. If you don’t own or can’t purchase the books, most are available in your public library and some are read aloud on YouTube.
Dandelion Days is a comprehensive preschool program consists of a a comprehensive monthly guide on what exactly to do with your little person during the month to ensure all they have not only all their pre-reading foundations worked upon but that they are also exposed to wonderful literature, art and crafts, they connect with nature, the world and people around them – all the while creating amazing memories.
Recommendation
It is recommended that you use the Free Range Schooling Portfolio portal to keep record of learning while using the Dandelion Days Program. The portfolio is set up so that as you record your child’s work, it is aligned to the CAPS curriculum too – which then automatically meets the requirements of the government.
Dandelion Packs
Each pack is designed to be a 12-week program. Included in each pack are…
- 3 books (which will be posted to you)
- 3 workbooks (downloadable)
Individual Workbooks
Each of these products is a workbook designed to be a 4-week curriculum. You will need to purchase the books that each workbook relates to seperately.
