Charlotte Mason Recommends holding off on formal learning until the age of 6. The preschool years are meant to be a quiet, growing time, where children build good habits, expand their imaginations through living books, and have plenty of time to play.
I don't want to start formally teaching reading quite yet, but I do want my child to learn his letters and sounds in a play-based environment.
Here are some things we'll be using in this transition year!
Pre-Reading
Delightful Reading, Level 1: Playing with Letters and Sounds by Simply Charlotte Mason
This is a very gentle, play-based way to learn about letters and sounds through simple activities. My son will be 5 next month and we just started using this. He knows all but 3 capital letters by identity, several lowercase, and several sounds. It will be fun to see the growth this year in learning the rest to prepare him for learning how to build words next year!
Math
(The following is an affiliate link on Amazon)
My son loves math and counting. We used Preschool Math at Home last year and enjoyed it. Kindergarten Math with Confidence was the next natural progression. We've already started it and it has been enjoyable and play-based. It has a very small amount of tracing/handwriting the numbers which I am not forcing, but encouraging. We will take our time with this curriculum throughout the next year and take breaks when needed!
Literature
Our Co-Op will be using Gentle and Classical Preschool again as our core curriculum. I will use that with the boys again in a more simplified fashion - sticking with the core weekly read aloud and the memory cards. See my post on Preschool Curriculum We've Used and Loved for more information about this curriculum!
We've read through most of Simply Charlotte Mason's Favorite Read-Aloud Books for Preschoolers List. We'll continue reading living picture books and find some new chapter books to read as well.
Morning Time
During our morning time, we will still read the Bible and a storybook Bible, read poetry, look at artwork, and listen to hymns or folksongs. We'll use several of my Morning Basket Bundles that I've already made.
Nature Study
This is very informal still - it just means we go outside a lot and do try to identify new plants, flowers, or birds on occasion. We enjoy God's creation and love to explore it!
What are some things you like to do with your 4-6 year-olds before formal curriculum?
Thanks for reading!
-Morgan
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