Preschool does not require any curriculum - it involves reading great books, learning about healthy habits, learning different chores, helping with baking, playing games, being outdoors, and tons of free play time.
However, as a former teacher, I really do enjoy a good curriculum. I love the structure and routine of it. Here are two complete preschool curriculums that we've gone through over the last two years.
Gentle and Classical Preschool - Ages 2-5
We've really enjoyed using this curriculum this past year while my older son was four years old. A few of my friends agreed to use this curriculum as well and we created our own little homeschool co op around it. Every Monday, we would meet at a park to read the core picture book, sing scripture songs, and do an activity related to the story. It was encouraging to have friends joining alongside of us!
Each week, there are several memory cards that you display on a board: scripture, catechism, all about me, manners/hygiene, math, Bible verse, and nursery rhyme.
I stayed fairly diligent in setting up the cards every Sunday night on our board and we would read over them each morning at breakfast time and read our story of the week. I didn't make my son memorize them but I would occasionally ask him which one he would like to share with daddy over dinner.
The weekly schedule included a handicraft that we would complete most times, math lessons from Preschool Math at home, alphabet tracing/identifying letters from the Morning Binder printables, calendar/about me/weather pages from the Morning Binder, a weekly poem, and other suggestions for related activities.
Each unit rotated between learning about a famous artist or listening to Peter and the Wolf. Both were enjoyable! We loved the Songs for Saplings recommendations that would align with the weekly scripture and catechism.
I truly utilized my library for this curriculum. We owned several books and I found a few used at bookstores to add to my collection. In general, I borrowed most of the weekly books from the library. There were several other recommended books that we used each week that I bought separately as well.
Memory Board that I displayed on my table each week, then folded up and put away on the weekends. Each week you change the cards.
Sample of the Catechism question and Character trait cards.
Cost:
- $34.99 for digital only
-$146.99 for print and digital
Pros:
- comprehensive
- very organized and informative curriculum with lots of options and extras
- you can be flexible with what you choose to do with your kids
- variety of activities and handicrafts
- beautiful artwork and Biblically-focused
- can repeat over multiple years and add on different activities
Cons:
- includes a lot of things that could get overwhelming
- keeping all of the materials organized can be tricky
- remembering to change over the cards each week
- several additional books to purchase that you use frequently
- specialty craft materials to buy
All in all, I highly recommend this curriculum and look forward to trying the next level, Primer, with my son in another year. I don't think I would do this curriculum as thoroughly with my second child or subsequent children, but now that I have all the materials, I could easily use it as a guide for them in future years.
My Father's World All Aboard the Animal Train - 3 Year old Program
I used this program with my oldest when he turned three. He got a little bored of it at the end when he was almost four so I'm starting a little earlier with my second son. We just started it again last week with my younger son who turned two three months ago. It is the sweetest curriculum and fairly simple to implement.
Each unit is three weeks long and focuses on an animal, a character trait, and a color. My children enjoy the variety of activities: pretending to be the unit animal, making playdough and using the animal cookie cutters, trying snack foods that go along with the color, hiding animal cards to find, watercolor painting, and more.
Each day has four task cards that your child can flip over when finished - Clean Up/Together Time, Storytime, Surprise Time, and Outside Time.
This was my initial set up. We were learning about black bears, black, and obedience. The four task cards for each day were held up with magnets.
Surprise Time is a fun way to encourage independent play. It takes a little time to set up initially. You choose 5 small bins and keep some independent play activities in there. Depending on how much of the curriculum you purchase, it includes some of those activities. Right now my bins include: a sensory bin of dried beans, do-a-dot markers with paper, large beads and string for threading, matching animal blocks, and puzzles. Then you rotate the items in 1 or 2 of the bins every three weeks. Of course, I had to set aside some other fun activities for my older son to do while the younger gets surprise time.
I store my surprise time bins in a hall closet. Your child picks a number and matches it to the surprise time bin - great for number awareness!
Cost:
- $248 - $400 depending on time of year and sales
- There are My Father's World Buy, Sell, Trade groups on Facebook that I used to buy parts of the curriculum. I also bought some of the story books used.
Pros:
- very play-based
- organized and informative teacher's guide
- variety of activities
- builds a good routine with the four task cards per day
Cons:
- expensive
- plan ahead for getting snack items
- remember to change surprise bins
- just for ages 2-3
All in all, I love this curriculum. I was pretty excited when my younger son turned two since I knew we could begin it soon. It was very memorable with my first!
Preschool Math at Home
Cost: $15
This book was recommended by Gentle and Classical Preschool and we really loved it! It includes play-based math activities and games that use simple household items.
Click the affiliate link below to check it out.
Another curriculum that I'd love to try someday is Our Preschool Life by Simply Charlotte Mason. They send you a monthly box with a read aloud, activities, art, music, and more.
I will shortly be launching my own full-year preschool curriculum. I knew that after using My Father's World and Gentle and Classical, that it might be tougher to implement those when I'm homeschooling older children. I wanted something I could use that is simple, flexible, and affordable. You can learn more about this curriculum HERE!
Let me know what preschool curriculum you've used and loved!
-Morgan
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