Preschool Homeschool Curriculum 2013-2014

My days are always much more colorful with a preschooler to homeschool.  Preschoolers have a natural curiosity about EVERYTHING and veraciously soak up every little scrap of knowledge they can.

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I know that my Greased Lightning, with his bursting enthusiasm for just about everything and everyone, will be more than eager to start DISCOVERING along with his older sibs.  

While my little man is always welcome to listen and participate in our group subjects, my expectation for HIS participation in most of these areas will be much different than that of his big sister and brothers.

In addition to our group learning, he will also be doing the following:

Personal Devotions

• At this age, he may choose from the numerous picture book Bibles that we have on a low-lying shelf and page through the pictures until the majority of the other kids have finished their personal devotions.  As I've mentioned before, I use this time to establish the HABIT of doing personal devotions.

Phonics/Language

• ABeka K-4 Phonics (4x a week)- I prefer to teach one letter a week and this curriculum goes slightly faster than that.  So I have re-worked the curriculum guide to suite my needs.
• A homemade ABC book (1x a week)
• Alphabet bag (1x a week)
• Little Golden Book Picture Dictionary (1x a week)- to introduce other words that begin with the assigned letter of the week
• lots of hands-on reinforcements/manipulatives 
• Baby's Lap Book (1x a week)- This is neither a lapbook nor a book for babies.  It is a very old book of classic nursery rhymes.  My kids have always loved this book, but I think it helps that I sing most of the rhymes instead of read them.

Math

• I've never done any intentional math with my kids at this age.  The ABeka K-4 Phonics book includes simple counting and number recognition.  But, beyond that, any "math" taught will be done with living literature books and real life encounters.  

Logic/Readiness Skills

• Building Thinking Skills Beginning (4x a week)- This is a reading-readiness book that also incorporates logic and reasoning skills.
• Can You Find Me? (1x a week)

Living Literature Social Studies & Science

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the books we will read together, but it comprises the titles that we will FOR SURE be reading.  Knowing my first grader, he will probably want to listen in as well.  We will read one title over the course of a few weeks and then move on to the next one.  For variety, I have scheduled a rotation of a social studies-themed book, a science-themed book, repeat.  

For the most part, these are all books that can be found in a previous edition of the Sonlight Preschool program (Which I love!).  But the complete course is a bit too demanding for my schedule/stage of life and slightly too intense for my son's personality.  So, in a true ECLECTIC fashion, I have added and detracted to create a made-to-order, a la carte-style curriculum for my little guy.

• The Year at Maple Hill Farm (1x a month)-  As this book reads like a monthly farmer's calendar, we will not start with page 1.  Instead, I have scheduled it to begin at "August" so that the book matches the month/season that we are currently experiencing.  
• People
• Why Do Tigers Have Stripes?
• Things People Do
• The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature
• Then and Now
• The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit

Books on CD

At night, I usually let my children fall asleep to a book on CD.  This is the perfect time to squeeze in a few great titles that I would not otherwise have the time to read aloud to them.  

And so...

Since Greased Lightning has shown his pencil box to nearly EVERY person that has walked through the door of our home this past summer, I think it is safe to say that he is excited for school to start!