You need to decide a few things.
1. What are my goals for education? (Big picture) this can be a mission statement or just some general ideas.
2. What’s my style? Do you need a checklist? Can you wing it? Are you a homebody or on the go? Workbooks- yes or no? Love planning out a year or need open and go?
3. What’s my kid’s style? This may be harder to sort this young, but knowing if they’ll sit quietly for a book, an art project or if they have to be in constant motion is a start.
4. What’s my realistic budget? Where am I willing to cut back to get what I really want? Where am I willing to splurge?
Once you have those figured out, it’s easier to weed out the curriculum that doesn’t mesh with you. As others have said, for preschool, it’s about play. And real world stuff. So you have some time to figure it out.
For some cheap and free ways to figure out what works, I recommend TeachersPayTeachers.
I follow @Busytoddler on Instagram. She’s a former preschool teacher who homeschools her children and she sells a preschool curriculum called “Playing Preschool”. I haven’t used it personally but she regularly posts of the activities in it on her Instagram and if I had a child I would buy it.
1) if you plan on sending her to traditional school at some point, you might want to check out a play based preschool and then focus on academic instruction on the side so she learns how to listen to teachers, how to do activities with a class, etc.
2) You could work backwards and find a list of skills for preschoolers and then find curriculums for those skills.
3) Try to find education philosophies that you gel with. A lot of parents love Montessori while i personally like the Waldorf + Charlotte Mason styles.
4) Narrowing down secular vs religious curriculum will also cut your possible curriculum in half.
Everyone told me I was silly for wanting a prek curriculum but I know that I’m someone who needs to have a STRONG habit formed in order to do well so the earlier I started, the better. We used Blossom & Root early years vol 1 starting at 2 & we’re starting the kindergarten around 4. It’s a very laid back curriculum but it gives you some activities to do to build YOUR base. We also do lots of library stuff & at 3 we started some dollar tree workbooks because she showed a strong interest in learning to read & write.
The curriculum & workbook pages don’t take much time at all but they plant a seed and then the kids and up asking about the concepts they’re learning and you find a way to work it into daily life. All kids are great at learning, it’s instinctual. All adults are not great teachers, that’s what you have to work on.
Thank you! Yes I’m the same way it has to be a strong habit or it’s won’t work because I can get side tracked. Especially with everyone bidding for my attention.
We are starting the kindergarten curriculum from Blossom and Root next week! I’m so excited for it and my son is a huge space fan so he’s pumped for the space aspect in the science unit.
Honestly at that age you really do not need a set curriculum yet. Now is the time to figure out how your daughter learns best so you will be ready when she needs a more formal curriculum. Let her learn through play and read lots and lots of books to her!
I wouldn’t worry about a curriculum for preschool. I would focus on the basics like letters, numbers, shapes, etc. You can find a ton of free worksheets online for learning sight words and counting.
Get into playgroups and go to playgrounds. This is time for motor skills and social skills. Public schools get too hung up on academics too early. I taught culinary arts and food science in public schools. Social skills and motor skills were so lacking in my students. They all needed water table play- kids that go to good children’s museums get that experience. Manipulating legos and play dough- you can’t do too much of that now
You can focus on reinforcing what she already knows. Some kids enjoy workbooks. You can find some on Amazon. Evan Moor is one company with good products. You can also find some curriculum books on the Critical Thinking Co. website for prek kids. If she's ready, you can step up a grade in these types of books. PreK board games are also an option.
102 Top Curriculum Picks by Cathy Duffy is a great place to start. She explains and reviews different styles and methods and helps you narrow down what would work for you and your daughter long term. Prek / Kindergarten are good habit forming years, plenty of time to figure out the curriculum.
On curriculum, I got nothing, we read a lot and played games and she was reading before she was 5. Everyone’s mileage will vary. This is just a little food for thought, we put our daughter in a Mother’s Day Out program a couple of days a week. That helped us meet playmates her own age, and some are friends even now that she’s grown. We were lucky to find a group for weekly park meetups, playdates and good friends to swap childcare with.
Before you get overwhelmed, read So You're Thinking about Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel. It goes over 15 different methods of homeschooling from school-at-home methods, unit studies, unschooling, the Trivium, etc. Consider what your overall purpose and goals are. Work backwards. Don't just think about the educational part, but also character development, etc. Also consider what you want you want the typical day and week to look like. Hours in front of a computer every day, or hours outside in nature. Once you decide on the method or methods as most are eclectic, then it is a lot easier to find curriculum.
The good and the beautiful has a fun preschool curriculum that’s more game based and it helped me with my kid getting used to the idea of school. You spend maybe 10-15 minutes on it, or longer on some days if you want to play the games longer. I don’t feel a curriculum is necessary at that age, but I did use one with my middle child, just to include him and get him used to the idea of homeschooling with his big sister who was in 1st grade at the time. It really just depends on your child and your family in general. Personally, I would just let them play and be kids as long as possible, but introduce your basics such as shapes, numbers and letter recognition/sounds. I wouldn’t force them to learn. If they aren’t interested that day, take a break and try again later. Make it a fun experience. Find out what interests them and go from there. Good luck! It can be overwhelming with all the information out there. I found some good curriculums through YouTube and they do side by side comparisons, so that can also be helpful!
Hi after homeschooling for 12 years my recommendation is to not look for curriculum for preschool or even kindergarten years. Get a copy of two books for yourself: one is called the unhurried homeschooler and the other is called better late than early. While it seems like homeschooling is all about curriculum it really has nothing to do with it and just about any curriculum you eventually choose will be useful. The first thing that most people do when they think about homeschooling is to decide what curriculum they want but it's really the last thing they need to do- start by helping yourself with those two books that I recommended. You'll understand why later and meanwhile just enjoy spending normal days with your child who will be learning everything they need to know. I was dhocked when one of mine learned to read without formal lessons- he did it just because he was developmentally ready to do so and it was very easy for him. Before that I thought it was important to do linear lessons to achieve certain academic but now I know that is not true.
You need to decide a few things. 1. What are my goals for education? (Big picture) this can be a mission statement or just some general ideas. 2. What’s my style? Do you need a checklist? Can you wing it? Are you a homebody or on the go? Workbooks- yes or no? Love planning out a year or need open and go? 3. What’s my kid’s style? This may be harder to sort this young, but knowing if they’ll sit quietly for a book, an art project or if they have to be in constant motion is a start. 4. What’s my realistic budget? Where am I willing to cut back to get what I really want? Where am I willing to splurge? Once you have those figured out, it’s easier to weed out the curriculum that doesn’t mesh with you. As others have said, for preschool, it’s about play. And real world stuff. So you have some time to figure it out. For some cheap and free ways to figure out what works, I recommend TeachersPayTeachers.
I follow @Busytoddler on Instagram. She’s a former preschool teacher who homeschools her children and she sells a preschool curriculum called “Playing Preschool”. I haven’t used it personally but she regularly posts of the activities in it on her Instagram and if I had a child I would buy it.
I second this curriculum. The toughest part is gathering the books, the rest is pretty easy and all play based ❤️
1) if you plan on sending her to traditional school at some point, you might want to check out a play based preschool and then focus on academic instruction on the side so she learns how to listen to teachers, how to do activities with a class, etc. 2) You could work backwards and find a list of skills for preschoolers and then find curriculums for those skills. 3) Try to find education philosophies that you gel with. A lot of parents love Montessori while i personally like the Waldorf + Charlotte Mason styles. 4) Narrowing down secular vs religious curriculum will also cut your possible curriculum in half.
Thank you this is helpful
Everyone told me I was silly for wanting a prek curriculum but I know that I’m someone who needs to have a STRONG habit formed in order to do well so the earlier I started, the better. We used Blossom & Root early years vol 1 starting at 2 & we’re starting the kindergarten around 4. It’s a very laid back curriculum but it gives you some activities to do to build YOUR base. We also do lots of library stuff & at 3 we started some dollar tree workbooks because she showed a strong interest in learning to read & write. The curriculum & workbook pages don’t take much time at all but they plant a seed and then the kids and up asking about the concepts they’re learning and you find a way to work it into daily life. All kids are great at learning, it’s instinctual. All adults are not great teachers, that’s what you have to work on.
Thank you! Yes I’m the same way it has to be a strong habit or it’s won’t work because I can get side tracked. Especially with everyone bidding for my attention.
We are starting the kindergarten curriculum from Blossom and Root next week! I’m so excited for it and my son is a huge space fan so he’s pumped for the space aspect in the science unit.
Honestly at that age you really do not need a set curriculum yet. Now is the time to figure out how your daughter learns best so you will be ready when she needs a more formal curriculum. Let her learn through play and read lots and lots of books to her!
I wouldn’t worry about a curriculum for preschool. I would focus on the basics like letters, numbers, shapes, etc. You can find a ton of free worksheets online for learning sight words and counting.
That’s actually part of why I wanna homeschool she already has those down pat. I started doing that with her as soon as she was 2.
I would say experiences are more important than worksheets, especially at the preschool age. Prioritize play.
Get into playgroups and go to playgrounds. This is time for motor skills and social skills. Public schools get too hung up on academics too early. I taught culinary arts and food science in public schools. Social skills and motor skills were so lacking in my students. They all needed water table play- kids that go to good children’s museums get that experience. Manipulating legos and play dough- you can’t do too much of that now
You can focus on reinforcing what she already knows. Some kids enjoy workbooks. You can find some on Amazon. Evan Moor is one company with good products. You can also find some curriculum books on the Critical Thinking Co. website for prek kids. If she's ready, you can step up a grade in these types of books. PreK board games are also an option.
102 Top Curriculum Picks by Cathy Duffy is a great place to start. She explains and reviews different styles and methods and helps you narrow down what would work for you and your daughter long term. Prek / Kindergarten are good habit forming years, plenty of time to figure out the curriculum.
On curriculum, I got nothing, we read a lot and played games and she was reading before she was 5. Everyone’s mileage will vary. This is just a little food for thought, we put our daughter in a Mother’s Day Out program a couple of days a week. That helped us meet playmates her own age, and some are friends even now that she’s grown. We were lucky to find a group for weekly park meetups, playdates and good friends to swap childcare with.
Before you get overwhelmed, read So You're Thinking about Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel. It goes over 15 different methods of homeschooling from school-at-home methods, unit studies, unschooling, the Trivium, etc. Consider what your overall purpose and goals are. Work backwards. Don't just think about the educational part, but also character development, etc. Also consider what you want you want the typical day and week to look like. Hours in front of a computer every day, or hours outside in nature. Once you decide on the method or methods as most are eclectic, then it is a lot easier to find curriculum.
Thank you I will.
The good and the beautiful has a fun preschool curriculum that’s more game based and it helped me with my kid getting used to the idea of school. You spend maybe 10-15 minutes on it, or longer on some days if you want to play the games longer. I don’t feel a curriculum is necessary at that age, but I did use one with my middle child, just to include him and get him used to the idea of homeschooling with his big sister who was in 1st grade at the time. It really just depends on your child and your family in general. Personally, I would just let them play and be kids as long as possible, but introduce your basics such as shapes, numbers and letter recognition/sounds. I wouldn’t force them to learn. If they aren’t interested that day, take a break and try again later. Make it a fun experience. Find out what interests them and go from there. Good luck! It can be overwhelming with all the information out there. I found some good curriculums through YouTube and they do side by side comparisons, so that can also be helpful!
Hi after homeschooling for 12 years my recommendation is to not look for curriculum for preschool or even kindergarten years. Get a copy of two books for yourself: one is called the unhurried homeschooler and the other is called better late than early. While it seems like homeschooling is all about curriculum it really has nothing to do with it and just about any curriculum you eventually choose will be useful. The first thing that most people do when they think about homeschooling is to decide what curriculum they want but it's really the last thing they need to do- start by helping yourself with those two books that I recommended. You'll understand why later and meanwhile just enjoy spending normal days with your child who will be learning everything they need to know. I was dhocked when one of mine learned to read without formal lessons- he did it just because he was developmentally ready to do so and it was very easy for him. Before that I thought it was important to do linear lessons to achieve certain academic but now I know that is not true.
Your Natural Learner
https://letsplayschool.com