Curriculum: Preschool

It's tempting to get our kids started in school right away. We want them to be successful, and what parent doesn't want their kid to be smart? So we sign them up for classes and day camps and preschool as soon as we possibly can... enrichment classes, Montessori and more, oh my! But, what if I told you the most important thing to do with your child was read and play? That's it! Just read to them and play with them. Go to the parks, zoos, playgrounds, pool, museums, etc. Talk to them about what they see. Point out colors, letters, and numbers. If you want, do a few arts and crafts with them. It doesn't have to be planned or thought out in too much detail.

Just have fun! Seriously! You don't need a curriculum. Go lots of places. Talk about the things that you do. Read to them. Read to them. Did I say read to them? Go on walks. Blow bubbles. Sing songs. Laugh. Play. Don't take any of it too seriously. There will be plenty of time for that later. And did I mention busy bags? You are going to want to keep the littles busy while you homeschool the older ones or do homeschool while they nap.

That being said, I know there are some of you that want to know exactly what to do each day and don't want to have to come up with things on your own. For one of my kids, I purchased a curriculum called Ready Made Preschool. It wasn't anything terribly fancy. Just all the supplies I needed to do the various activities that I didn't need to come up with. Having gone through it though, I totally could have done it on my own.

I often use preschool as an excuse to buy some super fun toys. Here are some links to some of my favorite things. We make no money from these links, just FYI. This blog is a labor of love.

Magnatiles

Turn and Learn Magic Gears

Create and Design Drill Kit

Jessica

Hey, all! Beth here, agreeing with Jessica 100% - preschool should be low stress and FUN! I just wanted to add my two cents, giving a few more ideas to consider. Don't feel like you must, or even should, do everything listed in this post! Go with whatever inspires you, and feel free to turn away from the rest.

When my kids were each preschool-age, we did a letter of the week. We would practice recognizing that letter in a variety of ways. Be prepared... some weeks the learning will stick, and other weeks it won't. At this age, just keep moving along. Don't stress or get upset about your child not knowing the letter G as well as the others. It will come. One fun thing I did with my youngest child at this age was to cook something each week that corresponded to the letter he was learning. I got him a little apron, and we would set aside a little time each week to prepare a special treat. My inspiration came from a book I picked up for $.25 at a used curriculum sale, which was called "Alpha-Bakery." To my surprise, that same book is selling on used sites for $30-$40 right now. (Where is my copy...? LOL) However, this looks like a reasonable substitute: