Preschool Curriculum and Resources

Last year I "homeschooled" Wesley for Preschool. He called it "tivity" time - his version of "activity time" - which is what I called "school." I put it in quotation marks because it didn't seem like school at all. Just part of helping him learn and grow as a child with a little direction and organization.  He loved it and I had a lot of fun. Our activity time was very laid back. Sometimes we spent only a few minutes and sometimes over an hour and we didn't do it everyday. Many people have asked me what we did and the books we used so I thought I would just compile it all in a blog entry. I've done countless hours of reading and research (and I really love it!). I hope this takes the load off of you so you don't have to do it (unless you really love it too!)

First of all, to really understand why I chose the books and resources I did, you should check out my Preschool Education philosophy. It really did/does guide how I think about what to include in my curriculum.

God’s Little Explorers (motherhoodonadime.com) was our PK4 base. It is a simple 28 week curriculum that centers on chronological Bible stories matched with a letter and topic that begins with that word (for Q we read about the manna and the quail in the dessert with Moses and learned about quails and other birds). It also included simple math concepts and other subjects thrown in here and there. as well as a memory verse, songs, and lots of extras for each week. And best of all, it’s free! Or you can get even more and pay $15. We did the free version and loved it. I didn't focus on writing very much, just familiarity with the name of the capital letters and a bit with the sounds. There were many activities you could do each day but I only picked two or three at most.

In addition to this curriculum I added some other resources. Here's a short summary. At the beginning of each week, I read from The A-Z Picture Book on the page that represented the letter for the week. On other days of the week, I read stories that represented that letter,  and read the Bible story suggested from the curriculum and the activities that went along with it.  We also did a coloring page for the bible story. I tried to find science concepts that matched the letters, like animals that started with the letter, etc.  Also, I read from A Year at Maple Hill Farm at the start of each new month and we read poems that were about things that started with the letter of the week. We did holiday themes and lap books occasionally too. Sometimes we did Before Five in a Row books and activities. I threw in simple art projects here and there too. We also talked about the calendar and the seasons - but not consistently. We played card games often to encourage number recognition and some other math concepts - like War (a very slow version!), Crazy 8s, Go Fish, Uno and matching games. I made up a few other card games and little dice games too. Of course, Pinterest has a ridiculous amount of anything you want to find! I learned quickly though that much of the activities on Pinterest take too much time and resources to put together and that simple is always better, and honestly most of those kinds of things can be taught just through natural living and learning like colors, shapes, numbers, counting, etc. We also went on nature walks and watched youtube videos that went along with whatever peaked their interests or went along with what we were "studying."

I know this sounds like a lot, especially when you look at the other lists of books below but again, as I said before, I didn't spend more than an average of 30 minutes of concentrated time a day on this! I was able to do all of this by reading poems and rhymes and watching at snack times. I read to them before nap/rest time every day and before bed every night and sometimes at other times of the day here and there. Also, my boys love to listen to stories on cd. They listen to one each night when we turn out their light.

Other Teacher Resources/Student Workbooks

The Three Rs - Ruth Beechick - excellent resource for teaching in a natural way

Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready (for birth through age 4, I liked it especially for 2’s and 3’s)

Before Five in a Row - Jane Claire Lambert

Alphabet Art - Judy Press

Rod and Staff workbooks set 1 ( for 3-4), set (for 4-6) A-L (milestonebooks.com)

Explode the Code Books A,B,C (if ready for it - 4’s or 5’s) We didn’t start this until Kindergarten this year with Wes, but David might be ready for it next year in PreK4. It is excellent!

Count on Math (4’s and up) or Math Play (3-6)

5-10 Minute Science Activities for Young Learners (I didn't have this book at the time but I would have used it if I had known about it).

Read Aloud Books We Used Often

Animals, Animals by Eric Carle (Poems about animals with Carle's beautiful illustrations)

Tomie DePaola’s Favorite Nursery Tales - Tomie DePaola (I've looked at a TON of nursery tale books - most of them have very dark tales that I don't think 3-6 year olds are ready for or should even be exposed to - strong words, I know! This book does a good job of including only stories that don't have that dark element to them, or at least retells them in a way that takes most of the darkness out.)

Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young

A Year at Maple Hill Farm - Provensen (I love their books - beautiful illustrations!)

What Do People Do All Day? and other Richard Scarry books

The A-Z Picture Book - Gyo Fugikawa (there are a couple of kind of scary pictures in this book but they didn’t seem to bother my boys)

Let’s Read and Find Out About Science Series Level 1 - I love this science series, many titles!

Henry Pluckrose books for math concepts - shapes, lines, length, etc.

Other Books We Love

Friends at Maple Hill Farm  - Provensen

Oh, What a Busy Day! - Gyo Fugikawa (her books are beautiful! I now own 7 of her books!)
Bear Snores On - Karma Wilson (and many others)

Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmens

Haircuts for Woolseys - Tomie DePaola (and many more)

Make Way for Ducklings - Robert Mccloskey

Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey

A House is a House for Me - Mary Ann Hoberman

Rosie’s Walk; The Wind Blew; Good Night Owl - Pat Hutchins

Ferdinand - Munroe Leaf

Over in the Meadow -  John Longstaff

Snowy Day and others - Ezra Jack Keats

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrice Potter (and many others)

The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit - Emma Thompson

Owl Moon - Jane Yolen

Jobs Around Town - Jan Berenstain

My First Little House books series

The Story of Ping; Angus Lost - Marjorie Flack

Corduroy - Don Freeman

A House for Hermit Crab; Walter the Baker; The Mixed Up Chamelion; The Grouchy Ladybug; The Very Busy Spider; The Very Hungry Caterpillar; The Very Quiet Cricket; 123 to the Zoo; Head to Toe: Pancakes, Pancakes - Eric Carle

Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Caps for Sale - Esphyr Slobodkina

Lyle the Crocodile - Bernard Weber

Harry the Dirty Dog - Gene Zion

Feathers For Lunch - Lois Ehlers

Little Bear - Else Holmelund Minarik

Frog and Toad (all); Grasshopper on the Road; Owl at Home - Arnold Lobel

The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper

Katy No-Pocket - Emmy Payne

Tikki Tikki Tembo - Arlene Mosel

The Little House; Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel; Choo-Choo - Virginia Lee Burton

The Giant Jam Sandwich - John Vernon Lord

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen

Go Dogs Go - P.D. Eastman

Ten Apples Up on Top - Theo LeSieg

Green Eggs and Ham; One Fish, Two Fish; Hop on Pop - Dr. Seuss

Amos and Boris - William Steig

The Fox Went out on a Chilly Night - Peter Spier

The Quilt Story - Tony Johnston

Wait Till the Moon is Full - Margaret Wise Brown (and many others we love)

Goodnight Little Bear - Richard Scarry

Scuffy the Tugboat - Gertrude Crampton

The Jolly Barnyard - Annie North Bedford

Apple Farmer Annie - Monica Wellington
Ox Cart Man - Donald Hall
Angus Lost; The Story About Ping; Ask Mr. Bear - Marjorie Flack
Harry the Dirty Dog - Gene Zion
Trainstop - Barbara Lehman

Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
Danny Meadow Mouse - Thornton Burgess (and many others!)

Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Other Resources (Some we have, some we don’t)

Elizabeth Mitchell Music (the Woodie Guthrie remake is great!)

Songs for Saplings (and others) Dana Dirkson

Wee Sing Children’s Songs and Fingerplays - a big hit!

Wee Sing ABC
100 Bible Stories and Songs
Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes Little and Big Animal Folk Songs - Pete Seager
Classical Baby HBO DVD Series
Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD
I Spy Shapes in Art; I Spy Colors in Art, etc.

Smithsonian Backyard Series

Preschool Busy Book (didn’t have this one but checked it out from the library)

Other Good Authors for 3’s and 4’s (and there are many more!)

Cynthia Rylant

Kevin Henkes

Lois Lenski

Leo Lionni
Tony Mitton

Patricia Machlachlan

Bill Martin

Patricia Polocco

Marjorie Priceman

Eloise Wilkins

Vera Williams

Denise Fleming

Lucy Cousins

Eve Bunting

Jan Bret

Donald Crews

Ruth Krauss

Bill Barton

Audrey Wood

Jim Arnosky

Curriculum Project - Preschool Philosophy

This is part of a series I want to continue over the next months - my curriculum project. I've been working on it for quite a while. How did this begin? Well, first, I love children, education, teaching children and teaching about education and developing curriculum! Also, I've been interested in homeschooling for quite a while so I started researching as much as I could. And,  a few different people asked me to give them ideas for what to do if they did want to homeschool their children. I don't think anyone who asked actually decided to homeschool their kids or to take my approach but I've had a blast anyway. Sometimes it consumes me, sometimes it sits on the back burner. I would love to hear your comments! 

So here goes! This first one is a long one! Hang in there! Hopefully the rest won't be that long.

Disclaimer: I know that many parents who read this have chosen not to homeschool their kids or have decided on a different avenue to do so. Please know that I deeply respect your decision and am in no way trying to say you made bad choice! We all have our reasons and convictions for doing what we do and we need to respect one another in those. This is just an avenue for me to share my thoughts and heart, not to judge, and  to help anyone along who might be considering "homeschooling" their preschooler or trying a different approach.

I have put together a home "course" for preschoolers and kindergartners based on Charlotte Mason’s early childhood educational philosophy, my own thoughts and observations as a mom and as a former elementary school teacher with further educational background in childhood and family development and as one passionately interested in the education and general well-being of all children. I have not read all of Charlotte Mason’s work so I am going by what I have gleaned from other books and summaries about her ideas. I also have an interest in and some knowledge of classical education which greatly influences the direction of my philosophy and curriculum but, in my opinion, classical education is not suitable for very young children as it seems to be too much, too early. I do however apply many aspects of the classical education model (the trivium - grammar stage, logic stage, rhetoric stage) to my curriculum when children enter 3rd or 4th grade. I also believe that Charlotte Mason's approach is very applicable and compatible with classical education and is a kind of classical model in itself though some things do differ. At first glance, many may assume that Charlotte Mason's approach is not rigorous enough and is perhaps watered-down but from my research that does not appear to be the case at all.  So without further ado, let me introduce you to this inspiring lady and her philosophy that gives the framework for my early childhood "curriculum." 

Charlotte Mason was an educator who lived in England in the late 1800's. She had a huge influence on British education for many years. She trained teachers and started her own school for teacher training. Her course of education, starting in elementary school, included many and varied subjects for all ages including all the basics plus art and music appreciation, handicrafts and foreign language as well as others. She highly stressed the use of "living" books - whole books and primary sources instead of textbooks and workbooks. High quality, whole picture and chapter books as well as nonfiction books add much more depth of knowledge than what she called the "twaddle" of textbooks that give stories in summaries or portions and information in tidbits without much intrinsic worth, beauty or literary value.

Using living books tends to eliminate the need for comprehension questions and other time-consuming aspects of modern language arts programs. Instead children are more likely to tell back to you what they've learned because of the interest and love of knowledge and imagination these books have generated.  Charlotte called this narration, the art of retelling a story orally or in written form and believed it "is the best way to acquire knowledge [and comprehension] from books. Narration also provides opportunities for a child to form an opinion or make a judgment, no matter how crude." It also gives the student practice in oral and written communication. "The child learns to call on the vocabulary and descriptive power of good writers as he 'tells' his own version of the passage or chapter." 

Mason also enforced the need for short lessons in order to train and focus attention, increase listening skills and discourage drifting thoughts. These lessons gradually increase in length as the child grows. This method also promotes self-education and a love of learning, thereby eliminating the need to give lectures and to continually lead lessons. She also stressed the need for children to be outside and to have free afternoons starting around 1:00 so children were not given homework until around 13 years of age. 

As for younger children (before age 6), she felt they needed to not be in school, but rather outside as much as possible exploring the natural world, being read to, and learning the discipline of habits that would form a foundation for later, more focused learning and responsibility. Why not school for preschoolers? Children learn the bulk of everything by free-playing and observing and discovering. By going to school early, much of that time for discovery and free-play which so greatly enhances the imagination and intellect is lost. A mother's chief responsibilities for the first six years is to secure for her children "Quiet growing time--and free growing time--the freedom of real play (not lessons that look like play) and of ordering one's own life. page 194 This isn't just an archaic philosophy, this is a current philosophy among experts in early childhood development. Unfortunately, this doesn't carry over to most experts in early childhood education or by our government's understanding of our youngest children's greatests needs for learning.

So my idea of preschool is very simple - basically to just read to your little ones a lot, teach them good habits and let them explore and learn from their world. Go on nature walks and talk about what you see, collect things along the way, make a nature notebook. Go to the library to pick out new books and to listen to story time, go to the zoo, to botanical gardens, visit museums of interest,  plant a garden, play with friends, enjoy many lazy afternoons outside, learn about and meet missionaries, listen to books on tape, do somersaults, catch butterflies and fireflies and caterpillars and crickets, lay in the grass and watch the leaves blowing in the wind and the clouds changing shape, listen to classical music, bluegrass and jazz, watch the Olympics, go to a concert, draw pictures, make crafts, play board games, make up stories and songs, say tongue twisters, teach finger plays, cook together, serve in the community, have teatime, memorize scripture, pray with them, sing nursery rhymes and hymns, read fairy tales and poems and bible stories, count everything. Most of all, take the time to train their habits and their heart, let them play outside as much as possible (CM recommended 4-6 hours a day!), turn off the tv and read to them. 

To further explain that last sentence - after spending much more time on the internet perusing what others post on blogs and pinterest for preschool (including myself!) and after much thought and prayer and experimentation and observation of my own children and others, I've also come to some more conclusions about homeschool preschool. First, my foremost responsibility as a mother is spiritual education. I see these early years of utmost importance in pouring the Word of God and major ideas about God in the their little souls and to train their hearts, not just their behavior.  Learning letters and numbers is good and I want to teach those things but I have plenty of time for that. I wanted to start as early as possible on the spiritual aspect and not let the other trump it. That is what I want to put the majority of my time and effort into - praying through, reading about and discovering how to do this. So lately I've let that become more of my focus.

And as Mason emphasizes, I want to concentrate on building habits into their lives - habits like obedience, responsibility, truthfulness, concentration, a job well done, etc. As I wrote above, these are the foundation for much learning and are real world skills. And much of them stem from the heart. These take lots of time and constant repetition and much patience (I need lots of help in this department!). I see the importance of focusing more on these things in the early years than on academics.

All of that being said, there are tons of ideas on pinterest and the internet for teaching preschoolers at home. You could spend months looking at all the resources and still not see it all! There are lap books and lap trays and do-a-dots and busy bags and work boxes, printables of all sorts, workbooks,  etc, etc, etc ad nauseum! At first I was really sucked into these because they looked like a lot of fun, albeit a lot of work to initially put together and potentially expensive. However, as time has passed, I am beginning to question the true value of these. Don't get me wrong. I do implement some of these from time to time just to add variety into our routine. However, much of these activities teach things that can be learned through the natural discovery and general growing process and veer away from Mason's philosophy that I so love. Take  learning colors and shapes and even letters for example. I didn't sit down with Wes to teach colors or shapes. Just in the process of reading, playing and his very curious mind he learned these things very early. To do a worksheet or a lap tray seems like unnecessary busy work for him and me! Sure he still gets a couple of colors mixed up but he's not quite 4 yet. He's got a lot of time to get that down and I'm not worried a bit. Those are just two examples. I see something that looks really fun online and am gung-ho to do it with Wes but then as I start to really analyze it, I see that most of what is being taught is something that can be learned in a more natural way. However, I do appreciate the ladies that have put so much creative thought and energy into creating these activities! They do spur on my thinking and creativity as well. 

Although this philosophy may seem haphazard and unstructeured, I have put a kind of relaxed, practical structure to it. What can I say? I'm a teacher! I can't help myself! I look forward to sharing that with you later. I also plan on posting ways to do nature study with children and will explain what that is (I"m just learning myself), a list of parent reading resources and have already posted age-appropriate book lists, although as time has passed, I see the need to revise these. 

Finally, just for your information. one aspect of Mason's philosophy that I do not heartily agree with is that I've heard it described as child-centered. I do not really believe in the child being the center of anything. I do agree with her ideas about children being individuals with their own gifts and abilities who should be greatly appreciated as humans, thoroughly loved as individuals and encouraged in their interests and pursuits. But to completely give children free reign over their lives as seems to be what much educational philosophy teaches these days promotes, is, I believe, detrimental to the child as an individual, to their families and to society as a whole in which these children are raised. However, I don't think this was Charlotte Mason's intent in her philosophy. I believe it was her desire in her era to bring children out of the "children should be seen and not heard" realm of childhood and parenting philosophy and as such called it a more child-centered education. I think she would not have approved of our current child-centered educational and parenting philosophy.