I plan to use First and Favorite Bible Lessons for Preschoolers as our starting point. You can peek into it at Amazon. I think it's geared for Sunday Schools, but from what I've heard it's easily adaptable for home use. It has lots of activites and hands-on things to do.

Lord, have mercy...I will forever be remembered as the mom whose first post started such a long debate. !! I think each Mom has her own idea of how/when children learn the big stuff. Whether we get this idea from formal education, our own experience, or what we've been informally told doesn't really matter. We're going to believe what we believe, until we believe otherwise!! And our beliefs will direct how we approach early education. So naturally, there will be very different approaches seen among us. I know myself, and I am an "uber-planner" (love that term!). I love curriculum and lesson plans, not because I want to do sit-down-traditional school and want a program to script it for me. I love curriculum and lesson plans because I am a list maker from way back, a planner, a big-picture person. I like to have things laid out, so I can plan and ponder and research and gather.......and change my mind until I feel settled in my spirit about my choice. So will I do a Pre-K curriculum? Yea, I may....probably for phoncs, at the very least. Will I be a slave to it? No way. Like yslek said, I do better with a plan. I'm used to teaching adults. I don't "naturally" think of all the teachable moments like some moms do. Having a curriculum/plan to guide ME is what I think will work best for ME. A framework....something to jiggle my memory while we go about our daily activities.

I can see this, in general terms. Yet my daughter and I both were reading well before age 5. Not just phonetically either, but real reading. I was skipped out of K and put into 1st after 6 weeks because of my reading. (Lots of pros and cons to that approach, and I don't even know if school systems "skip" anymore). Yet my husband wasn't reading well until 2nd or 3rd grade. So I guess in my family, we're at the ends of the bell curve!! Haha!!

Thanks again for all this food for thought! I really appreciate reading the different opinions and ideas. I totally agree that childhood is a time for play...we do that...a lot!!! Yet I also believe in the idea that preschool is everything we do before age 6, and teaching through normal life activities. I think part of this comes down to how the mom/teacher operates. For example, I was plotting out my Grad School courses/schedule when I was a Sophomore in college. I'm just a planner, and I like to see the big picture. So even though ds is only coming up on two, I'm already thinking about what's ahead......*I* just feel better knowing what direction I'm headed in. Yet right now, today, we play...read....goof off. Because he *is* only 2!! But as he shows more and more readiness to proceed, we will. As others have said, there is nothing magical about the age of 5 or 6.......every child is ready at a different time.

I really appreciate all the varied replies!!! Great food for thought all around!!! We're doing some of the stuff over at letteroftheweek.com (more for me, than him at this point). He'll be two in November, but already knows (most of) his letters. He goes around the house "spelling" every word he sees. It's adorable! So we do a lot of reading...a lot! I'll just keep at it..and see where his interests are in another year or so. I'm not going to push, but I don't want to slack either!! Thanks again!!

What age did you start using more solid curriculum? For example, SSRW, or HWT? Obviously, you went by readiness signs!! I'm trying to pre-pre-plan when we'll do certain things, and if we start K the Fall he turns 5.....that would put his preschool year starting the Fall he turns 4. So what if he's ready earlier? We do preschool starting at age 3-ish.....and do two years of preschool? Or just start K level at age 4? Oi! Yes, I'm overthinking. Would anyone mind sharing what they did and when for preschool? I'd appreciate it!!