Are you using a pre-k curriculum?

[Marie131]

I'm thinking to next year for my boy who will be 3. My older 2 went to preschool so I'm not sure what I want to do with my little guy at home. I was thinking maybe SL P3/4? What are you using and do you like it?

[Tanikit]

I am using www.abcjesuslovesme.com with my 2 year old this year and we are enjoying it - it lets me give her some attention and my 5 year old also likes to join in with some of the crafts. I did use Sonlight P3/4 with my older daughter when she was 3 - they are really great books and I am reading them again with my 2 year old now and my 5 year old always wants to join us so you can't go wrong by ordering them as they will be read for years.

[ByGrace3]

For dd who will be 3, next year we are planning to use AAR pre level, HWOT (either the pre k book or just manipulatives), and math play with an abacus and c rods. We will use the SL 3/4 books as a reading list.

[pehp]

I never did anything formal, really--didn't want to spend much $$ that soon. :) We did LOTS of reading aloud, playing outside.....and then I let him draw/do a lot of arts/crafts, and I did buy a MUS primer and we started to slowly go through that. He already knew his letters and their sounds (thank you, Leap Frog Letter Factory as entertainment while I painted a bathroom one weekend....). I tried 100EZ lessons but he wasn't really ready to start formal reading until he was 5. Probably the most important thing is to engage the child in life...my son learned so much just organically, going through life...like shapes, colors, numbers, facts about the natural world, etc. I'm of the 'less is more' mentality when it comes to preschool :)

[xixstar]

We really enjoyed the Wee Folk Art preschool curriculum with my 2yo and 4yo. We didn't make it through a full season because the local high school operates a very low cost preschool and we decided to send dd4 to give me some one-on-one time with my youngest - my oldest enjoyed the curriculum more than my youngest, so I didn't do it during our alone time. I thought I would keep doing it during the afternoons, but other play took over.

 

I'm about to go pick up the complete set of Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row series to see if we want to use one of them, or a combination, for a combined prek/k program when we start up K.

[newbieoftwo]

Next year I will be using OPGTR, Singapore K Essentials, D'Nealian Handwriting (she is already trying to form numbers and letters on her own) and possibly BFIAR with my DD who will be 4. She may pick various workbooks to complete as well, but I won't push any of it.

[FromA2Z]

When my eldest was 3 I used resources from Confessions of a Homeschooler, 1+1+1=1, and 2 Teaching Mommies. I basically had a theme for a month, got books (fiction and non) from the library relating to the theme, did crafts, fine and gross motor activities (1+1+1=1 and Counting Coconuts blog are great for ideas), sensory play and Melissa and Doug type toys. My 2 yo ds did what he wanted with us.

I planned out the year in the summer, printed any printables and used my library's online catalog to pull together book lists. It took a long time, but after that it was pretty much "open and go". We didn't do everything I had planned/prepared but it was so nice to have what I needed when I needed it.

 

This year my eldest is 4 and my youngest 3. I have been using BFIAR with both and RS A, AAR Pre-level 1 and now LOgic of English Foundations with the eldest. I pull out our previous printables (I had laminated most) to use with my youngest when it ties in with our book theme. We all work on Homeshool Creations printables that go with the BFIAR books, do free art (painting, finger painting, watercolors, collages and play-dough), do science "experiments" from the book Science Play, and go on nature walks.

 

I don't really "require" anything from my 3 yo. Unlike his older brother, he does not care for that many printables. So he does what he wants. Both boys just "picked up" letters, shapes and colors and numbers. Most of our school time at 3 is books and "hands-on" things.

[blondeviolin]

My 3yo does the Core Knowledge PreK book only because she wants her own work and the activity books are very open-and-go. My older two did not do anything formal and didn't suffer because of it.

[freeindeed]

I am using Oak Meadow Preschool with my dd4. Because of her special needs, we will continue it for a long time. When she's ready, we'll use Oak Meadow Kindergarten. It is gentle and perfect for my little one.

[Eyesoflyte]

We started out this year using MFW-K. DD does great with it, but after a couple of months became very bored as it is very repetitive. Has some fun projects though. Since then we have started using some of the free curriculum like the ones listed above. You could also subscribe to something like Enchanted Learning, if you want more worksheet type materials.

 

Live and learn, I would definitely recommend not purchasing a full curriculum for PreK and waiting for K or even 1st.

[celticadea]

I didn't do anything formal at age 3 with my oldest (4.5 now) but as practice for following directions and monitoring readiness, I used the 3-4 year old preschool books from R&S. She didn't seem to think standard workbooks I got from the local stores counted ;) Informally I taught her shapes, letters and a couple numbers drawing on driveway and colors while reading books or playing with a melissa and doug fish puzzle. mostly I just let her play :)

 

I started hs'ing this year with MP JuniorK curriculum (at age 4) more as a trial of hs'ing for me than for any other reason. In general I like it especially because it's all scheduled out. I don't know that it would be appropriate for a 3 year old especially since it works quite a bit on writing. Many 4 year olds aren't ready and for the first few months I had her just tracing with her finger or playing on the chalkboard etc instead of doing the actual writing. Within a few months she was able to do the writing and now doesn't have any problems with it. Each week you work on a different letter and number (or other simple math concept, ie more, less, shorter, longer) a science topic (show & tell: color, mammals, fish, etc), a poem, a read aloud book with vocab/questions, arts/crafts related to the story and another for the letter.

 

Not all of the read alouds have been my favorite but I'm also learning that I should do the reading a few times with them (the 2 year old listens too but doesn't answer q's) before working on the questions. I wish there was more referencing for the science-type material so I bought us the Usborne Childrens Encyclopedia and the Berenstain Bear Big Book of Science which have worked very nicely. They have a nice craft book now to go along with the Read-alouds and letters.

 

For my upcoming 3 year old (next year) i'm planning to do more of a planned curriculum if only to keep her busy while I work with her sister. Also, she has a speech disorder so I want to make sure we cover the standard 3 year old items even if she's not talking about them. I'm currently looking at using lots of toys from timberdoodle (preschool/prek) &/or MFW preschool, lauri puzzles, games listed in the 'games' post on this forum, read aloud lists from Sonlight (3/4 & 4/5) and either the 3-4 preschool books from R&S or the earlier Kumon workbooks. Personally I can't decide if the Kumon books are worth the price. I'm also planning to get her the primary science mix & measure set so she can play with that while her sister does some science things. (I should add that my younger daughter has crazy good fine motor skills (likely as a side effect from not using up that resource to learn to speak correctly!....working on that!) so she already loves to trace and draw.)

 

I'm planning to use either the planning folder from Timberdoodle (pre-school/prek) to give me a start for a plan to put it together or buy either the 3/4 or 4/5 sonlight guides.

 

 

I don't know if any of that helps but maybe it will give you some ideas.

 

ETA: i also like a lot of the Mama's learning corner downloads for early matching and other puzzle type games.

[delaney]

My 3yo does the Core Knowledge PreK book only because she wants her own work and the activity books are very open-and-go. My older two did not do anything formal and didn't suffer because of it.

 

I love the Core knowledge stuff. Simple, complete, cheap. My little man loves having something for him to do like the big kids. I don't bother with handwriting or anything since it seems to work itself out...and he is my only leftie.

[chicagoshannon]

We'll be using SL P3/4. Depending on readiness, I'll add in OPGTR and Singapore Essentials. I also have What your Preschooler needs to know so I might use that too.

[daffodil]

I'm doing HWT and MEP Reception with my 4 year old. At 3 I didn't do anything academic other than read to her.

[a27mom]

I don't use anything formal with my 3 y/o. She has a stack of inexpensive workbooks she can work in during school time, or do whatever else she wants to do. She listens to many of the lessons I do with her big sister, paticipates somewhat in games and activities. I don't intend to do formal prek with her next year either. She is a bit precocious and catches on quick. so if she is ready for anything I do have k stuff waiting in the wings (handwriting workbook, math, phonics etc...).

 

I didn't do any formal curriculum with my current ker ( she did do lots of workbooks informally) and she is on track or ahead in everything. (I did try FIAR briefly but it didn't work for us, we didn't enjoy many of the book selections).

[scbusf]

My youngest will be 3 this summer. I don't plan on doing anything formal with her next year. She will tag along on what the other 2 are working on. We will use Science Play for some fun science stuff.

[La Condessa]

When my older daughter was an older 2/young 3 she loved Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 1 from the Critical Thinking Co. It's a great one for cuddling on the couch with Mommy, and it doesn't require much as far as fine motor skills. She's midway through the second one now, and when she finishes that up I think maybe we'll try Miquon. We're also doing OPG, but she's only just recently reached the point where she's ready for that more structured approach to phonics. (And even so, we're doing about 1/3 of a lesson per sitting, and only when she feels like it.) She could handle the content at your son's age, but not the format.

 

For handwriting, my daughter also has unusually good fine motor skills and has been trying to write letters for a long time, but when I got her a letter practice workbook it seemed to take the joy out of it for her. So we went back to what we had always done, which was just to let her write whatever she wants whenever, and when she asks for help, to demonstrate and talk through proper letter formation with her. Sometimes she will want to write a letter, so she will dictate to me and I will write it out very faintly so she can trace over my letters, and sometimes she will just ask me how to spell the words.

 

My girls also love watching Salsa Spanish, which is free online, and then I just try to use the words and phrases we learn around the house. Besides that, we just do fun art projects, cook together, and read tons of books.

 

Some curricula we have had and discarded:

Before Five in a Row (I don't need a curriculum to tell me to read and reread good books while talking about different things in them, and occasionally do an art project or something else related.)

ETC 1 (Pictures were hard to make out and too many skills combined. OPG lets my daughter just focus on decoding the words, without having to guess which word a picture is meant to indicate, or decode several words to find a certain one while at the same time remembering which one she's searching for.)

Flip Flop Spanish (Bought this, but never even used it. I didn't expect the age 3-5 book to require a lot of writing, and it only covered a few of the most basic vocabulary words.)

[chepyl]

At 3, I did the Letter of the Day curriculum from Brightly Beaming. We also made our own alphabet lap book. At 4, we got a little more formal because she wanted to. We are using R&S ABC series along with Mortensen Math manipulatives and math games. I have tried 100ez lessons and Phonics Pathways with her. We are now adding a Charlotte Mason style reading lesson everyday. It only requires and board and some paper and something to read. I don't buy full formal curriculum until 1st grade. I use a lot of dollar store workbooks and games.

[boscopup]

I just have various workbooks for my 3 year old to do independently (they range from PreK-1st grade level, and I don't care if he follows the directions and does them correctly ;) ). Otherwise, when the kids are ready for K level phonics and math, they start that on a "when they ask" basis until they're actually in "K", at which point I require daily lessons, even if they're only 10 minutes. My current 3 year old does Phonics Pathways, since he's reading a bit. Most days, if he asks to do it at all, he'll read maybe 4 words. Today, he read 21 words. I kept asking him, "Are you done yet?" and he'd say no... he wanted to do another set of 5 words (we're going over again the sections where they have "sa sa-t sat"). Next year at 4, I'll give him Singapore Essential Math K to do, but again, it's when he asks. He likes "doing school" for a few minutes at the beginning of the day.

[MamaAmy]

ABCJesusLovesMe.com for age 2. We have moved to Confessions of a Homeschooler's Letter of the Week curriculum for age 3. We lightly practice phonics/reading. I had been using Ledson's Teach Your Child in Ten Minutes a Day. I want to pick up the 20 Easy Lessons by Levin--I found Ledson's sentences beyond my dd's understanding when she was supposed to make the jump from part one to part two.

[MamaAmy]

Oops, adding that BFIAR is another resource that we are starting to use again now that DD is a little older (3.5 yrs).

[LucyStoner]

Aside from printing out some math resources (MEP Math, p-k level) and coloring stuff, no. We read a lot. A lot. I include some of the MathStart story books in our reading. I find that, and just general life, to be more than sufficient.

[IceFairy]

We start formal learning at age 4. Until then its lots of good books, fun art projects, nature study, and playtime.

[Chelli]

We start formal learning at age 4. Until then its lots of good books, fun art projects, nature study, and playtime.

 

We do exactly the same! My kids never see a school type book or workbook until age 4. Before that I read books to them, and they play, play, play.

[Walking-Iris]

I've used a lot of different things for that age. I sort of mix and match Montessori and Waldorf activities. I really really like using Peak With Books from about age 3-1st grade. It's the book used if you try Moving Beyond The Page for pre-K. IMO that book is multi leveled and can be used again and again with young ones.

 

I also like Sing Spell Read Write and plan on using some components and activities from that with my dd. ETC get ready books or HWOT pre k and K books with the wooden letters and K teacher guide are good. Mudpies to Magnets is fun to dip into for science. Lots of hands on math games and manipulatives.

 

Basically I don't try to stay on course with any particular curriculum at those ages, but I do try to find as many resources to dip into because I've found that my idea well is drying up after homeschooling my older ds. I like having resources that I can glean ideas to make some fun learning time for my littles.

[Ecclecticmum]

Sonlight P3/4 was okay. Nice books. I have the 2011 version, so for me it was just a list of books to read for each trimester, plus an activity or two. I made up a weekly schedule along with other activities to suit the book.

 

Core Knowledge Preschool - We use and will continue to use this (we have the activity books as well, elsewise I'm not sure I would use it). The kids like the little activities, the pages are rip-out-able (my brains squishy, I just woke up, can't think of the word I want) so can be put in their work binder once finished (they love having a binder like their sister. I put their artwork, any pictures they make etc in there).

 

Bright Beginnings - Looks like a really cool thing. its 2 books, very christian/bible orientated, if thats the way you want to go. I purchased it late last year, but then we changed our lifestyle, so I haven't used it.

 

Oak Meadow Pre-K - Is just two books explaining the process and why-fores behind it. Since this is based (originally) off waldorf, you can get the same information from Christopherus (her audio downloads are like $14, grab why waldorf, importance of play and pre-k at home), or read through parenting passageway blog. Donna also has a downloadable PDF (Early Childhood at home $20) that would cover pretty much everything.

 

US Based monthly kits - There are lots of these about, like Carols Afforadable Curriculum and Mother Goose time.

 

To answer the original question, we are using CK Pre-K and activity books, sporadically. If I didn't already start with the activity books, I would probably just sell the whole thing. We are *really* just doing lots of crafts, baking, cooking, painting, dancing, and cleaning :biggrinjester: I just have stuff like Project Based Homeschooling, Playful Learning, Child of Wonder etc, to inspire and help me think of things from a different angle.

[misty.warden]

My ds works through the 3-4 year R&S workbooks at his own pace (I have the ABC extended series for later too) and I've been trying to start OPGTR but he's totally disinterested in the rhymes and such and already knows his letter sounds from daycare. I also have the PreK religion book from Seton.

[Walking-Iris]

My ds works through the 3-4 year R&S workbooks at his own pace (I have the ABC extended series for later too) and I've been trying to start OPGTR but he's totally disinterested in the rhymes and such and already knows his letter sounds from daycare. I also have the PreK religion book from Seton.

 

 

Just skip that whole section. I have been using OPGTR with my kinder and I skipped that entire first section since he already knew his ABCs and their sounds and how to write the letters. If he's ready to begin reading just start there, or continue other literacy activities until he is ready to begin phonics. No way would I make a child who already knows letters and sounds work through that all over again.

[lea_lpz]

We use mfw preschool toys with corresponding activities, Rod and Staff About 3 series, HWT pre-k and BFIAR. This typically takes us only about 15-20 minutes, but I have a k'er so my 3 year old joins us for many of the activities, Bible, read alouds, and some of the simple language activities (singing ABC's, games, etc.), a d Spanish. If he was my oldest, there are a lot if online resources to enrich BFIAR, but as he does much mfw k, I usually chose to keep the BFIAR activities simple.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Wee Folk Art looks precious. We might use it next year.

[throughpagesandfields]

We're doing Pre-K next year (he turns 4 this summer). Until then I'm loosely trying out some things just to see his interest and what works. We're a mostly Charlotte Mason family, but most of our Early Ed will be based on Enki. He loves the Hooked on Phonics program... so we'll let him do that. Other than that I'm trying to gather Life of Fred and Singapore, Miquon and Kumon books - again b/c if he doesn't use them I'll probably use them with another little... and we're seeing what works best for him/us.

[stm4him]

I have one preschooler and this is my fourth preschooler. I had a preschooler last year as well and will again next year (though she will be doing very little b/c she turns 4 in Nov). Here is what I do with my 4 1/2 year old:

 

Math: Saxon K

Logic: Building Thinking Skills Beginning (this is her favorite)

Phonics: YesPhonics (based on The Writing Road to Reading)

Reading: Bob Book Alphabet (we did the Pre-Reading set earlier this year)

Writing: YesPhonics manuscript (with a notebook of lined paper)

Memory Work and Bible: Classical Conversations, Character First, First Catechism, Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization, AWANA plus family devotions

Read Aloud: 365 Great Bible Stories, The Original Mother Goose, and picture book classics from Teaching the Classics list and A Thomas Jefferson Education list

 

For phonics and reading my goal this year is for her to learn the first 26 phonograms (all the sounds the letters in the alphabet make) and how to write them in manuscript. I want her to know the names of the letters and to be able to hear the sounds of letters within words, especially the beginning sound. Outside of this she watches educational videos like NEST (Bible and History) and Magic School Bus. At CC she does an art or music activity each week plus a science experiment and gives a presentation (like show and tell). I don't do read alouds based on what we're learning because I want to emphasize literature and Biblical stories and don't have a lot of time this year but I do have a ton of books in our house for her to look at. She learns a lot just from watching the older kids and hearing them talk about history and science, etc. In PreK we emphasize the 3R's and Bible and memory work (as well as obedience, chore training, character, etc.). The rest comes naturally as she recognizes things in the world around us pertaining to our memory work. She spends an hour in the morning doing memory work with us (mostly singing and dancing through it) and she watches the phonics video for half an hour. Then later I call her to me to do our phonics flashcards and handwriting. Later in the day I call her for her math lesson. In the evening we do family devotions and then I read to her before bed. Logic gets done once a week and we do several pages at a time but that is the only subject we do that day. We have a ton of preschool activities that she plays with while I am teaching the older ones. Other than this she has lots of free time to play with her siblings and explore outside!

[brendag]

I used Peak With Books at 3 1/2 with my two kids.

[throughpagesandfields]

We just read. I have the Enki Early Education Guides and I have to say I love them. I'm Charlotte Mason/Classical leaning - but for my particular kids, and the family, an Enki approach has been really perfect for us for early ed. Inspired by both Charlotte Mason and Enki I've up to now mostly worked on routines, habits, that kind of thing... but have gone through a massive education for myself really putting it all together for the future... and in the process tried to see what he might need help/encouragement in. He's not naturally into or good at writing/crafting/drawing, and needs encouragement with physical stuff. He's a reader/thinker/dreamer. So... I've tried to encourage more drawing/crafting, painting, he's all about the stickers, now - so I got a sticker alphabet workbook that he loves. And he's doing storytime/gymnastics, that kind of thing.

 

I have Peak with Books and really like it - it just hasn't worked out for us yet. Both DS and I each have a short tolerance for contrived activities, and for now it works best to just enrich our daily rhythms in super simple ways. We have wee sing in the car, different music programs about composers that have stories and are geared to kids... I'm going to use the things in my siggy (and more) next year as a very casual/no pressure pre-K to work in a bit more focused work...

 

He already knows letters/numbers... and a couple times has started blending and phonics. So even though it's exciting I'm resisting pushing/encouraging until he's ready. :)