This is the first year I’m making a focused effort to do activities with Aamina on a regular basis. We’ve done many activities in the past, but since she’s been young, it’s been sporadic. This year I’m pulling together a few resources to make some progress with her, while still being a bit casual. After all, she’s not set to start Kindergarten until 2016.
Preschool Homeschool Curriculum
Core
Before Five in a Row – This is the spine for our activities for the year. I love the gentle guidance for young children, and the massive amounts of resources available online to supplement the course. We are currently supplementing with lapbooks from homeschoolshare.com whenever they are available for the book we’re covering.
I also have Oak Meadow preschool, but still have to get around to reading it. Before Five in a Row is so easy to just pick up and go that I’ve been defaulting to what’s the easiest to do right now, and with a new baby coming this winter, in sha Allah, I see that being a continuing pattern.
Phonics
Jolly Phonics – Jolly Phonics isn’t as popular in the US as it is in the UK and other parts of the world, but it starts with letter sounds rather than letter recognition, which I think is genius! Plus, you learn the sounds in a specific order so the child can learn to make words quickly. I’m excited to get started with it, especially since teaching Phonics to Kira (long, long ago) was a challenge for me. I think Jolly Phonics will make a nice difference.
Science
Nature Study – Aamina has loved her start with nature study using the Spell Outloud Nature Study eBook and Printables, and we plan to continue using it. During the long winter months, Pinterest will be my best friend. In sha Allah I’ll be updating regularly on what we’ve been up to!
Creativity
I’m not an arts and crafts type person naturally, so books like Allah to Z Activity Book and Kiwi Crate will be core to making sure that Aamina gets to create things on a regular basis.
This post is part of iHomeschool Network’s NOT Back to School Blog Hop – Curriculum Week! Join in on the fun with your own blog links, and check out all the other links, too!
The rest of the series to check out!
- 8th Grade Curriculum 2012-13 (September 18, 2012)
- 2013-14 9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum (August 22, 2013)
- 2014-15 10th Grade Homeschool High School Curriculum (August 4, 2014)
- 2014-15 Preschool Homeschool Curriculum (August 4, 2014)
- Toddler and Preschool Curriculum and Book Lists (August 13, 2015)
- Mid-Year Kindergarten Curriculum Review (February 13, 2017)
- Charlotte Mason Grade 1 Curriculum Choices (September 3, 2018)
I’ve never heard of Jolly Phonics- I’ll be looking into it as I plan our own preschool curriculum!
Great! It’s used around the world, especially in the UK, so I’m surprised it doesn’t have more of a following here in the US.
Before Five in a Row sounds really interesting. So would Five in a Row be for Kindergarten age? I don’t have any plans yet for my soon to be 5 year old inshaallah. I might try this out.
I guess I better get on the ball. We’ve been starting preschool since last year. This motivates me!
Preschool is just for getting your feet wet, so no rush. 🙂 Preschool being a serious thing is fairly new, but it’s nice to start the habits when they’re a bit younger so it isn’t a shock when real school starts.
LOVE, LOVE your blog! Thanks for all your fabulous ideas! Have you ever heard of the See Hear Do Company? http://www.seeheardocompany.com? Just posted a week by week schedule and the products use a multi – sensory approach to learning that makes things SO easy! Also known as the AMAZING ACTION ALPHABET 😉
Awww, thanks! I hadn’t heard of See Hear Do yet, but wow, it looks really cool! I like the video on the homepage. I’ll have to look into that more, thanks!