Preschool Curriculum 2012

Preschool Co-op:  Caleb’s “friend” preschool that he attends once a week with 6 other kids.  I value this for the relationships both Caleb and I get to have, as well as the social skills Caleb gets to practice.  i.e. actually talking to someone outside our family, following instructions from a non-parent authority figure, etc. Thankfully, we’ve been blessed by a great group of friends to do this with!

Five in a Row, Volume 1:  I love the concept. Read the same picture book five days in a row and complete related extension activities in various subject areas.  This is highly motivational for Caleb and gets our preschool time off to a good start.  Caveat: The actual Five in a Row book/book list is sparse.  I usually end up supplementing with my own ideas, and I may end up coming up with my own book list before long. 

Phonics Pathways:  After stalling out this summer while using Teach Your Child to read in 100 Easy Lessons, we tried Phonics Pathways (mostly since the public library had a copy).  Phonics is still not nearly as fun as math, but so far I’ve seen Caleb make a lot of progress in 5-10 minutes a day. 

Singapore Math: “Mommy, I love maf,” Caleb reiterates. Like father, like son. Motivation is never an issue with math.  In fact, math motivates Caleb to finish his phonics.

Handwriting: We started by trying out Explode the Code, but I think we’re about ready to quit using it.  The phonics concepts are extremely simple for Caleb, but the handwriting is difficult, relying only on tracing and copying and starting with some of the more difficult letters to write.  Since Caleb has been a reluctant writer, we’ve gone to using chalkboards and some concepts from Handwriting Without Tears, which has been really effective with Caleb.  For someone who didn’t want to write at all at the beginning of fall, he’s learned a lot!  Even Sophia has picked up a few letters, “H” being her favorite for some reason. 

I also toyed with the idea of beginning some letter of the week activities with Sophia, but decided it was too much for me to plan and organize.  Sophia is just as concept tagging along with Caleb’s preschool curriculum right now.