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I have finally narrowed down our preschool at home curriculum picks for the 2022/2023 school year that I am going to be using with Beckett!
A lot of factors went into what I have chosen for him! First, his age plays the biggest factor. He is only three years old, but he absolutely loves to learn! I think watching his older brother has really sparked his interest in doing school. He asks me every single day if he can “do school,” so I want to have something for him while Graham is doing his schoolwork. He is still so little, and I don’t want to pressure or burn him out early. I’m going to keep things very casual and age appropriate. Children his age do not need to be doing anything formal. Reading to your toddler and allowing lots of free play is what they need most!
Second, I have tried what feels like a zillion curriculums with Graham, so I know what things I liked best and what I think will work best with Beckett. With that being said, I have picked out bits and pieces of certain curriculums and put together my preschool at home curriculum for us this year!
Our focus this school year will be Letter Recognition/ Letter Sounds, Numbers 1-10/Shapes, Read A-Louds, & Free Play!! I have a ton of thematic activities/games/printable’s that I will incorporate as well as time allows! I will be doing a Bible devotional plus scripture readings with my oldest, Graham. Beckett will be present for all of this so this will be a part of his daily learning too! Bible knowledge and character study will be incorporated every day, I just don’t have a ”specific” plan for it. I want to again stress that all of this is informal and just for fun! I could have never gotten Graham to do all of this at his age, Beckett just truly enjoys it and wants to be like his big brother.
Here are Our Preschool At Home Curriculum Picks for the 2022/2023 School Year:
Abeka Animal Alphabet Friends Flash Cards
+ Letter & Sounds for 3’s
Let’s preface these first two resources by saying that I am not using the curriculum book / teachers guide with these products. I did buy it when I did this with Graham, but I honestly never opened it or used it. I did my own thing that worked best for my babe and truthfully, they are self-explanatory and can easily be done without the curriculum book.
Abeka Animal Alphabet Friends Flash Cards
I absolutely love these flash cards! They are LARGE and the perfect size for little eyes. Each card uses an animal friend to introduce a new letter to your child. The cards are two sided, the front being for the student with a picture of the animal, the animal’s name, and other words that start with the letter. And then on the back there is prompting for the teacher/parent on exactly what to do/say (why I don’t think you need the curriculum/teacher guide). The back includes a quick story to read about the animal, a poem, learning game, more activities, and tips on how to teach the letter’s shape and sound. You can do as much of that or as little as you want, depending on your learner’s needs!
I cannot say enough great things about these cards! They help develop your child’s language & listening skills, helps them with letter recognition/letter sounds, and helps develop an appreciation of God’s creation as they learn about the animals around them! 10/10 recommend these above anything else.
How will we be using it?
I will be following a “Letter a Week” schedule using these cards. I will display the card on our whiteboard and introduce the new letter at the beginning of the week. The rest of the week I will spread out the activities on the back. This worked great when I did it with Graham, so we are going to give it another shot with Beckett!
Abeka Letter’s & Sounds for 3’s.
The Abeka Letter’s & Sounds for 3’s Activity Book is going to be the main supplementation I will be using with the animal friends’ cards. The activities in the book cover all the letters in the alphabet and give your little learner a chance to practice tracing, gluing, painting, etc. The crafts are hands-on which is stimulating for your child & helps them learn at the same time!
How will we be using it?
For example, There will be the letter ”Aa” and I will have Beckett finger paint red dots to look like apples on the the letters. This will help him recognize the letter “Aa” and also show him that this letter makes the ”a for apple” sound. There are several activity sheets per letter so I will spread these out throughout the week. They are very customizable for your little learner!
AlphaTales Box Set
This boxed set of books is a collection of alliterative stories, one for each letter of the alphabet! These are kind of the same type of deal as the Abeka Animal Alphabet friends, in the sense that they are taking a letter and matching it with an animal. Each book includes a cute story PLUS a hide-and-seek picture page and a rhyming letter poem to ensure your child get lots of practice with every letter.
How will we be using it?
We will be incorporating these books very casually! Depending on the week and what time allows, I will pull the coordinating letter of the week book and read it to the boys (Graham will still enjoy the book as well)! This will probably be done later throughout the week when we have completed our Abeka activity sheets.
Masterbooks Lessons for a Living Education : Level K
Okay, I need you to hear me out on this one. I would NOT be using this if I just didn’t already have it on hand from Graham. Not that I don’t love it, because I do. However, when Graham started this, it just moved WAY too slow for him. We started this last year with Graham, and he just got very bored with it because it is a very gentle approach to math. I’m sure he would have done better with a different level. Anyway, depending on your child (if they are more hands-on or if they like paper/pencil) this might be a fit for you. It is a worksheet, but honestly Beckett LOVES doing them! He loves to feel like his big brother, so for us it works! It is totally NOT NECESSARY for a three-year-old, though!
How will we be using it?
Just like our ”letter of the week” approach, I will be doing the same with numbers! Since I am only focusing on numbers 1-10 with him, I will probably take a couple weeks for each number, until I feel like we are ready to move on. Again, a very casual approach because he is only 3! This is more so an introduction, not so much me worrying if he’s mastering the concepts.
Extra’s: Book, Toys, Games, Etc.
In addition to the main curriculum picks above, I will offer toys, books, games, etc. that help him practice his letters/numbers/shapes. I am not going to go into detail, because this is self-explanatory. I will offer these things all throughout the day for him to do if he wants, but if not, it’s not a big deal! Also, if he isn’t in the mood for paper/pencil, he can play with a number matching toy, or look at an alphabet book on his own! Here are my favorite books/toys/games/etc. that we use:
- Snap & Learn Counting Sheep
- Numbers Turtle Set
- Smart Snacks Alpha Pops
- Alphabet Magnetic Tracing Board
- Alphabet Puzzle
- Number Puzzle
- Shape Puzzle
- Usborne Books and More Alphabet/Early Math Books (they have a TON, I will do a separate post and share our favorites.)
- Youtube ”Have Fun Teaching” Letter Songs
So, there you have it! When I get everything all typed out and explained it sounds like a lot, but it’s really not! I just want to have something available for him incase he asks! This will probably all get repeated the next school year as well, as this is just an introduction.
Do you do ”tot-school” with your kids? What works for you? I would love to hear, so please feel free to share in the comments!
Want to keep this preschool at home guide handy? Pin the image below for later or share with a friend!
Interested in more homeschool info? Find more posts here:
Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum Picks 2022/2023
Favorite Homeschool Wooden Educational Resources
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