Recommend a preschool curriculum?

[wawap]

Can you tell me what secular preschool curriculum you love - and why?

I've tried searching the web, but there's just so much ((junk?)) out there.

Please and thank you!

[Lillian J]

Well, you won't find a set curriculum, but you'll find a lot of fun ideas in my page on preschool/kindergarten. The top two articles are written by homeschoolers; and underneath the box of articles are annotated links to websites that have a lot of ideas for activities with little ones. Lillian

[sewingmama]

For books to read, you might also check out amblesideonline.org or http://www.classical-homeschooling.o...0-primary.html -- both have great lists of books.

[Papooses]

Just play! PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY

[wawap]

I know! That's all I want to do. But the boy BEGS for workbooks. We got one as a gift and he saw one at a friend's house. Now he can't get enough. I think they're sort of pushy, but he really likes them. So, I was wondering if he was just ready for something more. I'll try to distract him a little longer.

[Cullens_Girl]

If he likes workbooks, I've heard great things about Kumon. (and we have one but haven't used it yet as DS could care less!) Also, I've seen some workbooks (preschool) at The Dollar Tree, Walmart, Clearance Rack at Barnes & Noble and Borders, etc. That along with some good booklists is a great start.

[earthluvinmama]

Originally Posted by Papooses

Just play! PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY

: And just leave some workbooks around the house that he can pick up when he wants to play with them

[alegna]

Yeah, at preschool I wouldn't go for a curriculum. If he wants workbooks, just pick an assortment up.

-Angela

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by wawap

I know! That's all I want to do. But the boy BEGS for workbooks. We got one as a gift and he saw one at a friend's house. Now he can't get enough. I think they're sort of pushy, but he really likes them. So, I was wondering if he was just ready for something more. I'll try to distract him a little longer.

You don't need to distract him - just go ahead and give him little workbooks from bargain stores, but don't get involved in it yourself as a sign that he needs formal studies. He might really enjoy the Highlights magazines! Lillian

[Rikki Gard]

piggyroo.com has a bunch of new Kumon workbooks (which my son loves) for a good price and if you use PR10% you can get 10% off. I got the rest of mine from Rainbow Resource. I highly recommend them! We also do letteroftheweek.com

[xanandali]

FYI: Highlights has a new magazine out called High Five I think. Its for preschool age children whereas regular Highlights is for bigger kids. My parents just got DS a subscription and so far its kinda fun. Not a workbook, but still something a little different from reading a regular storybook and it has various activities in it to do.

[TexasSuz]

Sonlight and Winter Promise both have excellent preschool programs that can be used secularly without ordering some portions.

[mags]

Originally Posted by estirbunny

FYI: Highlights has a new magazine out called High Five I think. Its for preschool age children whereas regular Highlights is for bigger kids. My parents just got DS a subscription and so far its kinda fun. Not a workbook, but still something a little different from reading a regular storybook and it has various activities in it to do.

We like High Five too! It more than exceeded my expectations. Out of all of the preschooler magazines I have looked at, I liked this one the best. We did every page of this magazine and both my 3 yr old and I enjoyed it.

As for my preschooler, we do not have a set curriculum. There is no way he would be able to sit down to, "school." He plays a lot, I read aloud to him quite a bit, we do crafts/art, spend lots of time outside, we listen to music, and sing quite a bit. We try to go on playdates and library storytime and other nature walks, etc.. We occasionally go over a workbook, but we do it together and often we do not write, I just have him point with his finger. We only do this if HE wants to do it. He started playing around with some cuisinaire rods recently and really loves that. So, I'm introducing a few concepts to him in a very fun way. He also watches a little bit of tv. He's learned all of his alphabet sounds from the leapfrog letter factory dvd and is in the process of trying to learn how to blend. He also loves watching nature documentaries, and knows a TON about animals.

[scorch_dc]

Originally Posted by wawap

I know! That's all I want to do. But the boy BEGS for workbooks.

My four year old is the same. I am more relaxed, he wants WORKBOOKS WORKBOOKS WORKBOOKS!


The Kumon books are good, and you can find them anywhere. Favorites are mazes (he LOVES mazes), cutting, uppercase/lowercase letters, tracing, etc.

He also likes the Play & Learn sticker activity books. Those have stickers (to go in puzzles, mazes, matching games, etc.), mazes, coloring pages, letters numbers and everything. A few he likes: Dinosaurs, Animals, Busy Bugs, Tough Trucks...

Another set he likes is the DK Ultimate Sticker Book - a few favorites include Train, Insects, Butterflies, Ocean Glow, North American Birds, Pond LIfe, and a few others I cannot remember now.

A few moms have mentioned magazines. A few that have workbook page types of things that my (animal/sea creature lover) son likes are National Geographic Kids and Your Big Backyard.

Denise

[Ceili]

We found some wipe-off workbooks at Target and ds really likes those.

Also starfall.com has ABC worksheet pages that you can print out. I leave those in a basket on the book shelf for when ds wants to "do school".

[wawap]

Thanks for all the help/advice.

I was at Target and saw some of the Kumon workbooks. He saw me looking at them and about had a heart attack looking at me looking at them. He is in paradise with the cutting one and the maze one.

[Ngandee]

I like the idea of printing out sheets and just keeping them in a basket. I might try it. My dd3 has no interest whatsoever in workbooks but she is bright and is into everything else. The interest in workbooks is amazing to me.

Nina
http://preschoolathome.typepad.com/

[Charmie981]

There's a workbook based preschool curriculum with Horizons (which isn't secular, but I'm not sure how Christian it is, either?). www.aop.com I thought the Winter Promise preschool looked good also, but I have an older child and don't want to do two different things with them, so I eliminated it from my list.

The grocery store workbooks can get so expensive! I have a preschooler who just blows through them (even after his 3 hours/day in preschool ), which is why I was looking at Horizons the other day...

It's hard to find preschool curriculum, though, especially one that's workbook or work intensive, because so many people are of the "just play" mindset, which is GREAT until you have a kid who wants to do school (trust me, I've been there TWICE!). In my experience, if you don't provide something for him, he'll start to find his own stuff to get into. In our house that involved spray painting his bike, giving the cat a hot oil treatment, and painting his window with mama's nail polish .

[mags]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

There's a workbook based preschool curriculum with Horizons (which isn't secular, but I'm not sure how Christian it is, either?). www.aop.com I thought the Winter Promise preschool looked good also, but I have an older child and don't want to do two different things with them, so I eliminated it from my list.

The grocery store workbooks can get so expensive! I have a preschooler who just blows through them (even after his 3 hours/day in preschool ), which is why I was looking at Horizons the other day...

It's hard to find preschool curriculum, though, especially one that's workbook or work intensive, because so many people are of the "just play" mindset, which is GREAT until you have a kid who wants to do school (trust me, I've been there TWICE!). In my experience, if you don't provide something for him, he'll start to find his own stuff to get into. In our house that involved spray painting his bike, giving the cat a hot oil treatment, and painting his window with mama's nail polish .

If your preschooler likes workbooks, check out goodwill or any other thrift stores in your area. They have TONS of workbooks that are pretty much brand new for only 25 cents each!

[xanandali]

In our house that involved spray painting his bike, giving the cat a hot oil treatment, and painting his window with mama's nail polish

And I've always thought I had an active kid.