A look inside our preschool

I love homeschooling.  A few years ago, when I first began homeschooling my oldest, I was really afraid of messing up my kids.  What if I couldn't teach them to read?  What if they didn't learn to love school the way I did?  What if I missed something? 

Those fears were definitely valid, but I AM SO GLAD they didn't keep me from starting the homeschooling journey in the first place.  Because, like I said before... I LOVE it.  Sure, there are days when I feel like I can't fit everything in, days when the kids just don't want to cooperate, and days when I'm so exhausted I just can't see straight.  But then there are days like today when we get to do apple stamp painting and experiments to make eggs float in water... I love seeing my boys get excited about stuff like that!  I love teaching them God's Word and seeing it come alive to them.

Anyway... enough with the gushy stuff and on to the whole point of this post: Our preschool syllabus!  I've had several friends and family ask about what I'm doing for school this year.  My answer is usually, "We're doing "My Father's World", and I love it!"  I can't say enough good things about this curriculum, but since that isn't the point of this post, then I'll just direct you to their website for more info: www.mfwbooks.com.  EXCELLENT curriculum. 



My Father's World is what I've used for Kindergarten, 1st grade and now for 2nd grade, but I do my own thing for preschool.  There's so much free stuff on the internet that I decided to compile things and put together my own curriculum for preschool.  This year for Zeke, I took what I did with Gabe and added to it.  So here it is, in a nutshell, with some free downloadable docs for you to use if you'd like!

Our preschool syllabus (Download available at the end of this post)
- This syllabus is based on the "letter of the week" style and includes learning letters, Bible verses, numbers, shapes, colors and a few other things.

We use the book "My ABC Bible Verses" by Susan Hunt.  It includes an excellent story with each letter/Bible verse that explains the verse to young kids.  To go along with this, I created some verse cards so we can display the verse he's learned/learning.  These cards also make it easier to review the verses.  (Download for the ABC Bible verse cards is available at the end of this post.)

I guess I should mention that I changed one of the verses that we use.  For the letter "C", I decided to use Eph. 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." instead of the slightly longer version they include in the book from Colossians.

I printed off a bunch of different free worksheets from the internet (for letters, shapes, numbers, etc.) and organized them into binders.  I suppose I could have printed stuff off a week at a time, but I wanted to be prepared and do it all at before the school year began.  Here's a picture of Zeke's alphabet binder with a few of the different pages pulled out for you to see:

Please ignore the crayon marks on the table.  : )  I decided to put a few of the pages inside sheet protectors so he can use a dry erase marker to trace over them again and again.  Here's some of my favorite websites for printing free preschool worksheets...

• http://www.first-school.ws/theme/alphabet.htm
• http://www.kidslearningstation.com/
• http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2009/05/preschool-alphabet-worksheets/
• http://www.earlylearningactivities.com/PDF/alphadoadot.pdf

Here's a few more websites with fun craft and activity ideas for each letter.

• http://totallytots.homestead.com/NowIKnowMyABCs.html
• http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/index.html

Here are two different blogs that have WONDERFUL ideas and free printables for the "letter of the week" preschool curriculum.  Be sure to check these blogs out!

• http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week  She offers free printables along with the entire set of downloads for purchase.
• http://www.cornerstoneconfessions.com/search/label/homeschool  She is currently teaching her daughter preschool, so each week she posts their plans for the week.  GREAT stuff.

My kids love the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, so I decided to put a coconut tree on our school wall.  Each week when we introduce the new letter, we make it "climb up the tree" and there it stays as a visual reminder of the letter.

My original plan was to go to the dollar store and get the punch out letters that teachers use on bulletin boards.  However, I didn't get to the dollar store until the Saturday before school started, so of course they were all sold out.  Plan B: Make my own letters, then cut them out!  I don't have a laminator, so I decided to print them out on photo paper.  This way I can reuse them with the next kiddo.  I am focusing on capital letters this year, so I used capitals instead of lowercase like are in the book.  (In case you'd like to make your own letters, I am also including that document at the end of this post for you to download.)

My sweet boy was SO excited to start doing school like his big brother!

Here's your free downloads!  Hope you are able to use them, and please feel free to pass them along to someone else if you think they can use them.  If you have any questions about any of this or about homeschooling in general, feel free to ask! 

Preschool Syllabus

Preschool ABC Verse Cards

Letters for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree