I love working with young children! They love to learn and explore and are usually excited about trying new things. I believe that young children learn through play– and that they should have lots of time to do that! When doing formal learning, I try to include hands-on activities or activities that use their senses. When there are times where we need to do a formal activity, I aim to make it short and sweet:) Here’s what I have in mind for the 2012-2013 early years schooling:
Toddler School
Lil Pumpkin will be turning 2yrs. old in a couple of months! She really thinks she is 4 though and tries to keep up with her other sisters. She’ll join us on our nature walks, read-alouds, and arts and crafts. She already loves to draw (even if it is usually on herself or the walls 😉 )Focused activities might include book extensions such as themed sensory boxes, fine motor games, and gross-motor games. At this age I like to use music as a way of teaching concepts (Songs for Saplings, Seeds Family Worship are a few examples.) I also make up quite a few songs and rhymes. I’m sure I’ll be looking through my own toddler school archives for ideas this year.
Preschool
Little A will be 4 years old this year. She’ll also be doing nature walks, read-alouds, getting dirty, running and playing. This particular child needs sensory activities and lots of movement! 🙂
Every morning all the kids work on a virtue phrase for the day. We Choose Virtues has been a great asset to our school and our home.
The only formal curriculum she will be using is All About Reading Pre-Level 1 {Here’s a past post on Ziggy the Zebra and All About Reading Pre-Level 1} She will do this along with many of the same ABC activities we did last year with her sister. I kept track of books plus printables we used for each letter of the alphabet. You can find all the ABC activity resources in my printables section. I also have many preschool posts and ideas listed under my preschool category. I’m sure we’ll revisit several of those activities again this year.
Kindergarten
Big A is our kindergartener! She’ll be turning 6 soon and she’s excited to start school this year. Kindergarten is when I add a few more formal things but still plan time for lots of pretend play and outside fun.
She started All About Reading Level 1 last year and we will finish it this year. This program has been terrific for her. You can read some of my thoughts in these posts:
AAR Level 1 review
Organizing All About Reading with a bag
Our AAR accomplishment!
For math she will be using Essential Math by Singapore Math. In addition we’ll be playing lots of math games, using counters, die, plastic animals etc. for hands-on math exploration. She’ll also continue using Handwriting Without Tears.
Toward the end of last year I was asked to review Elemental Science. I loved it and my kids enjoyed it to! We will continue using this program for science this year. My other two young ones will tag along and learn too.
I have many read-alouds scheduled along with poetry reading and memorization. This year she’ll also start using WriteShop Primary book A.
We’ll also schedule nature walks and field trips in the fall. I might even make a few more nature I Spy sets too!
I know that it can be overwhelming to look at what other people do. What works for my family might not work for you. Also, I do not do each and every one of these subjects every day. Sometimes I don’t even do these each week! For example, many times I concentrate on science for a whole week and then off a week or two. I’m flexible and try to make sure I balance formal learning with play, family time, and personal habit training (aka chores).
Related Posts:
2012-2013 High School Curriculum Plans
2012-2013 Middle School Curriculum Plans
2012-2013 4th/5th Grade Curriculum Plans
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. All statements made in this post are my true and honest opinions.
Your plans look great, as always! My youngest will be starting kindergarten with me next month and our plans look pretty similar, although we have a different math (Prof B.) I try not to overwhelm them at this age because I made that mistake with one of them and it took years to undo the stress damage I’d caused. Looks like you have a relaxed approach too.
Your plans look great for all your kids! I’ve wondering about AAR, we’ve got a few years before little man will need it, but it’s certainly on the short list.