what are your favorite PreK and K materials?

[dreamingoffireflies]

I am a homeschooling newbie planning to start hs my son soon. What are your best curriculum recommendations for ages 3-6 and what do you like about them?

I'd also be interested to hear what subjects you teach at those ages. Thanks!

-J

[KingsDaughter76]

ABC mouse.com!! It's all inclusive and very affordable online curriculum. I also love Horizons math. Pre-K and Kindergarten are SO easy to do with homeschool...just remember to have FUN!

Oh and you asked what subjects I teach to my littles....well basic stuff- letter sounds, color, shapes, basic simple math, lots of reading to them...we keep it fun and simple and really try to nurture their love of learning. :-)

ABC mouse is my favorite though- it makes learning all the above really fun and not like "learning" for the kids...they get to earn rewards and tickets, and have a fish tank and hamster to care for...and much much more! Love it!

[girlichick]

Originally Posted by KingsDaughter76 ABC mouse.com!! It's all inclusive and very affordable online curriculum. I also love Horizons math. Pre-K and Kindergarten are SO easy to do with homeschool...just remember to have FUN! Oh and you asked what subjects I teach to my littles....well basic stuff- letter sounds, color, shapes, basic simple math, lots of reading to them...we keep it fun and simple and really try to nurture their love of learning. :-) ABC mouse is my favorite though- it makes learning all the above really fun and not like "learning" for the kids...they get to earn rewards and tickets, and have a fish tank and hamster to care for...and much much more! Love it!

I just got the abcmouse.com curriculum, do you just let then use it by themselves? My kids are 5 and 4 (in fall they will be in K and PK) and it seems very simple and affordable. I have a 2 yr old and a 6 month old too so less prep and something they can do fairly independently would be great. We have handwriting/reading and math workbooks for my oldest too.. But haven't looked too closely at abcmouse yet. However it is sounding more and more tempting!

[paaterzone]

Hi! I've been teaching in the range of Pre-K to 2nd grade for the last 11 years. Can I suggest for kindergarten and the older preschool years you use some sort of letter/sound correspondance program rather than letter of the week? I use a book called "No More Letter of the Week" with my pre-k class. It focuses on the sounds and every year I use it, MOST (about 85%) of my kids leave for kindergarten already reading and writing simple sentences. Letter of the week is awesome for the littles but when they hit 4 or 5, they are ready to digest a meatier curriculum aimed at learning the function of the letters, not just names. Food for though. Good luck! :-)

[AVeryHappyMama]

Like the pp I'm not a fan of LOTW method.
I enjoy these:

Flowering Baby is what I primarily use. It is thorough, flexible, casual, and fun. It covers a wide variety of topics. Letters/sounds are reviewed/taught throughout the year rather than one a week.

NAMC homeschool: a Montessori preschool at home kit. I need to get back into it but between moves and my son's need for doing things together vs having the environment set up so he can explore learn at own pace while I observe then step in to teach next level and step back again, it isn't a favorite though I love it. 3 years of supplies and guides.

Hubbard's Cupboard is very crafty with a theme every week or two. Age 2 is on different environments (ocean, etc), age 3 Bible stories, age 4 character traits.

Seasons of Joy is Waldorf. Crafts are handicrafts rather than cutesy. Singing and storytelling are the primary modes of instruction.

Peak With Books is literature based unit studies for preschoolers.

[7mom7]

For pre-k we did bible, math, reading, and some handwriting. For K he's in Classical Conversations but if he wasn't in that program I'd probably have only added health and done the Ambleside Online books.

Bible- variety of books, nothing really very special
Math- pre-k we did simple workbooks from Mardel, K we do Singapore
Reading- Hooked on Phonics
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears

[Amandamama]

Five in a Row!!

[angel nee nee]

I love teaching without any curriculum for the young age.
I do have some books I can follow if I wanted as well.

What I am doing for young age are:

My first langauge lesson couple times/week
happy phonics (but kids are not really into it, so occasionally.)
progressivephonics.com I downloaded the books. We read the book together.

I think those are the only "curiculum" I kind of use.


I do like using some sort of book or printable that helps with handwriting. Either store bought, printed, or self-made maze, traceable handwriting sheets, etc.
Other than that, I enjoy hands-on inpromptu lessons, reading books, singing songs that teachs whatever I am teaching (all made up as I sing too. lol), coloring, drawing and writing together, etc.

I also use some file-folder game as well. Things I bought when they were $0.99 sale or filefolderfun.com.

Other things I use for lessons are demonstation clock, dice, coins, origami paper, and pattern blocks.



What I do for phonics is we read those books from progressivephonics.com togehter for fun. I also just talk about phonics concept and introduce rules as I write some letters and show how it works. We also enforce what I taught with file-folder games little by little to see if my child is understanding what I am teaching.

For language art, I just read my first langauge lesson, then talk about whatever it suggested for the day.

For literature, I am reading books for them daily.

For handwriting, I did printables and store bought books from $1 store in the past. I am planning to purchase a beka handwriting for 1st grade here soon.


For math, I introduce the concept using manuplatives (pattern blocks, lego block, or whatever else I can use for whatever I want to teach), then draw it out on the paper too. We play with file-folder game for reviews. We also do things like coin bingo, or games that are made-up at the last minute like draw pictures of dresses for a princess and decide how much it costs, and have my daughter shop for dresses for a imaginary princess we draw. I am planning to buy 1st grade material here soon.

For the Bible, she studies with her dad sometimes.

For sciene, we do hands-on easy activities here and there. Ideas are from random science books from library or things I bought for $0.99 fom teacherexpress.com.

Health/Safety and social study, we do file-folder games and discuss, or read books, or just talk about whatever I want to talk about like how the map looks, what kind of countries are around, what's our address, etc.

Music/Art We are not doing a lot at this moment. We sing, we draw, we color, we do small crafts and cooking, that's about it for now.

P.E. Not doing a whole lot right now. Just playing outside or exercising in the house.

I also have my child play with starfall.com. Kids love it.

[anothergirl]

ABC Mouse and Before Five in a Row. Love them both. My 4 year old LOVES that she can "take school" with her everywhere she goes. The ABC Mouse app is very easy to use and she can access it from my ipad or iphone.