Recommendation for curriculum

ANA6

I am working with my 3 year old and researching through different homeschooling blogs and sites. What curriculum is everyone using. I looked at the Oak Meadows that my friend is going to use, but I am not sold on it. I was wondering if anyone came across more programs that are not as expensive as some of them which I've seen as high as 700.00.

Right not I am just going off of a couple of sites and creating my own thing. I got books for number and counting, phonics, writing, alphabet.

Nokkouttmomma

I was home schooled growing up and my mother use the BJU Press curriculum. If at all possible I would recommend staying away from it. It's expensive and hardly challenging at all for progressing students. After I finished my 8th grade year in 2 months my mom started creating her own curriculum. If you have the resources to do so I would recommend going that way. Or at least supplementing some subjects with curriculum you've created. 

bridein08

If you are looking for specifically preschool, play based and minimal "sit down" work is preferred. Let your LO explore the world with you (lots of play, outdoor time, etc). If she is open to it, worksheets can sometimes be fun. Go to library story time, etc. We are planning on doing a semi-relaxed preschool year starting at 3.5 and plan to start Kindergarten at 4.5 (DS has a December birthday, and would be forced to start late at 5.5- not what we plan to stick with). 

I wouldn't really recommend a "boxed" curriculum unless you find one that you love. Check out some curriculum sales if you live in a homeschool friendly area- sometimes, being able to page through the books can make up your mind.

For Kindergarten, we plan to do Handwriting Without Tears (GREAT writing program that is picking up momentum with HSers, PSers, and private schools), Singapore Math, a reading curriculum (if he hasn't already learned to read, which is very possible), general spelling lists and a nature based science. 

We won't add formal science or history until third grade. Both the handwriting without tears and the math program, we plan to do the first grade level in kindergarten as the K level is pretty basic (IMO preschool level).

 

Good luck!  

wifeofadam

I wouldn't bother with wasting money on curriculum for preschool.  You can do it very cheaply.

What we did was buy a few preschool workbooks from the dollar store.  I put them in a binder with page protectors and they practice on the sheets with a wipe erase marker.  That's how they learn to write all of their letters and numbers.  Those books also contain exercises for learning rhymes, matching, basic math concepts, etc.

To learn letter sounds we use the Leapfrog letter factory video.  Once they learn the song from the video we would sing it together.

We also bought a few packs of flashcards from the dollar store to use if the kids were interested too. 

Aside from that, we just do a lot of nature walks which spawn questions.  We also do a lot of arts and crafts.

Really, I feel like that's all a preschooler needs.  They learn best through imaginative play, so just provide lots of opportunities for that.  Make sure their toy collection includes lots of "learning" toys.  You'll be amazed at what they will pick up just from playing with a drum set or an abacus - stuff like that.

But the best thing you can do for them is just read read read.  Find a list online of the best books for preschoolers and start using that money you would have spent on curriculum to create an amazing home library for your child.