Educating Your Preschooler Classically
There is no rush to begin formal school. The best thing you can do for your preschooler is to spend lots of wonderful time together. Cook together and count how many scoops of flour go into the bowl. Get out and see lots of nature; animals, flowers, trees-develop a love for God’s creation and exploration. And read together. Reading has been a favorite pastime of many a classical mother in this century and many before. Develop a love for reading early on, but especially a love for reading of the Bible.
Christian Studies/Bible Curriculum
- King James Bible (my husband since from birth reads to them the King James Bible. As a family we sit together and listen. The children may sit and quietly do handicrafts while they listen–but they really do learn and ask the most wonderful questions! They love family Bible time.)
- Preschool Bible Curriculum (these stories are true to the Bible and realistic pictures. Stories are close accurate retellings, includes traditional preschool Christian song, memory verse curriculum included)
- Prayers for Children: A Little Golden Book Classic
Preschool Bible Memorization:
Please note, some children will be able to memorize Bible verses better than others. Give this time. Memory is a muscle and a skill that we all build. If memory verses take time, that’s just fine. But also, don’t assume they can’t do this. Many children can if given the task to learn a verse, with time, repetition, fun (songs can help), children will store up God’s word in their hearts at a very young age.
- Bible Memory Verse Picture Cards (Abeka has a solid classical Preschool Bible curriculum using the King James Bible translation which very accurate and excellent for memorizing scripture- even for little ones. Teaching KJV is not that hard and develops their vocabulary from early on – Shakespeare will be a breeze come highschool!)
- Awana Puggles (for 2’s and 3’s – excellent Bible and verse memory curriculum, Awana sells a homeschool version too (exactly the same just without awards and badges, or if you like the awards and badges you can buy the church version no problem) you choose the Bible translation version).
- Awana Cubbies (for 3’s and 4’s – excellent Bible and verse memory curriculum, Puggles can be used for up to 3, but I recommend starting Cubbies at 3 because there are 2 books, one for 3’s and one for 4’s. It’s a gentle memory verse curriculum allowing the child to say the shortened version or the longer version (which is still quite short).)
Literature
- The Best Mouse Cookie by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond
- Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown
- Bunny’s Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown
- From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit based on the original tale by Beatrix Potter
- Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
- The Animals’ Christmas Eve: A Little Golden Book
- My First Real Mother Goose
Beginning Phonics
A Gentle Introduction To Letters
Gentle Phonics Consumables (tear out pages and coloring):
Math (Counting, Shapes, Size, etc)
Math Story Books
- 1 Is One by Tasha Tudor
- Numbers, Colors, Shapes
- Big Dog … Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
- My First Counting Book: A Little Golden Book Classic
- My Very First Book of Shapes by Eric Carle
- Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings by Matthew Van Fleet (content covers shapes, colors, and animals)
Math Consumables (tear out pages/coloring)
- Learning Numbers for 2 year old’s (large, simple pictures to color while counting the objects. Learn numbers, shapes, pairs, opposites, counting to ten, hand-eye coordination, coloring, and listening, along with thinking and reasoning skills)
- Numbers and Skills for 3 Year olds (covers shapes, pairs, opposites, numbers 1-15, sequence of events, senses, seasons, weather, animals, countries, transportation, dot-to-dot, coloring, thinking and reasoning skills, listening skills, and more)
Color Recognition
- Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
- Child Art for 2 year olds (consumable tear out pages – builds shape and color recognition)
- Arts and Crafts for 2 year olds (these are more crafts than “art” will require glitter, glue, etc)
- Child Art for 3 year olds (consumable tear out pages: colors and shapes, hand-eye coordination, thinking and listening skills, seasons, patriotism, Bible truths, health, safety, and science)
- Arts and Crafts for 3 year olds (these are more crafts than “art” will require glitter, glue, etc)
Science (Exploring Animals)
- Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
- Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
- Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss
- Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Option B: Just Give It To Me All In A Set!
Some parents prefer the box option – just give me an amazing curriculum, with everything I need, and a master curriculum guide that tells me what to do and say each day for one low (discounted) price. Boom! Here you go the “Memoria Press Classical Preschool Curriculum Set”
