A friend on FB recently asked what we’ve used for Preschool and Kindergarten. Here are my top picks:
1. Rod and Staff Preschool coloring books --a total of 9 now between the original ABC set and the new G-H-I books. We start these at age 4 and are done with them by the time we start first grade. Each book has a different focus but constantly reviews the previous materials. The numbers book is one of my kids’ favorites—they love the rhymes that help you learn how to form the numbers. The set also includes a Bible story book that correlates to one of the coloring books.
2. For a gentle introduction to other studies, we use Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row. We read a classic picture book each day for a week and do an activity in the subject areas based on the book. Homeschool Share, that includes lapbooks for many of the books for free.
For other books, I used the book lists from Sonlight from their preschool and K curriculum. I didn't use their teacher plans.
For phonics/learning to read, I used Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, but I'm switching this year to Institute for Excellence in Writing's new Primary Arts of Language. This is the company I exhibit at conventions, so I'm biased, but I really like the look and layout of this. I've only seen some samples of the new items, but I'll have the whole thing in my hands in May, I hope.
The best advice I have is to enjoy these years, they pass by far too quickly! Enjoy lots of cuddling and reading, even if it takes you an hour to read a book because the baby is interrupting!
