Preschool Curriculum

Hooked on Phonics: Beginning Reading with Bible Stories Ages 4-6

This set was not included in my original plans for next school year. I found it brand new at a used book store for $10(Brand new runs $30 or so) and thought I’d give it a whirl. I wanted to try it out to see if I wanted to include it in our lessons.

We have being doing the flash cards with the CD and a page from the workbook a few times a week. My son, who will be 4 in May, has already started to remember all of the sounds of the letters. This has been a remarkable program and we are very excited to continue with it for this coming school year. If I can find them for a reasonable cost, I will continue with this program for kindergarten. From my research, you can find this specific program used for $10-$15 on Amazon, EBay or Half Price Books online.

Fruit of the Tender Heart ( At teachmejoy.com)

This was my original plan for my preschooler.

Teach me Joy is a self-published early learning home school curriculum that has been brought to you by a seasoned teacher and homeschooling mom. Fruit for Tender Hearts is a home school program targeting students in K3-K5.

This is an inexpensive down loadable curriculum. It is running on sale right now for $15. To save ink, I plan to print a week or 2 at a time as we do them. This curriculum includes Bible, math, science, reading and LA for the entire year.

You can get a full description of this curriculum and other teach me joy curriculum at the Teach Me Joy website.

Calendar time: We do this at the beginning of everyday to learn how to use the calendar, learn days of the week, and months of the year and special days and holidays. It also refreshes counting skills. My older kids sit in on this too; they need to know the date to put it on the work for the day. We also use this time to go over our bible verse for that week



Reading

I created a reading list for my preschooler. However, I am sure that many more books will be added on to this list. He normally raids the library every time we go. The books on our list are just some of my old favorites, some of my older kids old favorites and also ones that my preschooler has enjoyed so far. You can view our reading list here.

My one goal for myself is not to force, but encourage my preschooler to do his ‘school’. Age 4 is a great age of fun and a time of learning through experience. By forcing him to do his work, it can discourage him. He will not consider it fun anymore. In most cases he asks to do his ‘work’ because his brothers are working on theirs and he wants to be a part of whatever they are doing. I am going to try to take full advantage of that.

Not forcing him do his work doesn’t mean he will get to do whatever he wants though. We still have a structure and schedule. He will have to choose some sort of activity. Blocks, trains, coloring. That’s a whole other post! “How to entertain your preschooler while you school your older children”.

Happy Preschooling!!

Book Review: "Heaven is for Real"

I am ashamed to admit that I am not an avid book reader. As a matter of fact, outside of read-a -loud stories for my kids and the occasional homeschooling help book, I don’t get the chance to sit down and read anything for myself. However, I do love to roam bookstores. On occasion, I run a cross a book that really seems interesting. This past week I saw the book “Heaven is for Real” on the shelf. I have heard of this book and have read a few reviews of it. I cannot say that I wasn’t a tad skeptical as I stood there and read the description on the back. I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did!

This is a description of the book:

“Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.”

That’s enough to get you kind of excited right? Especially as a believer!

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was how Todd Burpo (Coltons father) was able to compare so much scripture to the things Colton describes.

I could not put this book down. I sat down every moment I could to catch the next glimpse. The descriptions of this child were so simple, yet so astounding! They stood out so much to me that the night I finished this book, I could not fall asleep. I continued to imagine what this little boy saw. The little kids with small wings and the adults like Pop with really big wings. Once I fell asleep I dreamed of these descriptions: Jesus’ “pretty eyes”, Gabriel next to the throne, my grandparents in place of Pop, Colton’s Great-Grandfather. I am not saying I had a ‘Heaven’experience.

It’s like the night before a big vacation to Disney World as a kid. You just can’t fall asleep because all you can picture are Mickey Mouse reaching out his arms to hug you and walking through the castle, and which roller coaster you want to ride first. You are so excited about what you are about to see that your mind simply does not allow those thoughts to rest. That’s what I felt after this book. This was a truly outlook changing experience.

John 20:29 says “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” It is in experiences, like Colton’s, that Jesus’ reminds us as believers what we have waiting for us! That all the riches in this earthly world cannot compare to what we have in store for us in heaven. Though we have not seen the Kingdom of Heaven, it is real!

It is also to show those who don’t believe what they could have!

If you have not yet ventured into this book for lack of belief in the trueness of it, I will tell you I understand. I felt the same way picking it up. After reading it and watching a few of their interviews, I have no doubt in my mind that this boy did experience something wonderful and I am so glad he was able to give us a glimpse of a place we all would love to sneak a peek of!

If you have already read this book, what was the one thing you took away from it?