Getting Ready for Preschool

The past few weeks in our 4-year-old preschool classes have been a bit haphazard and all over the place. I was waiting for my daughter to be better behaved before I began formal lessons again. Growth spurts, new schedules, and a baby brother made her a bit wild.  She is still wild, but are beginning the curriculum I wrote for her now.


I like home education because I am able to adjust according to the needs of the kids and the family as a whole. There is so much flexibility!

Our goals for this unit include:

• letter recognition
• handwriting practice
• cutting practice
• gluing practice
• following directions
• focused creativity (she is a free spirit, and channeling her energies is a skill she needs to learn)
• hand-eye coordination
• fine motor skills

Books

Each  letter will be read about in books. Lots and lots of books!  I try to read a different book each day to give variety. We start out our lesson with reading a book. It helps focus and bring a good vibe to the start of lessons. I point out the letter on the cover and help her come up with other words that start with the same sound.  Right now she has NO idea how to do that, so my 7 year old son helps her out. One day she may understand the sounds, but for now we are working on letter recognition.

Activities

There are a few activities we will do with each letter. These include:

• Handwriting without Tears pages
• Using the HWwoT (Handwriting without Tears) wood pieces to make the letters
• Using our HWwoT chalk board to wet, dry, and write the letters
• Writing the letter in sand
• Making the letters in Play-doh
• Do-a-dot letters
• Q-tip letters
• Adding a page to our Letter Art Book
• Adding a page to our ABC construction book
• Decorate a letter to hang
• Catholic Icing activities (Includes a Bible verse, a saint, and a craft based on the letter)
• Crafts!  Kaelyn loves to do crafts, so we usually do at least one a day in addition to the standards we do each week for every letter. For example, we might make a butterfly mask, or dig in the garden, or make tye-dyed shirts. We have tons of fun.

Music

Each week I pick one or two musical selections. We listen to the music while we work on the crafts and sometimes during lunch. Sometimes the music makes us get up and dance!