4 YO Tot School Year!

The 3 YO Year was a big success. We had so much fun with some of the units and learned a ton. If you are looking for a 4 YO Preschool @ home curriculum, here are some great ones...

God's Little Explorers- Looks Awesome! (more Bible based)
Confessions of a Homeschooler- Letter of the Week (more letter based)
ABC Jesus Loves Me- completely free (more literature based)
Raising Rock Stars from 1+1+1=1- also free (theme & memory verse based)

I have used ABCJLM since K was 2, and I like it, but it needs tweaking in my opinion (I, however, am the queen of tweaking!)

Here is how I came up with what we're doing this coming year....

• Wrote out some goals.
• Used ABCJLM's Bible section as the backbone of the curriculum. I like how they have a character trait to go along with the Bible story for each week. 
• Came up with 8 broad themes. Instead of 1 each week, we will take about 4 wks per theme.
• Then I thought about where he is academically and what the next goals are to move him along. Every child is different, so I am kind of tailoring this area to his needs. He knows all his letters and sounds so may be able to start reading this year. If he is, I will add in "Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", but I won't start that until we review some. He knows all his numbers and can count objects, so we will just move right along in "math". His fine motor skills are more lacking. He has VERY little interest in writing or even coloring yet, which is FINE. We will take it really slowly in this area. We'll start with tracing, but we probably won't start letter formation until at least the spring. If you aren't into "tweaking" as much as I am and just want to follow the curriculum, then do that, but if your child is "behind" in some area, don't force it, just skip that part for this year. They will be FINE. ;) And challenge them to take other areas where they're excelling a little further. If you need to supplement something, there are TONS of ideas now on Pinterest and the internet.

What we are doing....

•  3 days a week only
• Circle time in the morning: read Bible story, go over memory verse, music time (going to get some fun kids praise CDs. In the past, I planned out which songs to do each wk, but I'm going for more SIMPLE this yr.), and gross motor time. I'm using these cards. We will draw a couple each day and do them! G-man will join us for circle time too, as he wants. (I thought about adding calendar time, but I think it would be too much right now.)
• Then we will do work boxes. I think these will help motivate him. We will do 3 things per day. So it will go something like this: Bible activity, theme activity, phonics worksheet; then character trait activity, math worksheet, your choice; then math activity, phonics activity, theme activity. His fourth box everyday will be a learning toy of some kind, for him to work on by himself.
• That's it! Except for maybe reading some books on the theme @ bedtime.

I am SUPER excited!