Ask Elizabeth: What’s the homeschool curriculum you use? And did you use one for toddler / preschool age? Any tips for creating rhythms and discipleship moments for kids ages 2 – 6?
I was asked this question several different ways this week – in person and online – and I thought it a very fitting Ask Elizabeth to tackle right now. In many ways I am still in the middle of this toddler/ preschool season of homeschool, but we have also been doing it for a couple years now! Hilde is my oldest at 5 (nearly 6 years old!) and will be starting 1st Grade in the fall.
I debated on how to organize this blog post and I’ve decided to lump Kindergarten in with the preschool years (as the blog title suggests,) sharing what we did with our oldest and are doing with our youngest. It may seem unorthodox to lump in Kindergarten with preschool but lately I’ve been convinced we are making these younger years too academic and stealing childhood from our sweet kids. So after working through some guilt (shouldn’t I be doing more?!?!,) we’ve enjoyed an educational buffet of learning through play, adventure, books, and extracurricular activities these younger years.
CURRICULUM
The main curriculum that we started implementing in our routine around the age of three was the Peaceful Preschool. However, I held this with really loose hands and we took two years to go through it. I felt that for my kids four days of scheduled school was too much for my crew. During the seasons of preschool & kindergarten with my oldest, my family was also in seasons of toddlerhood, pregnancy, infants, and babies. I needed grace to do what was healthy for myself and my family without pushing everyone too hard. We averaged 2 days a week on the lessons and let ourselves enjoy them instead of rushing through each thing. We also filled our schedule with free play, play dates, outings, and natural learning. I wrote a blog on what a day of Peaceful Press Homeschool looked like for us – this was a full day without any other commitments and we took the entire day to enjoy and digest it all!
When Hilde turned 5 and started Kindergarten on the same day, we added in a reading curriculum. Someone gifted me “Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and we do a couple 10 minute lessons a week. This is something my husband and daughter do together in the mornings before work and they enjoy the time together.
I also purchased these Pre-K and Kindergarten workbooks from Costco and my girls just do these for fun when they want! They have learned so much through these books and I’ve never once scheduled a time for this. We just have them always available in the homeschool room and they pick them up often.
The last thing I want to include here is Kiwi Crates. It might seem odd to include subscription boxes under curriculum but these are just that – learning adventures prepackaged for you to teach and explore new concepts with your kids! We got a 6 month subscription to KiwiCo for both of the girls as part of homeschool this past year.
Hilde got the Kiwi Crate and Millie got the Koala Crate. Not only was it super fun and exciting to get something in the mail with your name on it, it was also a blast to learn, play, and create something new and unexpected! These crates are not only filled with activities and projects but also booklets of information and further exploration resources. I was amazed with the “learning” packed into each of these boxes. I feel like these both are perfect for these preschool years (especially the Koala Crate which is for ages 3-4) and are a great idea to add to your Christmas or Birthday gift idea list for your homeschoolers!
Extracurricular ACTIVIES
One of the misconceptions about homeschooling is that you as the parent need to be the expert on everything, but that is simply not the case! There are so many extracurricular activities you can include in your schedule. In fact, because you homeschool, your kids have more emotional and physical bandwidth for extracurricular activities. For preschool & kindergarten we joined a Music Class, signed up for Acting Classes, attended Barnyard Buddies at Rock Ledge Ranch, and enrolled Hilde in an outdoor homeschool enrichment program that met one day a week for her Kindergarten year. These extra activities really allow our preschoolers/ kindergarteners to grow in relationships with others, learn to respect and engage with other teachers, meet new friends, as well as learn new skills. I encourage you to find local activities that fit with your family culture and values (clearly we love the arts!) to include in the education of your littles during these years!
read books
Beyond following lesson plans or scheduling activities, a huge part of education in this season is prioritizing reading and building it naturally into our home culture. We have made a habit of reading chapter books out loud at night before bed as part of our routine, we do devotionals in the mornings with our kids (as well as simply reading aloud our Bibles as we spend quite time with the Lord), we check out TONS of picture books from the library and leave them around the house to be read throughout the day, we have a scheduled quiet time during nap time where the older girls can play or draw quietly while listening to audio books. I bring my book to the library and the park to read while the kids play, my husband reads his book on the porch after work while the kids draw on the sidewalk, and we listen to audio dramas in the car (the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre ones are incredible!) when we take longer drives. Reading is simply part of what we do all the time.
It is honestly amazing how caught up in stories your kids can get and how fun it is to enjoy these stories with them! Also the language and creativity that blooms from living stories, will set them up for success in schooling and life. It is important to take your kids temperament in consideration as you pick out reading materials, but also know that imagining a scene is different than watching one on a tv screen. Your mind can only imagine what it has seen and known – So when Bilbo runs into trolls on his hobbit journey, the trolls may not be as fear inducing in the minds of your children as they are in the movie! And be prepared to answer questions and have conversations about these stories – your children are curios and want to talk with you about what they are enjoying!
PS: We try to note & rate all the chapter books we read aloud to the girls (ages 4 & 5) on our Goodreads. Here are some on my Goodreads that I have read to the girls and here are the ones my husband reads to them. And here is a list I’ve curated on Amazon!
Email Lists to get on for book recomendations
Where to get books
Your Local Library (we also check out lots of audiobooks on CD or with the Playaway player)
The Libby App or Hoopla (whatever one you can log into with your library card)
Thriftbooks for online used books
Amazon has all the books and runs deep discounts at times
Favorite homeschooling books
The Call of the Wild and Free by Ainsley Arment
Habits for a Sacred Home by Jennifer Pepito
The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Mothering by the Book by Jennifer Pepito
Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley (not a homeschool book but encouraged me in homeschooling and setting up rhythms)
life as a learning adventure
The gift of homeschool is that everything can be turned into a educational experience! Invite your children into your chores, plant gardens & learn about seeds, visit chickens and gather their eggs, go to the zoo and read all the signs, take hikes and look up the type of rocks or flowers you find, go to the library again and again, plan playdates with friends and let your kids problem solve and imagine together. Our kids are learning all the time – not just during “school time.” When we embrace the natural learning that comes up in our daily activities and curiosities, we nurture a passion for lifelong learning.
Notes + TIPS
Include your younger kids into your learning. There is a time and place for one-on-one education, but you can invite siblings into a quite a bit of the learning. Let them practice writing their letters, listen to the stories, ask questions about the rocks they find, and do the craft as well as they can. What I love about the Peaceful Preschool curriculum is that it is easy to include younger (and older) kids into the work, just letting them perform at their age level and developmental skill.
Learn with your kids! I said it above, but you don’t need to know it all to homeschool! Embrace the wonder of learning and walk alongside your kids as you discover the answers to the questions you ask! Does your kid want to get a pet fish? Spend time learning together about types of pet fish. Research how to care for them online or check out books from the library. Ask questions and encourage your kids to think about the responsibilities involved in this new adventure. You don’t need to know anything about fish or having pets, but you can figure it out together and, at the end of it all, go buy your new fish. Of course this is just a silly example – there are SO many things you can learn together. Like learning to name and identify the wildflowers on your favorite hike or figuring out how exactly your car engine works or learning the very real science of cooking. Chase your children’s wonder and curiosity with them – don’t just say “I don’t know” or “It just is” (or worse, be embarrassed you don’t know and switch the topic) – say instead, “I’m not sure, let’s figure it out!”
Whew, long post but I think we covered it all! The main point is to have fun learning with your kids! Seek out some helpful curriculum to guide you on this journey but also open your eyes to everything around you, get your kids involved in something new, and enjoy learning through what looks like play!
PS: Ask Elizabeth is a blog post series where I answer your very real questions! So much of my blog is me sharing things I want to share (as you may expect) but in these posts I get to spend time answering questions you have! These are always so fun for me and I love to write them, so if you have a question for Ask Elizabeth, leave it in the comments below or click here and fill out the form!
