Homeschool Preschool Curriculum - Which One Should I Choose?

One of the most difficult aspects of homeschooling preschool is deciding what homeschool preschool curriculum to use.  Before looking at the many programs on the market, think about your family's needs.  How much time do have to spend preparing for lessons and teaching your child?  How much money do you want to spend?  Is your child ready for structured, formal lessons?  What type of activities does your child enjoy?

If you have a busy schedule or have multiple children to teach, you may want to use a program that has a pre-planned schedule, and requires little preparation and teaching time.  Consider using a more traditional program like A beka or Horizons, that comes with lesson plans and workbooks.  Rod and Staff sells a set of preschool workbooks that are christian-based and easy to use.

Little Hands to Heaven also comes with a pre planned schedule.  This Christian program teaches essential preschool skills using 33 units that are centered around stories from the Bible.  Although the program is structured, it is flexible enough to be used with children of multiple ages at the same time.

If your preschooler enjoys reading, consider using a literature-based homeschool preschool curriculum.  Programs like Sonlight, Winter Promise and Five in a Row center their lessons around classic children's literature.  As you read to and discuss stories with your children, they learn everything they need to know for preschool and beyond.

So what do you do with the wiggly ones?  Lapbooks!  Hands of a Child and Homeschool Share provide hands-on lapbooking activities you can use to teach those kinesthetic learners we all love.  If your child still doesn't want to participate, skip the lessons!

Preschoolers can learn everything they need to know by helping us with household chores and errands.  Talk to your child about numbers, patterns, shapes, and letters and their sounds.  Read picture books and make up your own stories.  Make cards and pictures for loved ones.  Take trips to the zoo and library story times.

Real-life interaction is the best curriculum for your preschooler.  Everything else is just a supplement.