Little Girl will turn 5 in about 6 weeks. Therefore, I’ve been thinking a lot about the resources needed to prepare my child for school.
As it stands right now, we have decided to “red-shirt” her (watch for a post on that early this summer!) and wait until fall 2014 to officially start kindergarten. My husband and I believe in preserving her childhood for as long as possible and feel that she will be even more prepared if we start her at 6 rather than at a young 5.
We are still deciding on which schooling option we will take. We are leaning toward a hybrid home/Christian option called a university model. In this model, children attend school 3 days per week and are schooled at home–with teacher-prepared lessons–2 days per week.
So next year, the plan is to keep Little Girl in transitional kindergarten three mornings per week at her preschool, and I will be more focused on intentionally preparing her for school during her two full days at home.
What resources will I be using to prepare my child for school?
When I set out to recruit authors and affiliates for The Ultimate Homemaking Library, I had in the back of my mind that I would love to find some good homeschooling resources for parents in my shoes. My family lives on a tight budget, and while there are many resources widely available today, we just can’t always afford to fork out the cash for them.
Oh, there are plenty of free preschool and kindergarten-level resources on the web, but many of them do not include the step-by-step instructions that a naturally unorganized person like me needs to stay focused.
Simply put, I need a curriculum that gives me instructions and doesn’t take me all over the internet clicking from link to link (because by the time I finish that, I’ve spent all my “planning” time chasing a rabbit trail on the internet!).
I was thrilled to get the education and children’s resources authors on board for the library.
And instead of waiting until this fall to cram (my natural inclination is to procrastinate!), I’ve already been perusing and printing out my resources and planning out what I will use with Little Girl during her home days next year.
I’ll be using:
The ABCs for Godly Girls (there is also a version for boys!)
Value=$8.00
When the author, Lindsey, sent me this curriculum to review for possible inclusion in the bundle, I fell in love! Why?
- I love the cute girly colors. (The boy one is blue!)
- I love that I can use this curriculum with both my 2 and 4 (almost 5) year olds.
- I love that it teaches BOTH letters AND memory verses/godly character.
There is a verse and letter for each week and a godly character trait to explore.
How am I preparing? I have already started printing the letters out, and I am laminating them. I am putting the rest of the book in sheet protectors in a binder. I may start using this this summer, but I know for sure I have time to prepare for teaching the entire program starting in the fall!
K4 Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Value=$15.00
Even though this curriculum says “K4,” I was impressed to find that it goes well beyond teaching the alphabet. In fact, it’s a full 34-week program that will help me equip my daughter with reading skills such as blending letters and math skills such as addition!
So, even though it says “K4,” I found it much more advanced and think it will really help me get her ready (or even teach her) to read.
How am I preparing? I am printing out the lesson plans and putting them in sheet protectors in a binder. I am printing out flash cards, etc. and laminating them. (My friend Anne, though, is just sending the flashcards to her Kindle–saving on printing costs!)
This is truly an entire year’s worth of lessons!
Raising Rock Stars Kindergarten
Value=$10
This plan is from Carisa at 1plus1plus1equals1. I really LOVE Carisa’s blog. She emails out FREE themed printable packs for preschoolers each week, and her website is chock full of information on how to homeschool young kids!
You can get everything included in the RRSK bundle for free on her website, but you have to go searching for it, which can literally take hours. Instead, she has put it all together in one downloadable bundle for people like me who get easily distracted on the internet.
This curriculum puts a heavy emphasis on letter and Bible memory work. Academically, it goes a step beyond Raising Godly Girls, but I feel like it’s not quite as comprehensive as the K4 curriculum. I am excited to have all three of these at my fingertips to plan all summer long!
These three resources alone are valued at $33, but, this week only, you can get these 3 entire curricula plus nearly 100 other homemaking resources for $29.97!
The education and children’s resources for this bundle alone are valued at $98.33! I almost fell out of my chair when I added that up…that’s almost $100 if I were to pay for each resource separately! (See all of the resources that come in the bundle here.)
Along with preparing the above resources, I will be reading Think Outside the Classroom, another eBook in the bundle that will prepare me, as a mom, for educating my children (no matter what schooling option we choose).
When my girls are a little older, I will be able to pull out Write Through the Bible to help them practice both manuscript and cursive writing. When they are teenagers, I can mentor them by using Balcony Girls (books 1 & 2), and I can go ahead and use principles I am learning through Princess Training to raise godly girls.
I want to be transparent and say that I got this bundle for free (actually–I was the one who had the job of choosing most of the resources…so I feel incredibly blessed!), but I would not be telling you about it if I didn’t think it could save you money and bless you tremendously.
I think this is all great, but I do not have preschool age kids? Can I get a bundle for the books I want and gift these other?
Yes, absolutely! As a mother of preschoolers, I can tell you that if someone gave me the above curricula alone, I would be elated! You can absolutely buy and gift (as long as you delete the original files from your computer) any of these resources.
You can also purchase the bundle and split it with a friend.
What resources do you use to prepare your child for school?
Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. I will make a percentage of all sales purchased through my links, which help pay for the costs of running this site–and help my family save to give our girls a Christian education. Thank you for your support!!
Kate
We waited until my son was 6 also for him to send him to kindergarten. He goes to a half day program at public school. I wish every year at the public school could be half day!
Kate
Erin
I’m glad we’re not the only ones. I feel so much peace about waiting!! The public schools here only offer full days…seems so long for kindergarten!
Kimberly Foster
I would love them all!