We have a child who doesn't easily fit into a box, and our curriculum for the year will be the same. We are calling this year "kindergarten" for Henry, although he would still be in pre-k if he was going to school (birthday is just after the cut-off).
Without further adieu, here are the resources I will be using this year:
BIBLE
Positive Action Preschool Bible Curriculum - using as an outline for the year, this curriculum goes through many stories in the Old and New Testaments, with suggested activities
Christian Light Education Bible Light Units - I will be using select Light Units for extra material both to supplement the Positive Action curriculum and for stories that the PA Curriculum skips
Abeka pre-k Bible workbook - basically some coloring sheets I'll use to supplement when needed.
My Father's World 1st grade Bible Reader - so that Henry can read the stories for himself.
In addition, we are doing Classical Conversations which I believe has some Bible teaching? As part of our memory work we will work on memorizing the books of the Bible this year!
CHARACTER/DEVOTIONS
Jesus Storybook Bible - My favorite children's Bible and the one we read before bed. I also bought the first of the animated dvds (basically just the Bible read aloud with some minimal animation), so we may use those occasionally
Devotions for Boys ages 2-5 - this is a great little book that holds Henry's attention very well.
Big Book of Devotions - I will probably select entries from the several versions of this book that we own that go along with our other lessons.
These character books - I may just read one a week or as needed to learn about appropriate behavior.
MATH
My Father's World 1st - Math Suggestions - In the lesson plans for MFW 1st Grade there are gentle math activities suggested, including literature that explains math concepts, games, and activities. We will use these guidelines and supplement with more traditional workbook and learning with flash cards.
Abeka Grade 1 Arithmetic - We will go though this workbook at a leisurely pace, just to make sure we're not missing anything crucial.
Cheap Math workbooks - I don't know all the names of these, but they can be found at bookstores or online, and cost $3-4. They are slightly smaller than the printer-paper sized workbooks, and usually cover one specific topic, like addition or telling time. We have a few that we'll probably utilize for extra practice.
Starfall.com and Kahn academy- just for fun.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling Workout, together with our own spelling lists of sight words and special vocab for whatever we are currently studying. I am not sure how quickly this program will go, so I'm just planning for 10 min./day of spelling work.
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind - for grammar, we've already started book one and will probably move to book two sometime during the year.
Handwriting without Tears K - we've started this and will probably finish mid-year or sooner. I planned to take it very slow, but Henry's fine motor skills have suddenly improved so maybe we will pick up the pace.
Writing with Ease 1 - I plan to start this book whenever we finish HWT K. I'm sure if I will also move onto the next HWT when this happens, or if we will just continue on with practical applications of writing until the following school year.
Reading - As far as Phonics goes, Henry is pretty much done with instruction, and we will probably just focus on reaching fluency and stamina with reading. I plan to read for 30-60 minutes a day after lunch time, and to assign a 20-30 fun reading time at some other point during the day, possibly while Stella is napping. For book selection I am using a combination of Memoria's Kindergarten Enrichment books, Sonlight lists, recommendations of abcjesuslovesme.com, What Your Preschooler and What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know, and library discoveries.
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY
Classical Conversations - We will memorize a history timeline and study specific topics in U.S. History.
SOTW - I bought the 3rd and 4th volumes along with the activity guides to supplement the CC history topics. We probably won't use most of this resource until the next history cycle, but I thought it would be good to have as a reference.
State Study - we will do a very cursory state study this year, learning the names, shapes, and locations of the 50 states and possibly the capitals. I'll be using some free resources and dollar section workbooks for this.
Continent Boxes - I have no detailed plans for these, but will bring them out once a month or so for a fun break.
SCIENCE
Classical Conversations - The Science topics for Cycle 3 are the Human Body and Chemistry. Since Henry has been absolutely obsessed with the human body lately we have plenty of books and some toys and games already. When they switch to Chemistry mid-year I will probably purchase REAL Science for Kids Chemistry. I'm planning on doing one or at most two science lessons per week.
ART
Classical Conversations - We will have art appreciation and some drawing from CC, also
Memoria K Enrichment has a once a week painting study.
As for making art, we will just continue to do crafts and art projects, some to go along with our other studies, some seasonal, some just for fun.
MUSIC
Classical Conversations - We will have basic music theory and learning to play the tin whistle, as well as some musical appreciation at CC. Memoria K Enrichment also includes a once a week music listening session that I am doing my (non-musical) best to plan.
If Henry enjoys the tin whistle I will likely get him into piano lessons soon, or possibly violin since we have a neighbor who teaches violin.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
I have some Spanish and Latin resources, but I am waiting to see how we all adjust to the new routine before trying to incorporate those into the mix too.
STELLA/GENERAL PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
For Stella, I will continue with casual phonics and math instruction, and I will prepare some simple Tot School activities for her to take up to my mom's house while Henry and I work one-on-one with math and language arts. She will likely be around for Bible, Character Studies, and later on for history/science/art/music portions of the day. She will also participate when I read aloud, as much as she wants to.
As far as general pre-school type activities, I have planned out some fun things using Slow and Steady Get Me Ready and abcjesuslovesme.com.
Looking at this list it seems like a lot of stuff, but really our days should be fairly relaxed. We'll start out doing only Bible, Math, and Language Arts in August, and then add in the extras when CC starts in September. The extras will probably only be one a day, and we will school 4 days a week with no school on CC days. I plan to enroll Stella in some kind of mommy and me class on CC days, and Henry will go to CC with my brother-in-law and his cousin. On school days I am hoping everything should take less than two hours total.
