Now that this crazy kid is approaching the ripe old age of 3 (how?!), I am starting to think about preschool curriculum. It’s been a VERY long time since I had a preschooler, and I don’t have many of my materials left. That said, I found an old e-mail in which I gave a friend some preschool resources.

1. One of my very favorites was Mother Goose Time preschool, which was cool because they send you all the materials you need and lesson plans in a box every month.  In your first box, they send everything you need for circle time and help you set the foundation. Each month, you get a themed box with lesson plans and activities for the month. Back in the stone ages, I didn’t have a digital camera, and film was precious, but I do have a fun picture of the kids decorating Christmas cookies in front of our Circle Time wall (See the clown in the background?!):

http://www.mothergoosetime.com/

2. I also tried Little Hands to Heaven, which I really liked because it was simple and Christian based.  Every week was a letter, and every letter corresponded to a Bible story.  Megan enjoyed it, and at the time Tristan, who wasn’t quite 2, could even follow along a bit.  They made a picture every week for a number and a letter.  http://www.heartofdakota.com/little-hands.php

3. Outside of ready made curriculum, I remember buying some preschool workbooks at Wal-Mart.  I also made some fun little activities (modeled after activities in my sister’s kindergarten classroom) and we would do centers, alternating worksheets and activities (like counting, magnetic letters, etc). I would often find crafts on Oriental Trading and try to recreate them, so I didn’t have to buy way more than I needed for my two kids.

4. Another favorite resource was forsmallhands.com. They are a Montessori based company and offer many great products for little ones, like child sized cleaning tools and woodworking tools, as well as learning activities, crafts, etc.

5. My kids also enjoyed learning signs, and at some point I purchased all of the Signing Time videos.  http://www.signingtime.com/

What are some of your favorite resources for preschool learning?

Karen