Preschool with Bo {Curriculum and Plans}

I'm ready to share my preschool plans for Bo! I've only had our curriculum planned, purchased, and ready to go since last spring (I've had my eye on this for quite a few years! thanks to Our Family for His Glory), but I wasn't sure if Bo was ready, and wanted to get a few weeks in under my belt to make sure what I selected will work for us both, and so far it is working wonderfully!

~Boaz is currently 3 years, 2 months~



I have more than I need to get us through one or two years of preschool. And I have everything printed, filed, and ready to go!

Little Hands to Heaven is the heart of my preschool plans, along with Sonlight Core P3/4.





For Little Hands, I am using Big Thoughts for Little People, A Child's First Bible, and The Singing Bible. (Affiliate links to Amazon).  What's nice about Little Hands to Heaven is that these are the only books I need for Bo's age.


I'm also using My First Hands-On Bible. This is really a cute and fun Bible! It has lots of hands on activities to do throughout each Bible story, and every story makes a connection to Jesus.


It also replaces the Bible in Core P3/4, The Family Time Bible, which originally came with Core P4/5.


And, here is the line up of fabulous children's books from Sonlight Core P 3/4. Please note that other than The Tall Book of Nursery Tales, we are not doing the "fairy tale" books from this core - just all the fun fiction books! There's just so many classics and fun books in this core, that I really want them to be a part of Bo's preschool experience.


Not all of the books I have for this core are pictured. And here are two more that I added: The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare  and Guess How Much I Love You All Year Round.



And finally, I have Before Five in a Row! Would you believe these books, the same ones I used to row with Mali and Elli, have been around the world and back?! I loaned them to a missionary family in Laos and was happy to have them back just in time to use with Bo for preschool!



I'm not in a hurry to get through B4FIAR. (I have a tendency to do too much, and I don't want to burn out). And I have not started planning all of our rows yet. I do hope to share what (and how!) I plan when I can.  (Hopefully soon!)

I'm also using Animal ABC's. So far, I have been using them in lieu of the alphabet activities in Little Hands (for example, instead of glueing cereal to the letter A, we glued alligators to a letter A.)



Are you wondering how I am going to fit all this in? Me too!

Here is what I am thinking:

Little Hands to Heaven {30 minutes a day}
Sonlight Core P3/4 {20 minutes a day}
Animal ABC's {10 minutes a day}

That's only one hour a day, and I am not doing all of the Animal ABC pack yet, so it is easy to add in the letter craft to Little Hands. So far, I have been doing Little Hands and Animal ABCs in the morning, and I read Sonlight books to Bo in the afternoon or at bedtime.

I'm planning to do Before Five in a Row every 6th week or as I am inspired.

In fact, I have been thinking about trying a Sabbath School approach to schooling Bo - 6 weeks on, 1 week off.

Here's what I am thinking, for example:

  • 1st week: Letter Aa,  Adam and Eve {LHTH}, Alligators, Ants {Animal ABCs}

  • 2nd week: Letter Bb, Noah's Ark {LHTH}, Bears, Butterflies {Animal ABCs}

  • 3rd week: Letter Cc

  • 4th week: Letter Dd

  • 5th week: Review Week {Review letters A-D}

  • 6th week: Rowing Week

  • 7th week: Break Week

I have already challenged this schedule, as we rowed a book after our 2nd week. And if I had had My Blue Boat (an OOP book that I can't get through interlibrary loan), I would have wanted to row it, too. So, that's why I added every 6th week, or as inspired.

We are on our 5th week of preschool, and Unit 4 in Little Hands (and we took a sick week already), so I will just bump everything up a week.

Update 4/7/14: I am planning to slow down and take two weeks per letter. I will do HOD one week, and Animal ABC's, Sonlight and/or Before Five in a Row the next.

Update: We dropped LHTH over the summer, finished reading the Bible story books, and continued on with Before Five in a Row for preschool. :)

My heart is to make memories and inspire a love of learning through books, songs and music, pretend play, arts and crafts, sensory play, and more. I think having the materials I have will not only make it enjoyable for Bo, but easy on me, and enjoyable for me, too!

About Blogging Bo's Preschool

I'm am not photographing everything we do, because there is a lot of movement and interaction in Little Hands - it's really hard to photograph! We do a lot of role play or pretend play, singing, dancing, and more. I'm doing my best, but I put the camera down a LOT more now, especially when my little one says, "tome dance uh me!" How could I say no?!  But, I do have quite a bit already to share and hope to start sharing soon before I get too far ahead of myself. :D

38 comments

  1. Little Hands to Heaven is such a sweet program! I wish I had started it earlier. I like your Sabbath week idea :) ....well deserved rest for the weary homeschool mom. I'm sure that you will have many enjoyable moments.

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  2. I was wondering which books would be considered the 'fairy tale' books and how the program would work without them? Would it take a big chunk out? I wanted to use this with my daughter too.

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  3. I omitted two collections of stories: A First Book of Fairy Tales and Han's Christian Anderson Fairy Tales. They could easily be replaced with other selections, as Sonlight P 3/4 does not schedule the books. The guide is more of a check-off list with activities for each story. Hope that helps!

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  4. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for this post. I can not tell you how glad I am that you are back to posting more regularly. I completely understood why you stopped (I don't know how you do all that you do) but I so look forward to reading your posts. They are so inspiring to me and have helped the way I homeschool my children tremendously. They have been a motivation to me on so many levels. Because of your blog, I am contemplating using FIAR for my son's schooling next year. I am a little worried because of all the prep but I truly feel like it is the best choice.

    Have you ever thought about doing a post on the logistics of what you do? For example, I'm curious when you do your planning (at night after the kids go down, early morning, etc.). I'm also curious about the cost of ink? You seem to do so much printing of printable ahead of time at home. How do you deal with if they don't use them? Also, how you plan it all out (what to print, all the manipulatives)? I don't know, you may have already answered these questions somewhere.

    Even if you don't answer them...thank you for the inspiration!

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  5. Thank you! :) I have been wondering about this for a while and never knew what to do. I thought they were scheduled and we would be left with 'gaps' sort of feeling unfinished in certain topics.

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  6. I second Shelley's comment that she is glad you are posting regularly again. In the past I used a lot of your ideas for FIAR. Now I am wishing for more children so that I could do this preschool program. :) Guess I'll be waiting for my grandchildren. I still enjoy reading Bo's updates even if I don't have preschool children anymore. Thanks for being an encouragement to me!

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  7. My son just turned 4 and I flop between holding off schooling and jumping in. He's for sure showing the signs that he's ready now. I'm excited to jump in! Just need to be more disciplined. I'm very intentional with my 7 year old and have been since she was 3. Why is it so much more difficult with the second?!

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  8. You're welcome, Rebecca! There might be a feeling of "gaps" if you feel you have to check every box (that is coming from a confessed box checker, turned box slasher!). :D I don't feel omitting these books will leave any gaps, but I did include the Tall Book of Nursery Tales to expose Bo to some of the more popular, well told stories, like The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, etc. HTH!

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  9. I LOVE this post! I am trying to get ready for my 4 year old to start school this fall. I have been doing HOD with my daughter the past two years and love it but we started with Kindergarten and didn't do the Little Hands to Heaven. I plan to use it this year for my son. The one thing I was looking for was a list of readers and stories to read with him and this post has been PERFECT!! I also love 1+1+1=1 and we have done a lot of her stuff. I do have a question. What all is in your organizer? I see the two manuals, the ABC tabs, but what all is in there and what worksheets have your printed? Thanks for everything! This has been a huge help!!

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  10. wow! I have never heard about this curriculum. I'm excited to read about it. Cayden is extremely active, and loves music. This maybe be the answer we're looking for to help him get excited about school again.

    When do you do all your planning? I seriously can't find time for anything. I'm doing good to read my Bible before the boys wake up. Do you do it after they're asleep? Do you plan all of them for the whole year?

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  11. How is it that we chose nearly the exact same curriculum for preschool? You did me a HUGE favor by posting your 6th week row. That fixed a scheduling issue I was having.

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  12. So glad you have everything nicely scheduled and planned and are feeling good about it. I hope you an Bo have a wonderful year!!!

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  13. The new clouds and rainbow hands--like:)
    Awesome organization. I've been thinking of Rowing again:)

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  14. Hi Michelle, I've been browsing your site a lot the last few days looking at all your BFIAR stuff and link ups! I am excited to see this post as my son is the exact same age as yours (late Dec baby). So I am really looking forward to see what you are doing with him. This is my first child and I am really overwhelmed with trying to decide what to use for our homeschooling adventures, but I am leaning towards BFIAR. Thanks again!

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  15. So happy, Amanda! :D In the organizer are all of the printables for the units in LHTH, including the review weeks (found in the files on HOD groups), and Animal ABCs all printed out. I also have a few extra Bible crafts - you can see what I have pinned here - http://www.pinterest.com/dlhomeschool/bible-crafts/. I plan to start sharing very soon! I am almost ready to post Unit 1!

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  16. Bo LOVES the action! Almost more than his seat work now (which he has always liked). Now, he wants to do the pretend play, dancing, and all.

    I have been sneaking up stairs to hide in my bedroom for about 15 minutes at a time, LOL! I have been spending a little time at night before bed, too. I usually blog at this time too, so I can't do both! I feel behind on blogging now, but I am slowly pulling together some rows. Right now, I am planning out the rest of the FIAR Vol 3 books to row this summer. But, I will add some B4 rows in there too. Then, I will plan for the 2014/15 school year and try to plan the whole year.

    I am working on sharing how I plan! :D It's easier to recall AS I do it, so this is good motivation for me!

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  17. Yay! I saw your message too, and will reply as soon as I can! :)

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  18. Thanks, Abby! I'm super excited!

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  19. Heather, thank you! And me, too! In fact, I'm even thinking of finishing Vol 3. and maybe doing volume 4 this next school year. Well, and B4 with Bo, of course. :)

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  20. Hi Samantha! So happy to have you visit! Lean, lean! It's so much fun!:D Will you share once you decide?

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  21. Aw, thank you, Shelley! It feels so good to be posting regularly, but still struggle to find balance. I'm so glad my posts are inspiring and helpful to you. Knowing that keeps me going, really! I am working on some prep posts for FIAR and planning to share the logistics - I'm writing down what I do as I do it! I'm planning in the afternoons in short bursts, or at night before bed when I'm not blogging. I am buying generic ink on Amazon for $10 - 2 sets of cartridges (previously I was buying brand name ink at Costco for $55 a set so I'm getting $110 worth of ink for $10! I did print all of the Animal ABCs for Bo and he is not using them, so I will probably pull them out during review week, a week off when he wants to do school, or bless a friend that would use them. I also save them so I have many saved from Malachi and Eliana (mostly B4FIAR stuff that I have laminated). I will share more soon! HTH for now! Thanks for stopping by!

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  22. Aw, thanks Christine! I plan to save my FIAR for grandchildren! I think it is a fabulous idea! Thank you for letting me know ~ I appreciate that you still enjoy reading! :)

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  23. Busy hands as a mama, that's what it is! I think it gets a little easier when you have older helping hands. :) I'm excited you are jumping in, too! 4 is such a fun age ~ you won't want to miss it. What do you have planned?
    Oh, and happy to be on the Crew with you this year, too!

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  24. Thank you for your detailed and creative posts and teaching! I have a silly question... Where did you get your file folder holder that holds all of Bo's ABC folders? I need something just like that! Thanks!

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  25. God has blessed you abundantly and you are such a HUGE inspiration to me! I know you're human (Lol!) but I'm just so motivated by your posts. Thank you for sharing them! I'm also glad to know I'm not the only one with a full list of curriculum activities. It helps me stay on track and it keeps my children engaged and having fun. On another note, we had a minor set back with Subira because she was sick and lost a lot of weight ( for a 3 year old)....but we're back on track and moving forward. I'll email you with any new progress we have in the future. No need to respond to this post, I know you're super busy. Just wanted you to know that the time you take to share with all of us is really a BLESSING! Thank you so very much Michelle!

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  26. I got it at Staples online - it is called the Desk Apprentice. It's great! I also have my eye on a 31 Bag - because they are a little more portable. :)

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  27. Oh, Takiyah, I'm so sorry she was sick. I would like it very much to hear your updates - I think of Subria often and am praying for her. Thank you so much for your encouragement! It is a blessing to hear from you. :)

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  28. […] My First Hands On Bible has taken the guess work out of all of this.  (Thank you, Michelle from Delightful Learning, for introducing me to it through your Preschool […]

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  29. I am currently getting everything ready to teach my 3 & 4.5 year old with HOD LHTH. I see your ABC flashcards are laminated, and on a ring. Are they the cards from the appendix, or did you find them elsewhere?

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  30. Hi Summer, I downloaded them from the group files available on the HOD yahoo or FB groups!

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  31. I'm looking for a program to work with my 2 year and getting him going. Do you have any ideas for someone that young?

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  32. Melissa, I did Tot School Printables with Bo at age 2. He loved it! I share more here in Letter Aa, Letter B, and Letter C. You can find all of my posts, as well as others here on the Tot School Printables Pinterest board. Also, Little Hands to Heaven is designed for ages 2-5. Hope that helps!

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  33. This is going to seem like a dumb question, but where did you get that bin/what is it called?? I love that it has a slot for everything, and fits all the papers!!! I just received our Little Hands to Heaven box, and plan to get everything prepped like this over the weekend!

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  34. Oops!!! I see you answered that above; sorry. What 31 bag were you eyeing for this?? Maybe I should do that!

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    1. oops, with the file insert. I show some options for this here: http://www.delightfullearning.net/2014/10/thirty-one-party-giveaway.html

      :)

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  35. Where did you find the organizer bin that has all the the files and LHTH Book?

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  36. It's called the Desk Apprentice and I ordered it online from Staples.

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