Let me start by saying how EXCITED I was to finally choose homeschool curriculum for my Little Boo. I’ve been making “lesson plans” to teach other kids since I was making my little cousins and neighborhood kids sit down for pretend school over summer break back when I was a tween. I love learning and have a heart for teaching my little one, so I’ve been waiting for this day haha, and it is so fun to finally be in the midst of learning with our first curated curriculum collection.
In order to learn more about available homeschool curriculum, I attended an annual homeschool conference near me. I attended this conference in 2019, and in 2020 I just went to shop. Lucky for me, I went on the first day that the shop showroom was open (and free), because it the entire conference was shut down the next day due to the COVID outbreak. This one trip helped me locate homeschool curriculum programs that I’m sure we’ll be using for years to come. Without further adieu, let’s dive into it!
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Our 2020-2021 Pre-K Homeschool Curriculum
Disclosure: Tiny Green Earthling uses affiliate links.
RightStart™ Mathematics
The representative at the homeschool conference explained to me that RightStart Mathematics isn’t about teaching memorization; it’s about helping kids truly learn so that they can continue learning and expanding their knowledge. I was hooked from there. We paid about $300 overall for the first level kit, but those materials will last several years. Since Little Boo is 4, we are starting with the very first book – Level A. Currently, we cover 1-2 lessons a week. The lessons so far are about subtiizing and recognizing items in quantities of 1-5, and we’ll be moving on to understanding 6-9 as 5+ 1-4. Per their website, the cornerstones of RightStart™ Mathematics includes:
- Grouping in 5s and 10s to expand subitizing
- Math way for number naming
- Visualizing quantities, strategies, and procedures
- Card games for learning, practicing, and reviewing
Yep, it’s that new age math (well, new to most of America). While I did not learn math in this manner, I’m actually eager to understand it as I teach it to Little Boo.
RightStart™ Mathematics Pre-K Purchases
What we purchased:
RightStart for Homeschool, Second Edition (if you find the first edition second hand, you can purchase kits that update it)
RS2 Math Set: Included in this set are the manipulative needed when teaching this curriculum.
RightStart™ Mathematics Level A Second Edition Book Bundle: This includes the lesson book, workbook, appendix, and game book.
ARTistic Pursuits
Our homeschool curriculum for art education was another homeschool conference find, and it was actually our first purchase. I worked it into our homeschool days before we took summer break, and Little Boo has completed about 2 lessons since our homeschool resumed in September. We are using the most beginner level, the Preschool bundle. This is a curriculum that aims to meet the child where they are and help parents understand children’s art with the lesson book, “The Way They See It.” It teaches children to handle art materials so that when they go on to the next levels in this program, they are prepared and confident.
Artistic Pursuits Pre-K Purchases
The Way They See It Book + Preschool Art Supply Pack | ARTistic Pursuits: This set includes a lesson book that starts each lesson with a page dedicated to helping parents understand age appropriate expectations of their little artists for the medium that will be used, followed by an art project and a photo of a real piece of artwork for the students to study and learn.
Blue Studios – Science
I originally found a different project-based, hands-on science homeschool curriculum at a homeschool convention, but later learned of Blue Studios through an Instagram post. Blue Studios is a Black women-owned online science educational platform that shares live classes and provides lessons and experiments for K-12 students. I was so excited to see that this was created by Black women. I am very intentional about choosing books with Black characters, cartoons and movies with Black characters and history, we have Black history flash cards, we watch Black is King a million times (the music… the visuals… but, I digress)…
My plan is for my son to see the greatness of Black people worldwide so that he can see that greatness reflected in himself. To be able to sit and watch him soak up science from two Black women with varying skin tones and beautiful coils of hair makes my heart so happy. We started our journey with the biology kit, but I’m sure we’ll invest in more kits and also continue our subscription in order to watch the live classes! Oh! And I have to say that the characters that help to teach the lessons in the books are so cute. They are Paige and Paxton, and they are puzzle pieces. The founders’ mom created them when she was helping them understand science as young kids. I am beyond happy to have found Blue Studios just as I was making my final decision to purchase a science curriculum!
Blue Studios Purchases
THAT’S LIFE! FIVE (5) FUN BOTANY AND ECOLOGY EXPERIMENTS STEM KIT: A kit with 5 botany and ecology experiments, a book about ecology with the Paige and Paxton puzzle characters, and a workbook.
Black Excellence History
Little Boo is 4 years old, and I want his first understanding of the history of people of the African diaspora to be that of our excellence. This is not taught in schools, so many children are only introduced to Black history in the context of the enslavement of African people who were kidnapped and trafficked and brought to America. I hate that so many children only see that aspect and are never offered the education of Black people before then. This is a main reason why I homeschool. So far, we are using flash cards and books to learn about great people and moments in Black history.
Black Excellence History Resources
Urban Intellectuals Flash Cards: we have Volumes 1-5 of the Black History Flashcards and Volume 1 & 2 of the Black History Trivia Cards. I purchased them as a set + another deck. Here are all of the decks we have:
- Black History Flashcards, Vol. 1: Notable Black People in the World (currently sold out)
- Black History Flashcards, Vol. 2: Women
- Black History Flashcards, Vol. 3: S.T.E.A.M.
- Black History Flashcards, Vol. 4: Pre-1492
- Black History Flashcards, Vol. 5: Afro-Latino / Caribbean
- Black History Trivia Cards, Vol. 1: General
- Black History Trivia Cards, Vol. 2: General
You can also find Urban Intellectuals Flashcards on Amazon.
“My African Icons: Great People in Black History“:
“Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”
After just a little searching, it didn’t take long for me to find this book because it is very popular and has sold a lot, helping a lot of parents teach their little ones to read. This book teaches reading by sound, so it is very phonetic. Little Boo does 1-2 lessons a week from this book. We aren’t in a big rush and I don’t want to overwhelm him with it because school is fun for us – not stressful! If he has difficulty with a lesson, we take a break for a few days and start back up with a previous lesson to refresh before moving back to the lesson that he didn’t quite understand, yet.
“Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”
Dolch Sight Words Flash Cards
In addition to learning to reach phonetically, I wanted to incorporate flash cards that help to learn the most common words that kids will see in the early reading years. I couldn’t find any cards that I liked, so I created my own! After creating and using these Dolch Sight Words Flash Cards, I made them available for others to purchase and use, as well. The reception has been great, so far. They were previously only available on Teachers Pay Teachers, but now they are available here in the Tiny Green Earthling Homeschool Shop, as well!
TGE Dolch Flash Cards
Dolch PRE-PRIMER Sight Words Flash Card Printable
This Dolch Pre-Primer Sight Words Flash Cards printable includes the 40 Dolch Pre-Primer common sight words. Cards are large in size and plain in design, with no additional pictures or colors so that children can focus solely on the words presented to them.
Music
Little Boo has loved music for as long as he could dance and bob his head and wiggle his body when he would hear music playing. I learned about the online music classes for preschool kids that he takes via Instagram.
Prodigies Music
Prodigies Music makes learning to play music accessible for little kids, ages 2-12. The lessons are short and full of music, of course, and some movement when learning the hand signs for musical notes. You can complete one short lesson or complete several lessons in a row! The way the program is set up is very versatile, easy, and fun. The songs are catchy, so you’ll find yourself singing them even after you turn the lessons off! We don’t have the bells that are used, so I labeled a mini piano with musical note stickers that Little Boo has had for a while with the notes so that he can practice along with the videos as notes are being taught.
Books
We have created a library bookshelf over the past for years with second hand book finds and new books alike. Reading and hearing words is so important to a child’s development. Curating books that are beautifully illustrated and fun to listen to, no matter the subject, help to build your child up. I plan on adding many new books to Little Boo’s library over the next year, and have already slowly started to do so. Here’s one of my recommendations, especially if your little one loves nature and bugs.
The Book of Brilliant Bugs
If bugs are on your little one’s mind, this book will wow them with gorgeously illustrated and crafted images, and facts that they’ll be happy to repeat time and time again.
PLAY!
Looking back up at everything looks a little overwhelming, so I have to admit that I don’t have a timeline for finishing any of it, and we’re taking it day by day, week by week. I plan a week at a time based on a theme that Little Boo recommends or that I find helpful during the current season or themes that are just too much fun to not incorporate into our lessons. Play dough, finger paints, nature walks, collecting acorns, sticks, and leaves, “invitations to play” with Magna Tiles and building blocks, and much more.
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