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Preschool and Early Learning

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Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June Oberlander
This is a classic tool that has benefited thousands of families!  Slow and Steady is a money-saving preschool resource, which informs parents & caregivers as to what they could & should be doing to teach basic readiness skills that are necessary for a child to achieve success in school.  This 344-page developmental handbook clearly describes 260 weekly learning activities, each of which is based on a different concept.  These activities require only materials usually found in the home, thereby providing 5 years of free toys!  An activity is provided for each week of the child's life from birth to age 5.  Activity guides are written in language that is easy to understand & include statements of the ways in which the activity promotes growth in different areas of development.
Retail: $22.99 Your Cost: $19.99

Little Hands to Heaven by Carrie Austin
A preschool program for children ages 2 - 5, Little Hands to Heaven is a well-rounded, easy to use program that points children to God while teaching letter recognition & formation, early math skills, creative arts and much more.  There are 33 weekly units each built around a Bible story, with all activities coordinated with the day's Bible character or theme.  No lesson planning is required!  The author has clearly laid out each day's activities, which are designed with a preschooler's attention span in mind.  There are several resources the author considers as "required" and which she refers to in the daily lessons. I have listed them below - some of them can be ordered from us to save you time and money!

I remember wanting to do some official "schooling" with my youngest, but struggling to pull something together that was fun & easy to implement, since I was busy also working with his older brother. I wish I had this program back then! I love the short lessons that don't feel at all like "school" and which put a sweet taste in a child's mouth for learning.

Carrie Austin has developed a refreshing approach to early childhood education - preparing children for more formal learning, while instilling a love of God and His ways.
Retail: $29.99 Your Cost: $24.95
Titles used in Little Hands to Heaven
Choose 1 of the following for Bible:

Child's First Bible
Ages 2 - 3

 

Your Cost: $14.99

 

 

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Ages 4 - 5

 

Your Cost: $14.99

 

 
Choose 1 of the following Devotionals:

Playtime Devotions
Ages 2 - 3

 

Your Cost: $14.99

 

 

My ABC Bible Verses
Ages 4 - 5

 

Your Cost: $14.99

*This title replaces "Small Talks..." devotional reference in this book. A replacement text guide for using "My ABC Bible Verses" is included with each order.

 

 
Musical selections from Focus on the Family's, The Singing Bible correspond with each unit and are included in the daily plans. *The publisher only makes these available as cassettes at this time.*

The Singing Bible

 

Your Cost: $15.99

 

 

Little Hearts for His Glory
by Carrie Austin
Written with the busy homeschool teacher in mind, Carrie Austin pulled from her experience both as a classroom teacher and homeschool parent to provide us with a "unit study" style guide utilizing excellent curriculum designed for the early years of learning. While some of the learning activities are provided in this guide, you will need to purchase several "required" resources. However, you won't have to figure out how to put it all together - all the lesson plans have been done for you! *A list of the required resources is provided below.

Little Hearts for His Glory is a Christ-centered curriculum guide featuring 34 units with complete daily plans. Each day of plans is divided into 2 parts: "Learning Through History" and "Learning the Basics".

In the "Learning Through History" section, your child will gain an overview of history (including Bible history) using Bible stories, and history resources from Christian Liberty Press. Science assignments are from CLP Science books. There are also art projects and opportunities to work on gross motor skills through dramatic play and fun "Rhymes in Motion" activities.

In the "Learning the Basics" section, children work on handwriting, math, phonics, and more. The author makes regular use of living books during daily "Storytime." You and your child will love reading the wonderful adventures from Thornton Burgess' Animal Stories! You are guided through daily math, handwriting and phonics lessons using one of several curriculum options listed in the resource section.

The simple daily plans are neatly divided into 9 boxes -there is some space around each "box" that would make it easy to make notes if needed. While it may seem at first glance that you are covering many "subjects" each day, keep in mind that most of these are quick and easy, requiring little or no preparation. Even the art projects and "Science Explorations" use materials you are likely to have around the house.

Little Hearts for His Glory is a flexible tool - allowing you to customize your learning/teaching times to suit your child's unique learning styles and abilities. You don't necessarily do every subject everyday and you can mix hands-on activities with seatwork. The resources used are reasonable priced making this a cost-effective, yet academically solid, curriculum for Kindergarten or 1st Grade.

Retail: $34.99 Your Cost: $29.95

Required resources for Little Hearts for His Glory

History for Little Pilgrims (CLP)
History Stories for Children (CLP)
Do It Carefully & Finding Answers (Rod & Staff)
OR Thinking Skills Gr. 1 (McGraw-Hill)
Favorite Thornton Burgess Animal Stories Set
Favorite Uncle Wiggle Bedtime Stories
Peter Rabbit and Other Favorite Tales
For Bible, choose either:
Family-Time Bible by Kenneth Taylor OR your own Bible
For Handwriting, choose either:
Italic Handwriting Book "A" or "B" (depending on child's ability)
A Reason For Writing 'K' or 'A' (depending on child's ability)
For phonics - the following are recommended and lessons referenced, but you may choose your own curriculum if you desire:
The Reading Lesson by Michael Levin & Charan Langton
Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt
Other "Highly recommended" and regularly referenced resources are:
Devotions for the Children's Hour by Kenneth Taylor
The World God Made (CLP)
Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics 2A & 2B, U.S. Edition (Singapore Math)
Hide 'Em in Your Heart Vol. 1 by Steve Green (music)

 

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