School :: Preschool + Kindergarten List for At Home Learning

This fall, I'm planning to have a more structured approach to teaching Everly (4) and Charlie (3) preschool and some beginning Kindergarten material for Everly. I did quite a bit with Everly last year in the Preschool Workbook, but it was a bit random and just happened when we remembered!  We have already used this a lot this summer and I highly recommend each of these.  I'll also share what kind of variety I realistically do with her in a typical day below.

These Kumon books are a great place to start. I loved that the mazes gradually got more difficult and close together which prepared Everly for tracing and writing her letters more accurately. 

Here is a look inside the Maze book. 

Beginning writing uppercase letters was much easier after she had done the mazes. We didn't finish the entire maze book, but she did at least half before starting this letters book. Then we started focusing more on this one entirely. 

After lots and lots of tracing! I love that this book has a gradual fade when following the tracing so it gives independence gradually with practice. 

Numbers tracing. She went through this book pretty quickly, but it really stuck. I think tracing the number 5 is still a challenge, so we open this book and try it again and again. Lots of pages for practice makes it a great resource to keep on hand.

The same numbers book but with a slightly different approach than simply tracing. 

Reusable Tracing Books

These wipe-clean books are amazing! I love that I can now use them for Charlie since Everly's markings can easily be erased. The tracing and pen control is the first one we use. It starts with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines then gradually goes into shapes and more complicated pictures. It doesn't spend too long on one exercise, so Charlie doesn't get bored easily with this one. Everly is working through the first words. Since she finished the Kumon uppercase letters book, she is working much more on tracing words. It's also a really great book for simply teaching first words. I'm also tagging one more book, which we have also used quite a bit. I do think it is a tad bit redundant, but fun to have for a different take on the same principles. 

These two books are amazing! They are incredibly thorough and cover so much material in an easily comprehended way. Everly actually asks to do this book the most. 

We are a huge fan of these Bob Books. I started using them this summer with Everly and we would go through one book, first making all the letter sounds, then putting it all together. She was so proud of herself when she finished a book and loves to reread them on her own later. I try to make sure I'm always sitting next to her the first couple times she reads these since it can be tempting to look at the photos and just guess. I will sometimes cover up the picture until she has read the entire sentence, then uncover it before moving on to the next page. 

ABC Mouse

I know many of you may feel differently about using online resources for learning at such a young age, but I have really loved using ABC Mouse for the last couple of years. Each child gets a profile and goes through a "learning path" that introduces a variety of activities from books being read aloud, puzzles, math/counting, colors, shapes, etc. I will typically start them on this and watch as they go through each activity. Different levels of difficulty are available and can be changed for each activity. I highly recommend for more independent learning and understanding how to listen to directions for each activity. Here is a screen of the learning path below. 

They earn coins which they can use to buy accessories for their avatar and classrooms. There is even a class pet they can take care of!

If you'd like to try ABC Mouse, HERE is your link for 2 months for $5!

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Let me know in the comments if you have ever used any of these for your own kids!