How to Choose a Preschool Curriculum

 

Well, no guarantees of perfection, however, here are a few tips from a seasoned veteran on how to narrow down your choices. If you apply these criteria, you’ll be a pro at spotting the quality educational resources over flash and fluff.

 

Don’t do this:

If you’re like me when I was preparing to start preschool with my first, you’re excited to get out there and shop! There are so many adorable resources—ABCs and 123s, colors, and shapes. And so many of them are FREE, at least if you fork over your email. 

But that’s also part of the problem—everything looks great. And before you know it, you’ve downloaded 2GB of worksheets and bought two different curricula because they both have things you think you can’t live without. This is not the way to have a peaceful and successful preschool experience. Trust me, I know from experience.

 

Do this instead:

Before you even begin your curriculum search, take a few moments to center yourself. You’re going to get out a pen and paper and interview yourself about what is important to you for your child’s education. Here are some questions to get you started, but feel free to add any others that strike you:

Too many worksheets

Preschoolers are not writers. They learn through play, experience, trial and error, and repetition. It will take years of fine-motor practice for them to be ready to write for any substantial amount of time. Preschool curricula based primarily on worksheets are attractive to adults but are often frustrating and ineffective in practice. Cute clipart does not make a good curriculum. Think twice about one that is solely or primarily based on worksheets.

Little support and explanation for parents

Now, you may be saying, “It is preschool after all. How much help do I need to teach this?” And you’re right. Everything may go quite smoothly, and you and your child may sail through the material with no struggles or difficulties. You may know exactly how you want to structure your day to get through all the material, how to incorporate activities for maximum educational effect, and how to modify objectives your child just isn’t “getting” to approach them in a different way. 

Or things might not go like that. Quality educational resources offer teacher/parent resources to guide, support, and explain . . . just in case.

Too much busy work

This advice goes hand in hand with too many worksheets. But, here, you need to focus on the actual topics and learning objectives covered by the curriculum. Now, there is some personal preference involved here as well. I can’t give you a list of topics to look for and say, “If a curriculum covers these topics, they’re wasting your time!” Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. 

You should consider what your child already knows and what they are likely to learn in the course of your normal daily life. Then, look for a curriculum that builds on those things and takes them further. For example, curricula that spend four weeks covering which animals live on a farm might be fine for some families but fluff for you.

Look for this instead:

Hands-on activities

Some worksheets that teach concepts other than writing—-pre-writing skills like tracing different shapes and lines, dot-to-dots, et cetera—are fine. Some little ones love the “real school” feel of completing a worksheet. But look for curricula that incorporate lots of hands-on activities. 

If you are going to download some free printables, here are some printed materials that are better than worksheets for preschoolers:

• • Charts
  • Maps
  • Flashcards
  • Posters
  • Song, poem, or nursery rhyme ideas
  • Book lists for parents
  • Recipes
  • Activity or craft ideas with materials lists and instructions, etc.

Parent guidance and support

Quality curricula will lay out a suggested schedule (even if you decide to chart your own course), provide a way of tracking progress, and provide a thorough explanation of the objectives and activities. This will allow you to cover all the material over the course of a standard school year (or less), see how your child is progressing through the objectives, and, most importantly, give you context on the why behind each learning activity.

Understanding the purpose and main objective behind individual learning activities will help you modify them if your child needs additional support grasping the concept, or extend them if your child is ready to take them further!

Foundational subjects and substantive topics

Look for a curriculum that doesn’t overreach by immediately throwing your preschooler into actual reading, writing, and math, but begins with a heavy focus on pre-reading, pre-writing, and pre-mathematics skills, then progresses from there.

Look for an introduction to real science concepts, not just crafts disguised as science. (A good curriculum will explain the science concepts that are incorporated in activities so that you can explain them to your child.) Look for topics that will be genuinely new for your preschooler, not an exhaustive study of things they may already know or will learn from other places (eg. community helpers or the sounds that animals make).

Above all, look for a curriculum that fits into the natural rhythms of your life and aligns with what you already know about your child and learning. Preschool should not take hours out of your day or require a ton of specialized equipment.

 

Play-based learning activities, hands-on activities, and short, frequent learning sessions—all these are signs of a quality preschool curriculum.

Want to learn more about creating the best possible home education experience for your little one, one that matches your values and vision? Then click on the image below to learn more about Ready For Kindergarten And Beyond preschool curriculum.