We just started this new Pre-K routine for my son last week! As you can probably tell, I'm not a stickler for following a traditional school year schedule: he was showing a lot of signs of readiness for PreK alphabet and math material in November and December, so I decided that once we started up school again after baby's arrival, we'd begin a new routine to challenge him a little bit more. :)
Just about all of this is curriculum I've used before, which helps me to know what our routine generally looks like. Most of these don't require much planning, Primer is the only one that requires a bit of initial set up for the beginning of a new week. Our routine typically involves "morning time" stories while my boys eat breakfast, so our literature, Bible, and memory statements from GC Primer happen at that time, along with extra readings from Sonlight P. After I clean up breakfast and the boys have a bit of playtime, I call them for table schoolwork--for my little guy, that now looks like a quick math lesson with MWC K, a couple workbook pages from the other resources mentioned, working on a few pages in the morning binder with a dry erase marker, and a couple times a week we'll play games with Alphabet flashcards. His sit-down schoolwork will probably roughly take 20 minutes, and the morning storytime about half an hour or so. Extra art activities or activities based on our fairytale of the week (from Primer) will usually happen later in the day, mid afternoon.@@tunneleddiscovery5
Oh Rachel! I love and resonate so much with how you preschool! Just an fyi I am doing Purely preschool lesson prep right now, laminating sheets and putting some in my binder as I play your videos in the background :')
I’m so thankful for your preschool inspiration, Rachel! I have spent so many years thinking I can’t really do anything much for preschool, and some of my older children have really missed out because of that. My littlest is getting such a lovely year of preschool thanks to you! I even found Sonlight P used here! So I am getting that. She enjoys the school time so much that I’m going to sprinkle it through the day. So I’m thankful for a good few resources! We are already doing Purely Preschool + alphabet adventures but the girl wants more!♥️
Aww, I absolutely love hearing this! I'm glad she's getting such an awesome year of preschool--I truly believe this is such a fun age and stage filled with so much curiosity. I can relate to little ones who want MORE and gobble up all the fun learning time. And that's awesome you found a used copy of Sonlight P! I bought the manual new a few years ago to use with my oldest, but my mom already had 90% of the books from doing Sonlight with my little sister more than a decade ago.
Same. Just starting preschool with My daughter who just turned 3 last week. starting her on letter sounds and early math skills. She already knows colors letters shapes etc
I don’t care about school years or grades either but ages and readiness!!! I don’t love weekly grids so we don’t use them for sequence one!!! We love books with my younger kids!!! I try to do older read alouds wiv my teenagers so I still get it with them!!! We are currently doing lord of the rings with a book study!!! I don’t mind taking longer on curriculum when needed!!! Nothing wrong with starting something that starts off easily!!! We MWC!!!
Here's an older weekly planning routine video from when I was using most of these with my oldest when he was in PreK: ua-cam.com/video/w5K2Vo_bqrM/v-deo.htmlsi=yFVs_GyvLZHVXFmB
I love that i found a family who’s doing bilingual stuff! I love your content. I am a first time homeschooling momma and deathly afraid of confusing my children - do you treat Spanish just as a subject and if so what “subject” if that make sense 😵💫 I am so confused on how to go about it. My 2 and 4 year old are perfectly bilingual, but I don’t know how to incorporate Spanish into our homeschooling (we moved to the states) so you know … just the thought of teaching letter sounds in Spanish vs English makes my head hurt 😅I don’t know when I should throw that in there for my 4 year old. Would love a video on this 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
First of all--I wouldn't worry too much about confusing your children. From many bilingual homeschoolers with more experience, I have heard that kids are quick to pick things up and not too easily confused. ;) 2nd tip, is to feel free to 'label' languages as you're working on different skills for clarity. "This is the sound this letter makes in English." or practicing Spanish reading, use reminder of the sounds that certain letters (j, z, etc.) make in Spanish. Or "Time to practice counting in Spanish!" I love the 123 Andres Alphabet song videos (you can find them on UA-cam for every letter of the alphabet) for teaching Spanish alphabet sounds. Your kids are perfectly bilingual, so it will be a bit of a different situation from mine. My kids are definitely English-dominant and also understand Spanish well, but are less confident and less fluent in that language, so I have taken the strategy of introducing more academics in English first, and then following along behind in Spanish. i.e. For my oldest, he's reading pretty well in English now, but once he got the basics of reading in English down, then I started introducing reading in Spanish. We're still working on mastering reading in Spanish, it naturally goes a little slower, because the words are not as familiar to him since it's his less-dominant language, but he's gradually building skill in reading. I'd say for us, I do pretty much approach Spanish as one of our school 'subjects'...for my PreK guy, it's focused on learning the Spanish alphabet, numbers, shapes; for my older son (kindergarten), it's focused on learning to read and spell right now. In addition, my husband and I use it throughout our day, and we also listen to Spanish music and read Spanish storybooks, etc.--but my husband is the primary Spanish speaker in our family and the only one who's truly fluent--so he's the main Spanish-speaking parent, but I try to support as much as possible.
@@SevenInAll you’re so amazing for taking the time to reply to us! This was very very helpful and I will definitely look up the UA-cam videos you mentioned as well as the Spanish curriculum you’ve mentioned in your videos. Dios te bendiga grandemente ! Happy homeschooling 🤍
@SoyAnnySandoval, hi, we bilingually homeschool and have been doing so since my oldest was 4. He's now 9. Over time, as I have gathered more resources, we have integrated Spanish into more of our subjects. Now we have entire days dedicated to them (MW are "English" days and TTH are "Spanish" days). So the focus is more on CONTENT, and you learn about that content in whatever language you are using. So we read history books in English on English days and history books in Spanish on Spanish days. Now, not everything is perfectly "balanced." It's not possible, and that's ok. But I do try to find materials in both languages as much as I am able. As far as language arts goes... same deal, only the content is very specific to each language! So on English days we are doing English grammar, copywork, literature, spelling, etc. On Spanish days we are doing these types of things in Spanish. My kids are in a strongly-English dominant environment, so our skills are not equal in both languages, but that's ok, they are progressing in both! It's possible. Going to be honest though, it takes a TON of work to get materials! And then of course coordinating it all so you don't overwhelm your kids with double-work. But I LOVE it! It has been worth all the work!!
I do think it's overall cheaper to print G+C at home--but there are considerations. Do you already have a good printer that's cost-effective to use? I have a good printer that handles inexpensive off-brand cartridges well, and since I laminate the memory statement cards, I also use a lower weight of paper. Ordering print straight from G+C will definitely get you higher quality printing and higher quality paper than you are likely to get from home printing, but for me, that's not top priority, so I'm fine with the quality from home. It DOES take significantly more time in babysitting the printer, cutting the cards (I use a really nice guillotine-style paper cutter that mom has had for 30+ years), etc.....but I don't mind the prep work and also, once the program is printed and prepped, it can be used as much as you need it (I don't mind up-front prepping ahead of the year, it's more of day to day or week to week prepping that I don't want to mess with). So...all that to say, yes, it's most likely going to be cheaper to print at home if you already have a good printer, but it is more work and the quality of paper/images probably won't be as nice. There's pros and cons for either digital or print, but I'm REALLY grateful for the digital option, esp. with living overseas.
@@SevenInAll Good points! I would probably have to take it to a printing store. So that could get spendy pretty quick. 🤔 I miss my paper cutter from my old school. Those are nice to have. Thank you!
For which grade level? I have several math videos, here's my review of Kindergarten Math with Confidence from the first time I used it: ua-cam.com/video/NbcHt5TPyQQ/v-deo.htmlsi=po3nuBzQShkyt_Kw I'm currently using K MWC with my 2nd son.
Please pray for my husband Kenny he is having a shunt put in because of the car accident on Christmas Day night. He is having very intense deliblating headaches.
We just started this new Pre-K routine for my son last week! As you can probably tell, I'm not a stickler for following a traditional school year schedule: he was showing a lot of signs of readiness for PreK alphabet and math material in November and December, so I decided that once we started up school again after baby's arrival, we'd begin a new routine to challenge him a little bit more. :)
Could you do a video on how this is all executed through the week? Or the planning of it?
Thank you Rachel
Just about all of this is curriculum I've used before, which helps me to know what our routine generally looks like. Most of these don't require much planning, Primer is the only one that requires a bit of initial set up for the beginning of a new week. Our routine typically involves "morning time" stories while my boys eat breakfast, so our literature, Bible, and memory statements from GC Primer happen at that time, along with extra readings from Sonlight P. After I clean up breakfast and the boys have a bit of playtime, I call them for table schoolwork--for my little guy, that now looks like a quick math lesson with MWC K, a couple workbook pages from the other resources mentioned, working on a few pages in the morning binder with a dry erase marker, and a couple times a week we'll play games with Alphabet flashcards. His sit-down schoolwork will probably roughly take 20 minutes, and the morning storytime about half an hour or so. Extra art activities or activities based on our fairytale of the week (from Primer) will usually happen later in the day, mid afternoon.@@tunneleddiscovery5
You are very encouraging and you make homeschooling fun! Always love watching your channel. ❤️
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that.
Oh Rachel! I love and resonate so much with how you preschool! Just an fyi I am doing Purely preschool lesson prep right now, laminating sheets and putting some in my binder as I play your videos in the background :')
hahaha, that's so awesome!
I always enjoy your videos!
Thank you, Stacey!
I’m so thankful for your preschool inspiration, Rachel! I have spent so many years thinking I can’t really do anything much for preschool, and some of my older children have really missed out because of that. My littlest is getting such a lovely year of preschool thanks to you! I even found Sonlight P used here! So I am getting that. She enjoys the school time so much that I’m going to sprinkle it through the day. So I’m thankful for a good few resources! We are already doing Purely Preschool + alphabet adventures but the girl wants more!♥️
Aww, I absolutely love hearing this! I'm glad she's getting such an awesome year of preschool--I truly believe this is such a fun age and stage filled with so much curiosity. I can relate to little ones who want MORE and gobble up all the fun learning time. And that's awesome you found a used copy of Sonlight P! I bought the manual new a few years ago to use with my oldest, but my mom already had 90% of the books from doing Sonlight with my little sister more than a decade ago.
Michael is starting grade 1 this month... i love that we can start when our kids are ready. Love all the choices Rachel! ❤
Yes! I love not having to stick to a prescribed schedule that may or may not fit them.
My youngest son turns 3 in April. Your videos have been so helpful. Thank you!
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that! I'm glad to be helpful! Love these 3 and 4 preschool years--they are so fun at this age.
Same. Just starting preschool with My daughter who just turned 3 last week. starting her on letter sounds and early math skills. She already knows colors letters shapes etc
How exciting!! It's so fun to get to begin the adventure into learning letters and numbers!
I don’t care about school years or grades either but ages and readiness!!! I don’t love weekly grids so we don’t use them for sequence one!!! We love books with my younger kids!!! I try to do older read alouds wiv my teenagers so I still get it with them!!! We are currently doing lord of the rings with a book study!!! I don’t mind taking longer on curriculum when needed!!! Nothing wrong with starting something that starts off easily!!! We MWC!!!
Lord of the Rings is such a fantastic read--I look forward to when my boys are old enough for it!
I love your choices. Have you ever considered or used Core Knowledge?
I have never used Core Knowledge, but I've looked at it, and I've heard good things from many who have used it.
@@SevenInAll Thanks. I'm considering it for Kindergarten, but the layout is such a hurdle.
Hi! Do you have a video where you show how you’d plan a week of pre-k? I’ll be following most of the same curricula 😊.
Here's an older weekly planning routine video from when I was using most of these with my oldest when he was in PreK: ua-cam.com/video/w5K2Vo_bqrM/v-deo.htmlsi=yFVs_GyvLZHVXFmB
Love hearing that cute baby in there!
People often mention all the bird sounds in the background...he'll just join the background 'atmosphere'...lol!
I love that i found a family who’s doing bilingual stuff! I love your content. I am a first time homeschooling momma and deathly afraid of confusing my children - do you treat Spanish just as a subject and if so what “subject” if that make sense 😵💫 I am so confused on how to go about it. My 2 and 4 year old are perfectly bilingual, but I don’t know how to incorporate Spanish into our homeschooling (we moved to the states) so you know … just the thought of teaching letter sounds in Spanish vs English makes my head hurt 😅I don’t know when I should throw that in there for my 4 year old. Would love a video on this 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
First of all--I wouldn't worry too much about confusing your children. From many bilingual homeschoolers with more experience, I have heard that kids are quick to pick things up and not too easily confused. ;)
2nd tip, is to feel free to 'label' languages as you're working on different skills for clarity. "This is the sound this letter makes in English." or practicing Spanish reading, use reminder of the sounds that certain letters (j, z, etc.) make in Spanish. Or "Time to practice counting in Spanish!"
I love the 123 Andres Alphabet song videos (you can find them on UA-cam for every letter of the alphabet) for teaching Spanish alphabet sounds.
Your kids are perfectly bilingual, so it will be a bit of a different situation from mine. My kids are definitely English-dominant and also understand Spanish well, but are less confident and less fluent in that language, so I have taken the strategy of introducing more academics in English first, and then following along behind in Spanish.
i.e. For my oldest, he's reading pretty well in English now, but once he got the basics of reading in English down, then I started introducing reading in Spanish. We're still working on mastering reading in Spanish, it naturally goes a little slower, because the words are not as familiar to him since it's his less-dominant language, but he's gradually building skill in reading.
I'd say for us, I do pretty much approach Spanish as one of our school 'subjects'...for my PreK guy, it's focused on learning the Spanish alphabet, numbers, shapes; for my older son (kindergarten), it's focused on learning to read and spell right now. In addition, my husband and I use it throughout our day, and we also listen to Spanish music and read Spanish storybooks, etc.--but my husband is the primary Spanish speaker in our family and the only one who's truly fluent--so he's the main Spanish-speaking parent, but I try to support as much as possible.
@@SevenInAll you’re so amazing for taking the time to reply to us! This was very very helpful and I will definitely look up the UA-cam videos you mentioned as well as the Spanish curriculum you’ve mentioned in your videos. Dios te bendiga grandemente ! Happy homeschooling 🤍
@SoyAnnySandoval, hi, we bilingually homeschool and have been doing so since my oldest was 4. He's now 9. Over time, as I have gathered more resources, we have integrated Spanish into more of our subjects. Now we have entire days dedicated to them (MW are "English" days and TTH are "Spanish" days). So the focus is more on CONTENT, and you learn about that content in whatever language you are using. So we read history books in English on English days and history books in Spanish on Spanish days. Now, not everything is perfectly "balanced." It's not possible, and that's ok. But I do try to find materials in both languages as much as I am able. As far as language arts goes... same deal, only the content is very specific to each language! So on English days we are doing English grammar, copywork, literature, spelling, etc. On Spanish days we are doing these types of things in Spanish. My kids are in a strongly-English dominant environment, so our skills are not equal in both languages, but that's ok, they are progressing in both! It's possible. Going to be honest though, it takes a TON of work to get materials! And then of course coordinating it all so you don't overwhelm your kids with double-work. But I LOVE it! It has been worth all the work!!
Do you mind me asking how you are going to do this and Sequence 1 with your older boy. Are you going to try to do it all during breakfast?
Do you think its cheaper to print Gentle + Classical products yourself? I am just not sure I want to worry about it, but the lower price is tempting.
I do think it's overall cheaper to print G+C at home--but there are considerations. Do you already have a good printer that's cost-effective to use? I have a good printer that handles inexpensive off-brand cartridges well, and since I laminate the memory statement cards, I also use a lower weight of paper.
Ordering print straight from G+C will definitely get you higher quality printing and higher quality paper than you are likely to get from home printing, but for me, that's not top priority, so I'm fine with the quality from home.
It DOES take significantly more time in babysitting the printer, cutting the cards (I use a really nice guillotine-style paper cutter that mom has had for 30+ years), etc.....but I don't mind the prep work and also, once the program is printed and prepped, it can be used as much as you need it (I don't mind up-front prepping ahead of the year, it's more of day to day or week to week prepping that I don't want to mess with).
So...all that to say, yes, it's most likely going to be cheaper to print at home if you already have a good printer, but it is more work and the quality of paper/images probably won't be as nice. There's pros and cons for either digital or print, but I'm REALLY grateful for the digital option, esp. with living overseas.
@@SevenInAll Good points! I would probably have to take it to a printing store. So that could get spendy pretty quick. 🤔 I miss my paper cutter from my old school. Those are nice to have. Thank you!
hi do you have a video about math choices? math u see.. math with confidence etc? thanks :)
For which grade level? I have several math videos, here's my review of Kindergarten Math with Confidence from the first time I used it: ua-cam.com/video/NbcHt5TPyQQ/v-deo.htmlsi=po3nuBzQShkyt_Kw
I'm currently using K MWC with my 2nd son.
Please pray for my husband Kenny he is having a shunt put in because of the car accident on Christmas Day night. He is having very intense deliblating headaches.
The headaches sound absolutely miserable. I hope that the shunt works effectively! Praying!