As I prepared to begin homeschooling my 19 month old son, I realized that I did not have an adequate supply of toddler and preschool learning materials. I began searching specifically for these materials. One great website that I found is the Brightly Beaming Steps to Reading Program (also known as The Letter of the Week). This website has a curriculum that is intended to prepare your child to read and learn from 3 months to 8 years. Step 0 is for infants, Step 1 is for Toddlers (this is where we are starting), and it goes up from there. The website includes ways to incorporate music, art, reading, numbers, and many other subject areas into your child's day. So this is where I decided we would begin our journey.
After compiling the information I needed from the website to start Randy's education, I decided to customize his learning plan. I used the World Book Standards for Preschool to determine the skills that most preschoolers learn. Additionally, I looked at the standards for my state, Oklahoma. The standards for each state can usually be found at the website for your Department of Education. For pre-school, these will all be fairly similar, though minor differences exist. I took these two lists and created my own checklist for Randy. I put a check next to each skill he has already mastered. For those skills he has partially accomplished I listed where he is at. For example, Identifies Parts of Body: Can point to Eyes, Nose, Mouth, and Belly Button. Finally after every skill, whether mastered or not (because I plan to have more children), I listed books and activities that could aid in the process of mastering that skill. I have not completed all sections, but for those of you who are more visual, here is a sample portion of the spreadsheet:
| Randy's Preschool Checklist | ||||
| Category | Skill | Achieved | Standard | Activities |
| Size | ||||
| Understands big and little. | World Book | Sesame Street: Big Bird and Little Bird's Big and Little Book; Opposites; Mom and Baby Tiger, Big and Little Pooh Bears, Big and Little Cows, Stacking Rings | ||
| Understands long and short. | World Book | Opposites | ||
| Matches shapes or objects based on size. | World Book | Sorting Blocks Bucket, Legos, Shapes | ||
| Colors and Shapes | ||||
| Recognizes and names primary colors. | World Book | Legos, Crayons, Colors, Crayola My First Book of Colors, Sesame Street: Color Fun with Elmo and Friends, Sesame Street: Elmo's First Book of Colors, The Rainbow Fish | ||
| Recognizes circles. | World Book | Sorting Blocks Bucket, Shapes | ||
| Recognizes rectangles. | World Book | Shapes | ||
| Matches shapes or objects based on shape. | World Book | Sorting Blocks Bucket, Shapes | ||
| Copies shapes. | World Book | Desk Work, Shapes | ||
Mostly I have listed books so far. This is because I have listed each book in his library on another sheet of his preschool excel workbook. I then listed which areas the books could help with teaching: numbers, colors, shapes, letters, animals, sharing, etc. I believe that at 19 months hands on learning is a great tool, so that is the next set of activities I plan to put into his checklist. I have started with some of the basics of the toys that he has. After I put more thought into it, I am sure I will come up with more from what we have. I also intend to purchase some learning supplies as we get into homeschooling a bit more and see how he likes to learn.
