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Kristin
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Hello, ladies -
Not sure if this is the right place to post this question but I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing what you do/use for your preschoolers. DS just turned three and last year we started with Montessori Practical Life and some Sensorial. It was wonderful and we will definately continue this but am looking towards perhaps supplementing with a something different sometime in the future. I've been trying to put together our own and it's a bit overwhelming for me! 
Do any of you have experience with the Little Saints preschool curriculm? How about Five in a Row (and Before Five in a Row)? For the latter, how have you incorporated this into your daily routine?
Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom!!! 
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Christine
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Elizabeth has been writing some beautiful posts about preschool on her blog.
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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Kim F
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I have a load of preschool links at our blogsite if they are any help to you.
Personally I'm not so fond of the Little Saints program. It seemed to be a lot of make work for the teacher for very little edu-value to the child. Five in a Row has been much more help. Once you go through a volume it becomes quite easy to look at a picture book (or any book!) and see how you can rabbit trail it.
Kim
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Sarah in SC
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I have used Before and Five in a Row, and am moving to Beyond this year....we've been rowing for 5 years now! Wow!
I tried Little Saints last year, and got about 6 weeks in and realized how much we were missing our Rowing. Unfortunately, I sunk a ton of $$$ into making all the preps for Little Saints....and it's all still just sitting in there, unused.
I plan to use parts of it this year, as I do Kindergarten & Preschool with my 2 younglings. But it's very discouraging to have spent all the time and money, and then find it so...well, uninspiring, frankly.
Pick up Before Five in a Row, if your little ones are preschoolers. You'll learn how to "row" almost every book in the world, and your littles will be all the better for it! :)
Just my .02 !!
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Happy wife to Tom and mama to Mac, 12, Hannah, 8, Rosemary, 6, Luke, now 1! and the 9 little angels that Mary is rocking.....
"What good shall we then do with today?" --Benjamin Franklin
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Cay Gibson
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I had planned to purchase Little Saints this year for Annie. I kept putting it off with Chels until she was finally too old for it.
At the Georgia conference this past weekend, I spoke to some moms who used it and liked it and some who had used it and didn't care for it. I was able to look at it again, hands-on, and decided that, once again, my own planning and structuring would override this resource and it would end up sitting on the shelf unused.
So I've scratched it off my list.
Plans for Pre-School are to do:
a) FIAR Vol. I
b) Everywhere We Go from Seton
c) Kindergarten Act. book from Seton
d) Montessori cabinet
e) Little Stories for Little Folks from CHC
f) Real Learning booklist
g) Harp and Laurel Wreath poems for memorization (ie MODG)
Religion:
a) Treasure box books
b) new Catholic Mosaic books
c) Illuminated Ink supplies (purchased at Mother Angelica's Monastery giftshop)
d) Home Atrium (Moira Farrell's albums)
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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saintanneshs
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Hi Kristin,
I've done both LS and B4FIAR and would agree with what the other ladies have said. We did Little Saints (and all the prep that went into it-lots!) when ds6 was 3. It was a lot like doing the same kinds of things he would have done in a classroom full of preschoolers, only at home with just my one little guy. The variety of activities were nice (well, as long as you didn't try to do ALL the paperwork and projects with every unit) and we did enjoy our year. However, I found it to be too structured and segmented when it came time for my ds5, who did preschool as a 4yo last year. We'd spent the summer before his preschool year doing B4FIAR and loved it. It was so easy to pick up how to "row" a book and felt so much more natural, curling up on the couch every morning with a great book. When it came time for preschool, we left behind LS and he joined in with the units I was doing with his big brother, not leaving much time for B4FIAR. However, the ideas and thinking behind FIAR teaching left me certain of our need to start every day curled up together with a good book.
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Kristine
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Rebecca
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I feel the same way as Kim does about Little Saints. It took forever to prepare for and the lessons were a little hollow.
Because I cannot afford expensive materials this schoolyear, I think we are just going to paint, read and play for preschool/kindergarten.
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Kristin
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Thanks to everyone for your input on this topic. It's so very helpful! I value each and every opinion as it gives me a bigger picture and more angles to view from when making a decision. God bless! 
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saintanneshs
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Oh, I forgot to mention what I did do with ds5 for preschool last year (aside from his very eager participation in units with big brother in kindergarten)... All we did, our preschool "record" so to speak, was to make an alphabet book. This turned out to be more than enough and better than anything I'd done before.
We read one storybook per week (several times that week) for each letter of the alphabet and then did a page for our alphabet book. For example, ds's Bb page had "Bb is for blueberries" written at the top and below he pasted a cut-out silver foil square, drew a crayon handle (for his pail) and fingerpainted blue blueberries in, on and around it. I glued a mini-print image of the our book for that week, Blueberries For Sal, in the bottom corner. The finished book is fabulous and for the small amount of time it took to pull it together (1 page/week), it's a treasure to us both.
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Kristine
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lapazfarm
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Kristine your alphabet book sounds fabulous! Care to share the whole thing with us? Booklist... Page ideas...Pictures, maybe?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Natalia
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I am going to be hsing my 4yo this year. I was doing some googling for a free online preschool curriculum and found this
Letter of the Week
I found it very helpful in giving me a scope and squence and a flow of things. I am still trying to work out how I am going to find the time one-on-one with him AND still work with my 13yo and my 9 yo. For those of you who have preschoolers and school age kids, how do you do it? how does
your day flow?
Thanks,
Natalia
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Dawn
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Oh gosh, I was planning to use Little Saints with my 4 yo this year (I've had it since *not using it* three years ago with middle ds!  ) but now this thread has me re-thinking it.  I was really thinking I need something that's all laid out for me, but I don't need a ton of prep work! I haven't the time!! The funny thing is, I'm not really a big pre-planned curriculum type of person, but I just don't want to shortchange my little guy this year, if you kwim. 
Hmmmm ... back to the drawing board!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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KellyJ
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We were going to use Letter of the Week, with some tweaking, and then decided to go with Little Saints.
When I first looked at the plans for Little Saints, I felt overwhelmed with the items that need planning; but, I really liked how our holy Faith is woven into the lessons. I've had a few brief exchanges with my husband indicating my feeling overwhelmed with the planning, but seeing how lovely this program is at the same time. So, I am taking babysteps in the planning, while preparing weeks ahead plans as possible.
For those who were disappointed in Little Saints, thinking it was lacking in some way: Can you put your finger on what you felt is missing from the program? Thanks! 
KellyJ
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Cay Gibson
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KellyJ wrote:
For those who were disappointed in Little Saints, thinking it was lacking in some way: Can you put your finger on what you felt is missing from the program? Thanks!
KellyJ |
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Not disappointed, Kelly, just too consumed. I spoke with moms this past weekend who said that there was nothing "missing" from the LS program. There is just "too much"!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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saintanneshs
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Sure, Theresa. I can share everything but photos. Unfortunately, we're still living in the dark ages and haven't purchased a digital camera yet ...but maybe soon. 
Booklist:
Aa -The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall- "Aa is for apple."- Dot art paint inside apple outline with crayon stem and leaf
Bb - (see post above)
Cc -Corduroy by Don Freeman- "Cc is for corduroy."- Ds cut out & glued down a brown teddy bear shape, drew a face w/ crayon and glued on a pair of fabric corduroy overalls (a cutout I made 'cause it's hard for little guys to cut that stuff)
Dd -we read the Angus books by Marjorie Flack- "Dd is for dog." -a shape dog (profile): rectangle body, smaller rectangle head, triangle ear, long rectange tail, circle eyes and nose. We cut "fringe" (little scissor snips) on our rectangle bottoms to look like Angus
Ee -Elmer by David McKee- "Ee is for elephant."- I drew an elephant outline of Elmer, following the artist's style on paper. Ds filled in the outline with collage-style squares to look like Elmer. (One of our best pages, I think)
Ff -A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban- "Ff is for family." Crayon-colored tree canopy, brown rectangle tree base, our family photo in the center to make a family tree
Gg - Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown- "Gg is for goodnight!" Felt cut-out moon glued above & left of child's face (construc. paper with self-portrait). face is peeking out from under blanket (piece of child's favorite fabric in our fabric box. 2 construc. paper hands glued over top of blanket (pointed downward) to look as if they're holding the blanket in position. 1 hand is holding mini-print of book (All mini-prints came from amazon.com)
Hh - Holy Bible -"Hh is for Holy Bible." Brown construc. paper folded in half to look like book with words "holy Bible" dotted across top and bottom of book. Ds traced the letters to make the words and drew his own cross on the cover. Inside Left: My favorite bible story, a narration & illus. Inside Right: Holy Card of Jesus with words "Jesus is God the Son" (idea for that part came from Who Am I? series--Image of God)
Ii - I was kind of a hard one. It was getting close to Christmas and I had trouble getting my hands on anything with "infant" in the title. So we did Bb is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner and ended up doing "Ii is for Infant Jesus." - Rectangle manger with straw (real straw! glued down on top. Sleeping Baby Jesus, made from head with face drawn on, blue blanket and yellow halo, glued on top, complete with glitter around his head). One of our messiest pages but another favorite.
Jj-Jamberry by Bruce Degen - "Jj is for jam."- paint paper with pencil outline of jar of jam: yellow fingerpainted lid & purple (ds's favorite kind of jam) fingerpainted in jar. jar cut out and mounted on page
Kk - Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone "Kk is for kitten."- Another shape animal. Circle head and body and eyes, triangle ears with pink foam triangles in middle, rectangle arms pointing upward, 2 yellow cut-out felt mittens glued on, ds drew in face details and added pipe cleaner whiskers
Ll - A Tree is Nice by J. Udry- "Ll is for leaves." - large different kinds of leaf stamps
Mm -The Mitten by Jan Brett- "Mm is for mitten." - Ds cut out mitten shape and with holes punched inside, he "sewed" through the holes (This one was one of his favorites)
Nn -Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang- "Nn is for numbers." -Cut and paste numbers found in magazines (I thought ds would never stop finding and clipping numbers...I finally had to cut him off )
Oo - The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta- "Oo is for octopus." Circle head, rectangle legs glued beneath, folded back and forth accordion-style, cheerios glued onto legs
Pp -All Things Bright and Beautiful by C.F. Alexander- "Pp is for plant." Cut out tulip shape with entire poem glued on, rectangle stem folded back and forth accordion-style, leaves glued at bottom of stem. velcro attached to top and bottom of stem so you can pull and plant can "grow"
Qq -The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle- "Qq is for quiet." Watercolor night sky. When dry, silver marker stars colored on top.
Rr -Rain by Donald Crews- "Rr is for rainbow." Tissue paper rainbow with cotton ball clouds
Ss -The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack- "Ss is for story." Ds narrated "Zachary's Morning on the Farm" (his own story) (This is Dh's favorite page...we can't believe how much the children can recall when they've been out with Dh in the mornings!)
Tt - Telephone by Jamie Gambrell- "Tt is for telephone." Cut out telephone outline drawn by Mommy, ds wrote the numbers in. Puffy-painted our telephone number onto the page (Ds painted over my traced lines)
Uu - Umbrella by Taro Gomi (sp?) "Uu is for umbrella."
little boy illustrated by ds. Wallpaper cutout of umbrella shape glued over boy's head
Vv -The Biggest Valentine Ever by Steven Kroll "Vv is for valentine." Red heart cut out by ds. Hole cut in middle with scrapbooking tool. Glued onto white construc. paper. Ds used scalloped-edge scissors to make a nice border around the heart. On the heart: "We love others as God loves us!" (I think that one came from Little Saints?) Inside the circle: child illustrates someone he loves (ds chose Daddy) and then narrates Valentine message at bottom and signs own name
Ww -Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak "Ww is for wild thing!" Illustration of very own "wild thing"
Xx- The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper - "Xx is for extra effort." Choo-choo train stanp on painted popscicle stick tracks
Yy -Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni- "Yy is for yellow." A yellow scavenger hunt and then a collage (buttons, yarn, fabric scraps, etc.)
Zz -no published book this week, but "Zz is for Zachary." -Photo glued beneath (of ds proudly holding his preschool alphabet book in his hands)...I'll have to re-vamp this page for my ds3's preschool year, next year(his name doesn't start with a Z!! )
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lapazfarm
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Kristine, this is fabulous! Exactly what I was praying for! It is amazing how God answers our prayers! Thank you!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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saintanneshs
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Natalia wrote:
For those of you who have preschoolers and school age kids, how do you do it? how does
your day flow?
Thanks,
Natalia |
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Well, it's not like mine are much older than my current preschooler (#3) but I don't have ANYONE working completely independently yet, so managing to fit in time for preschool is hard. I will say though, that I used to think my preschooler had to have their own everything (storytime, math, art, etc.) but that flew out the window when I had 2 to work with! So now I count eveything we do during our "school day" (really, it's all day around here) as part of preschool.
Our pegs for the preschool day:
1. We all start out the day reading together, even the baby, so that's our storytime.
2. We have a calendar on the wall (teacher's store purchase I just love...makes the room seem more seasonal and bright) which teaches most math needed for the littles.(I spend 10-15 minutes going over it)
3. 15 minutes on one weekday I set aside for making our alphabet book and that's only once a week that we actually sit down and do the craft page. I read the book of the week at naptime and/or bedtime or whenever...sometimes this is Daddy's job.
That's it. Everything else is participation in art or music or playtime or big brother's math activities...
I think it's easy to DO Letter of the Week without really even trying. So long as you point out that the bananas you're eating for lunch have a "b" sound and start with the letter Bb. Reserve books from the library with that letter when reserving all the other unit books. My mom's favorite (I remember her doing this and I do it now too) is when the kids are
in the tub, asking them what starts with the letter _? Or who can think of what soap starts with? Or what rhymes with tub?
Today I caught my rising kindergartener counting the number of bars while the satellite dish downloaded, and my rising preschooler has been reading the time to me all day. I love Real Learning...
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Kristine
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Sarah in SC
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KellyJ wrote:
For those who were disappointed in Little Saints, thinking it was lacking in some way: Can you put your finger on what you felt is missing from the program? Thanks!
KellyJ |
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Kelly, I wasn't so much disappointed in it, it just wasn't nearly as warm & fuzzy as preschool can be with B4FIAR--and I found that I am really good at bringing our faith with us when we read those great stories, so I'm able to have both the faith-filled and the warm fuzzy at the same time. Little Saints seemed more like Preschool CCD to me. I love a number of the activities and art projects, but it is so very "structured" seeming that it just lost me. I just wanted that delicious feeling back that we had/have when we Row--we're making connections, bringing our faith into it, and it all folds up into one happy, snuggly experience. Like sitting in God's lap reading "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk!"
Sorry to wax mushy & poetic........
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Happy wife to Tom and mama to Mac, 12, Hannah, 8, Rosemary, 6, Luke, now 1! and the 9 little angels that Mary is rocking.....
"What good shall we then do with today?" --Benjamin Franklin
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Cay Gibson
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Kristine's post made me recall a piece that's in the now OOP Literature Alive! book. It's as old as the hills but still usable. And it's FREE!
Teaching Your Preschoolers Their A,B,C's
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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saintanneshs
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KellyJ wrote:
For those who were disappointed in Little Saints, thinking it was lacking in some way: Can you put your finger on what you felt is missing from the program? Thanks!
KellyJ |
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Beautiful, inspiring art.
I think most of the time consumed for me was on re-vamping crafts and adding things or taking one of the ideas and doing something new with it. I don't think we used 3/4 of the hand-outs that came with it.
And if I recall correctly, the year was built around themes, with the alphabet lessons to be taught in addition to the thematic lessons. For one child this was fine but became too much separate work with one in K and one in preschool and a toddler and a baby. I'm sure it would have been much more user-friendly for me in its entirety if my children were spaced farther apart!
I did learn how to incorporate our faith into our learning from THIS program (former public school teacher), so it wasn't a loss. I've just taken what I learned and now apply it across the board with all my children, minus the Little Saints curriculum.
Thanks, Cay, for adding your link. Another GREAT resource! 
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Kristine
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Preschool Curricula
