I’m so thankful I get to spend time with my children for their preschool years. First, I share our curriculum choices and why we use them. Keep reading to find out how we explored the Letter I. Finally, at the bottom, we list our favorite supplies for the preschool years.
PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM
SUPPORTS AMPLE NATURE TIME
- The Peaceful Preschool – The schedule is amazing because it sets aside one day per week for field trips
- Exploring Nature with Children – This works well for my family because it is centered around being outdoors
- The Abundant Gardener – We are learning more about gardening together so this will naturally provide chances to visit gardens, plant stores, and be outside on our land
THE PEACEFUL PRESCHOOL
We currently follow the Peaceful Preschool curriculum by Jennifer Pepito and we love it! The content is full of rich literature, therefore it is a perfect fit for my book-loving family. We read through many rich, classic stories. We also complete playful projects to go with the literature theme or letter. Download Unit A for free to try it out with your littles to see if you like it.
The community she has created is such a beautiful resource and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Jennifer has included a wonderful preschool e-book which helps you prepare to guide your child in early learning. We have found her curriculum perfect for our homeschool preschool. The curriculum is comprised of Read Aloud, Phonics, Counting Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Large Motor Skills, Practical Life Skills, and Art Skills. Also, here is how we enjoyed the letter A unit. Feel free to explore all of our letter units!
LETTER I REVIEW
We began the letter I unit and had so much fun with it! The focus books for letter I are Ice Cream Summer, Inch by Inch, and a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible. Also, we read The Little Island, and listened to the audio version of this one before we purchased it.
Then, we created glitter glue letters. The Peaceful Preschool recommends glitter glue in order to create the finishing touches on sensory, alphabet flashcards. We have used them with all of the letters so far. It is really one of my children’s favorite parts.
We used some spare loose parts to create ice cream cones and also read through Ice Cream Summer.
I IS FOR ICE CREAM
I love gaining inspiration for our homeschool on Pinterest. This simple idea came from Pinterest to cut out ice cream templates using colorful construction paper we already had on hand. The boys took turn adding scoops to correspond with the number on the ice cream cone.
SENSORY WRITING PRACTICE
Next, we added old sprinkles to a tray so the boys could practice writing the letter I.
I love providing these tactile, sensory experiences for them. Of course, the boys take the opportunity to sneak a few sprinkles into their mouths!
ICE CREAM PLAY
The boys worked together to “earn” this special Melissa and Doug Ice Cream Shop about six months ago. We brought it out to go along with our ice cream theme since it worked perfectly!
We also played with these felt ice cream shapes and glitter. I wouldn’t recommend it however, because it was time consuming for Mama to make and one of those activities that the boys were not engaged in for very long.
HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
Last summer, we purchased our first homemade ice cream maker and made our own strawberry mint sorbet. I counted this as “ice cream.” The boys loved helping me make this recipe and it was super simple. Feel free to read the post which includes this recipe here.
ICE CREAM – LICK HONEST ICE CREAM VISIT
Finally, we visited our favorite ice cream spot: Lick Honest Ice Cream. I love going here for an occasional treat because they offer delicious vegan ice cream made with coconut milk.
Then, for their dairy versions, they source milk from local dairy farms who feed their cows primarily grass. We try for whole milk, grass fed dairy options we can! Another sneaky trick about this place is they offer a hot pink ice cream which my boys love and the flavor is Beet Mint! I love how adventurous my little eaters are.
COUNTING PRACTICE
We reviewed our numbers with these beautiful wooden trays from Jennifer. One side is a great fine motor and counting activity using these little wooden beads.
And the other side has numbers for tracing and writing practice.
We reviewed numbers 0-10 with these fun tactile sandpaper numbers that come with a really nice storage box.
Finally, we created more glitter glue numbers and reviewed them. These are such sweet cards that come with the curriculum.
BALANCE BEAM – LARGE MOTOR SKILLS
Then, we found an old board lying around and some left over brick when our house was built. The boys helped me create a balance beam and then took turns using it!
We took out our measuring tape to measure how long and wide the board was.
I IS FOR INCH WORM
Have you read Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni before? It is a quick read and I love the illustrations and focus on nature. It is a sweet story of a clever inch worm who is requested to measure different birds. After reading the story, we collected some of the boys toys and measured how long they were.
ALPHABET PRACTICE
I love these beautiful sandpaper alphabet cards and they are pretty inexpensive. Its really nice to have the boys trace these with their fingers to practice pre writing skills. My youngest especially loves to practice writing this way! We also used play dough to form letters. I think my oldest made A, B, and C before moving onto another activity.
I IS FOR ICING
Finally, during this time of letter I study, we celebrated my oldest’s fifth birthday. I made homemade sweets for his little party. We made a healthy cocoa sweet potato icing since it was delicious, nutritious and easy! If you are interested in learning more about clean eating, check out my wellness mamas post here.
SUPPLIES
Montessori Moveable Alphabet
Sandpaper Alphabet Cards
Ice Cream Summer
Inch by Inch
Jesus Storybook Bible
Construction Paper
Sprinkles
Cusinart Ice Cream Maker
Montessori Sandpaper Numbers
Glitter Glue
Natural Play Dough
Melissa and Doug Wooden Ice Cream Shop
OUR PICKS
Finally, here is how we enjoyed the letter A unit. We had so much fun with letter A and can’t wait to share the next letter with you!
