After everything that has gone on in the world in the past few months, we have decided to homeschool Camden and Ella for preschool! I was raised by a public-school teacher and my husband and I both went to the same public-school district, homeschooling is something I never saw us doing but I am really excited. I am determined to make this year fun for them! I know all parents are in the same boat this year, so I am thinking of you all and I know you will make the right decision for your child(ren).
The Curriculum We Selected
This past year we did a “curriculum” that I found to be too much preparation time for me and I wasn’t happy with it. So, I decided a new one for preschool was a must!! I did a lot of research and decided on The Good and The Beautiful! A friend actually recommended it to me (Thanks, Sarah!) and I was immediately drawn to the concept! I love their mission and how it doesn’t require much prep work on my end! Working from home, making sure two toddlers are happy and healthy, and maintaining a home keeps me busy enough…I was all about ease but still wanting to make sure Camden and Ella have a good year of preschool! The Good and The Beautiful met all of OUR family’s needs.
The Good and the Beautiful
“The Good and the Beautiful was founded by a homeschool mother who wanted to find beauty, joy, and powerful academics in homeschool, but was becoming overwhelmed and finding that no curriculum was working the way she had hoped. As a professional writer herself, and with the resources to pull in a group of experts, and a vision of what homeschool curriculum could be, she began creating her own curriculum. Now the team of over 70 writers, experts, reviewers, educators, and editors are working daily on the goals of making homeschool: easy, beautiful, affordable, academically solid, character building, and joyful.” –taken straight from their website. You can learn more about their curriculum here.
Here is a photo of one of the lessons so you can get an idea about how the Course Book is laid out.
They also have an additional site where you can find dozens of free narrated audio books!
Assessment
If you’re wondering which level is right for your child, you can find the assessment here. We decided to go with the Pre-K program.
Materials Needed
We are doing the Pre-K program and these are the materials they recommend:
This is what we ended up ordering for our twins (note: some things I ordered 2 of because we needed 1 for each child):
-Pre-K course set (2 copies, this includes Course Book, Pre-K Activity Packet, and Pre-K Flip books)
-Doodles and Pre-Writing for Littles (2 copies)
-For Littles Mammals Bundle (1 copy)
-Creative Arts & Craft Projects (1 copy we LOVE doing crafts)
-7 Books from Level 1
Wish Us Luck
We received everything a few weeks ago and I am so excited to start this with the kids soon. I know they are going to love it. I promise to give updates once we get into it! I know I made the right decision choosing The Good and The Beautiful curriculum…I am just amazed at all the details that went into this and how it is laid out…it’s going to be easy for me as a mom that went to college for business and not early childhood education and more importantly, it’s the right program for my children!!
So excited for you guys as you start this journey!
Thanks, Samantha!!!!
It is a huge decision to homeschool. I am definitely toying with that idea now that schools are going virtual. Thank you for sharing this information and curious on your updates!
It is a huge decision!! Good luck with figuring out what you’re going to do!
Your kids are always the cutest dressed! This program sounds great, I am looking into it. What was the other one you tried?
Thank you! I enjoy dressing them! 🙂 It was Playing Preschool.
Something tells me you are going to do an awesome job with the kids. Glad you found some great resources, too.
Looks like you have your early years learning well thought through. I really need to revisit our education pages on our website for pre school children.
That is awesome, seems like a great curriculum for preschool. Have fun homeschooling them! 🙂
I have no doubt that you are going to do an amazing job with homeschool! You have the patience for it!
Thanks for sharing the great resources for the kids! Have fun with them! 🙂
It’s interesting to see how kids are learning to adapt their learning, with the lockdown/quarantine in place! As adults, all we can do is make the most out of the experience for the younger generation.
This sounds like a great curriculum for my kids. To be honest, me and my husband also deciding to homeschool our kids due to pandemic. I know that is not an easy role but I am also excited to become their teacher.
glad you found a curriculum you liked!! almost thought i’d used that curriculum before but the one i used i think was called beautiful feet. so many curriculum titles it’s hard to keep track of them all.
p.s. adore your daughter’s dress!!! come in adult sizes? LOL
This sounds interesting, I’m looking into it. Thanks for sharing!
This is a tough decision. I love the books. They will learn from it for sure!
This is huge dear, The books look really great.
congratulations and wish you all the success
Wow! I never had the patience to learn how to homeschool I commend you for that. Best of luck!
I feel for any parents at the moment, as deciding what to do with the kids is a tough one. home schooling though…why not I hope it goes well x
Hihi….this should be exciting! I wish you all the best.
It is so awesome that you decided to embrace this time with your children! I decided to do that for just one year and then put the kids back in school the following year. And then we realized how much we loved homeschooling in that one year. It’s now been 23 years! My first kids are now adults with their own families. And my last child is entering 4th grade. The best part for us is the freedom to learn in the ways that are best for them and having the whole world at our fingertips.
they look so cute! i love it. home schooling can be hard sometimes
We just bought the Good and the Beautiful for our kindergartener and we LOVE IT. It has been so much fun and so easy. I have him doing basically a different level for every subject and it works perfectly for him!