Learning at Home: Preschool and Kindergarten

by Ann Ward

Noble Books

While this is not a unit study approach with learning integrated around a central theme, it covers all the necessary subjects in one volume. Since it covers many subjects, it is similar in many ways to the published unit study materials. Because it covers each subject in the daily schedules, it cannot be listed under individual subject areas without much repetition, so I include it here.

Learning at Home meets the needs of many home educators who are interested in presenting academics but are easily overwhelmed with the process. Instead of a half dozen texts and teacher’s editions from which you compile lessons, you can have one basic manual with detailed daily lesson plans that does it all for you. This book, along with a few basic resources, provides everything you need.

Learning at Home: Preschool and Kindergarten is designed to be used over two years. This low-key program for preschool covers readiness activities along with Bible, history, science, art, music, and physical education. Lesson plans are laid out for each day with instructions for each subject area, including pages to be read from specific books. Recommended books are to be borrowed from the library. Many suggested titles are listed, but others on the same topic can be substituted. Ideas listed in Learning at Home can easily be used with preschool and kindergarten children together.

At the end of the book a more formal, second-year program outlines phonics and math, but leaves us on our own for other subjects. The formal phonics and arithmetic can either be substituted in the daily lesson plans or used during a second year.

The scope and sequence of the math and phonics is more advanced here than it is in most other programs, and this outline could easily be used at first grade level rather than kindergarten. The book, The Writing Road to Reading, can be purchased to use for the formal reading program following the lesson plans within Learning at Home. However, author Ann Ward now suggests using Phonics for Reading and Spelling instead. While the second half of Learning at Home might seem too formal for some, the book is well worth its cost even if you were to use only the first part of it.