Ideal Pre-school Curriculum

The mission of Ideal Curriculum is designed to provide a formal pre-school education at home. Complete with assessments, daily lesson plans and all the elements a classroom teacher would need I believe Ideal publishers has worked hard to cover all the bases. I received a free downloadable copy of month 1, Transportation unit of Ideal Curriculum to use with my five year old son, Aidan, in exchange for this review.

I have six children ranging in age from 20 to 5. I have spent many, many years in the presence of pre-schoolers. My oldest two children attended three years of pre-school classes at a wonderful, enriching pre-school near our home. It was a great asset for our family at the time since I was overwhelmed with other responsibilities and unable to create a formal pre-school educational environment in my home.

After those initially busy years of having only little children in our home, I never provide a formal pre-school education for my youngest four children . Their pre-school years were filled with educational toys, being read to on a daily basis and my concentrated effort to faciliate age appropriate activities on a regular basis. Simple and basic to be sure, but not a formal curriculum. My confidence that informal pre-school was enough to meet their needs only took root after my confidence in my parenting skills was built. Ideal curriculum, thorough and comprehensive, will support and build confidence in new homeschool Moms and Dads.

The following components are included in month one of Ideal curriculum:

• Goals for the month



• Initial assessments



• Literacy activities complete with a sample daily/weekly schedule



• Science/ Social Studies activities



• Math activities



• Calendar activities



• Songs on MP3 files to complete activities



• Printable resources and scripted teaching helps for activities

I administered all portions of the initial assessment with Aidan. The first assessment took a total of 8 mins. and near the end I found Aidan to be tired and distracted. I did, however, learn the precise holes in his phonics education and letter recognition skills. Since we were in assessment mode we followed with additional evaluations of his knowledge of print and other literacy skills, sight word recognition and phonemic awareness. Total assessment time was close to thirty minutes.

Ideal offers lots of suggestions to the homeschool teacher of how to incorporate the curriculum into your pre-schooler's day. It is designed for formal scheduled school time or to be used subltley throughout the day and play time. Repetition is key when learning new skills and with handy sample schedules included in the curriculum, parents can be assured they are covering all elements several times whether scheduled formally or not.

We chose the non-scheduled approach to Ideal based on my previously stated philosophy of pre-school. The songs included were very easy to incorporate throughout our day. My older children and I even began to sing some of the songs to encourage Aidan to review adding to the fun and playfulness of the curriculum.

"I like the animal freeze dance. I like to make a pose for the freeze part. I like to freeze. That is really fun. I like all the songs. They are really cool", said Aidan.

I found all the worksheets, and supplemental paperwork a bit confusing to organize. Having an instant download is great when shopping plus makes storage a breeze, but be ready to become an organized publisher. It took me nearly an hour of time to print, organize, cut, staple, three-hold punch, etc. for two weeks of the curriculum even before reading through the teacher's notes and directions. This is not a grab and go curriculum. It requires thoughtful planning and organization, but once it is in place it is full of fun, games and wonderful learning opportunities.

Ideal curriculum sells for $55.00 per monthly unit for a print version and $30.00 for the downloadable version at the company website, www.idealcurriculum.com. Currently only month 1 is available as an instant download, but months 2-9 are under development and available as a pre-order. Customers wishing to purchase an entire school year of product and take advantage of a 10% discount by purchasing the package for $526.00.

For more testimonials and information regarding Ideal curriculum check the company website, read the Ideal Curriculum blog at http://www.idealcurriculum.com/Preschool-curriculum-blog.html or read reviews from the rest of the Homeschool Crew by visiting Crew blog.

Super Star Speech Homeschool Games

When the book work is done it's time to play! Super Star Speech offers 11 educational games designed for homeschool families ready to play. Our family received six of the games for free in exchange for our review.

All games are available as an instant download from Curr Click and retail for $3.50. Created by licensed speech therapist and homeschool Mom Debra Lott, the games are simple old-fashioned board games focused on specific topics. Currently, Lott offers:

• Silly Snail: A parts of speech game for grades 3-6

• Road to Revolution: A game to understand the events, times and people of the American Revolution for grades for grades 3-8

• The Inventors Game: a game designed to review inventors and their inventions for grades 3 and older

• Colony Quest: Designed around the 13 American Colonies for grades 3-5

• Climb the Vine: A question/ answer board game about plants for grades 3-6

• All About Animals: An animal classification game for grades K-5

• Explorers of the World: Focused around 24 different Explorers for grades 3-8

• Covering the Continents: Questions, answers and maps about the seven continents for kids aged 6-10

• Exploring Egypt: Centered around Ancient Egypt this game is appropriate for grades 3-8

• The Insect Game: Designed for children in grades 2-6

• Planet, Moons and Stars: A trivia based game perfect for grades 3 and up

Although each of the games has a slightly different objective all of the games my family played were easy to use with simple instructions and very little set up time. I printed my downloads onto cardstock for durability and stored pieces in labeled ziploc bags. The small investment of time reassured me that if pieces got lost or destroyed I could easily print off new ones without a hitch. Because the pieces including game boards were no larger than 8 1/2" by 11" pieces of

paper the games were easy to take on the road to be used during boring "wait" times. I love the simplicity and quality content of each of these games!

I am a firm believer in the power of educational games. I know my children learn more when the experience is relaxing, fun and just a bit competitive. A game format also helps me see new strengths and weaknesses in my children that would never show up with ordinary school work. For example, while playing All About Animals my 5 year old blew me away with his ability to recognize complex vocabulary words and classify his animals. Apparently, he had been "eavesdropping" on his older siblings recent science lessons.

In an age of so much electronic media, Super Star Speech's Homeschool Games are refreshing, affordable, and extremely engaging alternatives. My 15 year old, 8 year old and I played Climb the Vine using only the questions and answers while sitting in a parking deck waiting on my 5 year old to finish his nap. A potentially wasted hour of our time was spent laughing, learning, and building a quirky, fun memory because of our portable, adaptable game.

After playing All About Animals I polled the test market group for their honest opinions. "It's so exciting!" said Aidan, grade K. "I like the questions and I like the pictures on the board", said Sierra, grade 2. "I learned a lot from the facts about the animals", said Micah, grade 7.

Although Homeschool Games are listed for specific age groups, many are adaptable for multiple levels of play. Because the content and vocabulary are rich, the games engage older secondary aged siblings creating educational family fun. Their unique design and affordable price make them perfect for any size homeschool.

For more information about Super Star Speech Homeschool Games visit the Super Star Speech website, www.superstarspeech.com. Everyone needs to play during their day. Homeschool Games offer families a chance to play a little while they learn.