Ideal Curriculum
http://www.idealcurriculum.com/
We received Month 1 from Ideal Curriculum. This was provided free to our family for review purposes. We received this as a download, which you can purchase for $30. There are many options for purchasing in download or print form, month by month or the whole year (9 months) or somewhere in between.
So what exactly is this ‘ideal curriculum’? Ideal Curriculum is a complete preschool curriculum. A complete unit study with a different theme for each month. All of the necessary pages to print were included in our download. All of the accompanying songs were included in mp3 format. These songs are pretty catchy. We were all caught singing them throughout the day. But that is exactly the idea. Games, catchy tunes and hands on activities are how young children learn–and enjoy learning.
There are three main subject areas addressed. They are Literacy, Math/Calendar, and Science/Social Studies. The included teacher manuals spell out each step from an initial assessment through weekly assessments and goals for the month. Files are separated and clearly marked which ones are to be printed. All of the planning and coordinating are done for you. This would make it easy for someone with virtually no experience to pick up these materials and lead class time for a preschool age child or group of children. The completeness of this program and its’ ease of use make it a great fit for a daycare or preschool. The activities seem to be written with groups in mind.
Why would a homeschool family want to use this? Just because the activities are written for groups does not mean that an individual child could not do them. We did not come across any that required more than a single student. Everything is so easily put together, and older sibling could ‘conduct school’ with a preschooler while mom works with another child. Everyone is occupied, learning and happy. If you are a new homeschooler or are just trying it out, the ability to purchase just one month or a few is ‘ideal’ for a short-term commitment.
What are the themes for each month? Transportation is the first month’s theme. Color, Weather and ‘About Me’ are the next three. A Healthy Life and Animals are followed by People in my Community, Traditions in our Country and the World Around Us. Due to the skills learned in both the Literacy segments and the Math/Calendar lessons building upon one another, you will want to complete these units in the order given. These are for Level One. Additional units will be available.
To read what my fellow Crew mates had to say, follow the links from the Crew blog here. To read more about Ideal Curriculum check out their website.