I am uncertain how I found this curriculum, but I believe I was just looking at the map of all the booths and the words “Ready-Made Preschool” jumped out at me. It wasn’t on my list of possibilities as I had never even heard of it before, but I felt like I should at least walk by the booth and check it out.

So I went to find it during one the of the times I was walking up and down the isles of the exhibit hall.

A woman greeted me as I entered her little booth and I told her that I was trying to find a curriculum to use with my 4-year-old.

When she started explaining “Ready-Made Preschool” to me I knew I had found the perfect fit for Little Bug’s PK4 year!

There are two levels of Ready-Made Preschool and Level 2 is designed for 4 year olds. (Level 1 is for 3 year olds.) The focus of Level 2 is the lower case alphabet and learning letter sounds through hand-on activities – my exact academic goals for Little Bug this year!

Ready-Made Preschool was created by Kate Funk, a homeschool mother of five who believes that preschool children learn best by touching, feeling and moving. She believes preschool should be fun, messy, active and engaging and that the preschooler shouldn’t even know they are learning when learning is taking place.

As she spoke to me while I was standing there in her booth, I realized that I too believed everything she was saying about how a preschooler learns. It was then I realized I did not have to push forward with Kindergarten curriculum for my preschooler. I felt this huge relief standing there talking to her.

One of the main reasons I am hesitant to move forward with Kinder curriculum with Little Bug this year is because she does not have the fine motor skills necessary for writing letters and numbers. She has not shown a real interest in writing yet. I have given her multiple opportunities to trace letters and numbers during our Learning Time and she has attempted but many times she is just not interested or gets frustrated. I never push her to write if she is not wanting to or frustrated.

Kate told me that many preschoolers are simply not developmentally ready to write and I believe it because Little Bug is just not developmentally ready to hold a pencil and form letters. Many four year olds are, I know. (I believe I was one of them!) But my 4-year-old is not – and that is absolutely fine! Instead of having ‘handwriting’ in her curriculum she has children form letters using Do-A-Dot markers, sand, whipped cream and shaving cream! That is precisely where Little Bug is developmentally. This year, trying to get her to do a handwriting curriculum would probably leave us both in tears, but not with this! I can just see her eyes sparkle when I tell her we are going to write the letter “A” in whipped cream and, yes, you can lick your finger afterwards!

I knew God would give me overwhelming peace when I found the right fit for my Little Bug and that is exactly what I felt walking away from Ready-Made Preschool.

I am thrilled to have found Ready-Made Preschool. I believe it will give us the best start possible for a FUN, successful first year of homeschooling!

Next up: More About Ready Made Preschool! I’m just a teeny bit excited about it!

- Elaine