Customer Reviews

Learning at Home: Preschool & Kindergarten : A Christian Parent's Guide With Day-By-Day Lesson Plans Using the Library As a Resource

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Learning at Home includes a complete, very structured curriculum. All the necessary subjects are covered, including Bible and Health/Manners. Each week has separate Monday through Friday lesson plans. The lesson plans seem very "school-like" in their approach and design. For those parents unsure about how to homeschool, this should provide reassurance that all necessary areas are being covered. A detailed list of concepts taught is included for all of the various subjects.

For my tastes, it's a bit too structured and too much like school-at-home. The author suggests a school schedule that breaks some tasks down into as little as 5 minute intervals. The calendar time recommended for each morning, where the children recite the days of the week, date and numbers 1-50 (progressing to 1-100) seems too much like the rote memorization and drill technique used in public schools.

The book does, however, contains some excellent ideas for learning/teaching. The Grid, a matching game, is a great tool for various types of learning. The suggestions on house cleaning, including how to involve the children, is insightful. The ideas on follow-up and review after a field trip are quite good, too.

The information above indicates that the book is spiral bound. It's not. It's a standard 8 1/2 X 11 paperback. A spiral binding would be very useful since that way the book could be left open to the page(s) including the day's lesson plan.

Leaning at Home is a good resource. I plan to refer to it often.

I am just finishing my 2nd year of hsing and 1st with this book (used Before Five in a Row last year). This book was excellent and I'm having trouble finding something just as good for next year.
The curriculum is for M-R with a F field trip. Subjects include Bible, Reading, Arithetic, P.E., Stories (M-R), Art (M&W), Music (T&R), Character Building (M), God's World (T&R), Health & Manners (W). The "school" should take 30 min - 2 hours (we lean toward the 30min). The F field trips and following M thank you notes really sold me on the book.
You supplement with library books that you order 2 weeks prior. You'll need worksheets, cards for games, etc that you can either make or purchase. In addition, you'll need the basics, crayons, paints, paper, etc. Probably stuff you already have.
The author includes lots of helpful info about planning your day, etc that the first time hser may find useful. Don't let the format scare you - you can be as flexible or rigid in your schedule as you like.
The only drawback I've found is that the book is for preschool AND kindergarten but the kindergarten section repeats the preschool subjects with the exception of reading and arithmatic. Seems a bit repetitive for the teacher, if not the preschooler.
Overall, this is a wonderful book. Since using it, 3 other friends have begun using it as well. A final suggestion: we invited other preschool friends along on our fieldtrips and made them into playdates with lunch afterwards.

Ann Ward has written a terrific base curriculum for preschool and kindergarten. It provides all of the groundwork to build a year of exciting lessons. It is a realistic framework that anyone could use to teach their child. I have used it as the base curriculum for a three day a week preschool program. It includes Bible lessons and all the classic subjects taught in a traditional school environment. This is the only book I've seen that covers preschool through kindergarten in one volume.

I have owned this book for 4 years now and as each year goes by I find myself going back to it. Coming from pure classical to christian based to charlotte mason, this book has something for all.

One who is familiar with Saxon maths morning meeting will know exactly what the math memorization/calendar time looks like. In addition to this math time, Ward includes oral or manipulative based lessons without worksheets or with homemade ones.

An advocate of Charlotte Mason would appreciate the short 10 min lessons. Ward incorporates "narration" each week by having the child dictate a summary of Fri's field trip. Copywork is a regular part of the child's lessons.

My favorite part is the K section. This section is equivalent to a full year of Saxon Math 1 and Writing Road to Reading. Ward takes the child thru section K of Ayres list and explains the methodology of the WRTR program so well, that the original text is not needed. And other than a desire for workbook pages, I would forgo an additional math text.

I agree that a second year of the daily lessons could be boring, especially for the parent. One could wait to do the program in K or use different library books each week the second go around ( she lists plenty of choices). BUT for someone with a K and a PreK child, there is no better program.

I first found this book at the library and after using with my daughter for several weeks, I knew I couldn't not have it permanently. It has a well-rounded curriculum and each activity has it's fundmental purpose listed. It's premise is to use the library as your main resource and has many "make-at-home" materials. I supplement it with other stuff as I see fit, but it's a wonderful foundation to our learning. Having taught elementary school for several years, I find this book to be right on target.

As with all homeschool books, I read the book, and then I pick and chose the ideas that will work for me and my children. I did find enough in this book to purchase it. This book has many good ideas, and would help many families get started on home schooling. I'm not a christian and so I just skip the bible study parts, or substitute with appropriate moral lessons or stories.

What I like is the suggested reading; my children and I are always reading together, and the more suggestions for reading the better.

This book was originally spiral bound - I recently saw an old spiral bound copy at a book fair, but I purchased the newer version, and will put it in a 3-ring binder. (I had a 3 year old remove a book from a spiral binding once - ug what a mess).

My best advice to parents starting out is read all you can from the library, and then purchase only what you think you will use!! -- be prepared to resell most of it, and don't be afraid to ditch it all and start over.

I stumbled upon this book at a thrift store and LOVE it! It is much easier to follow than most books I've purchased. Step by step instructions, plenty of reading material listed that you can find at most libraries, fun make-it-yourself activities. Loved the notebook that you keep to show their work and progress. Nothing negative what-so-ever to say! I worked in the public school system (elementary) for 6 years, but am homeschooling my own now. This fits perfectly! And it's very easy to supplement with the reading program and math program I'm using (The Reading Lesson and Pre-Math-It.) This curriculum has just made my planning SO much easier!

I used this for my oldest two children (now 9 and 10)and now again 5 years later for my next 2 in line. We loved it. It was a very well rounded, easy guide to follow. You can pick and choose what you want to use but there were tons of ideas. Probably more things than you can do realistically. Field trip ideas were fun and helpful. I lent this to several people and now need to purchase another. (...) They are a great resource for Christian homeschooling curricula at the lowest prices I've seen. Happy schooling!!

This is the most complete, inexpensive book on the market for preschool and kindergarten. Ann Ward's guide gives day by day lessons with a wonderful, Biblical focus. She covers every aspect of education from the spiritual to the physical and is thoughtful in her consideration of the average mom's resources. The library references are nearly exhaustive and her tips are invaluable. You cannot buy a better book to begin your homeschooling experience!

The curriculum is inexpensive & completely layed out. It has a daily schedule that lasts about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. It covers subjects like Bible, (pre)reading, math, art, music, character building, "God's world" (like science and social studies), health/manners. I had trouble finding many of the library books listed (it is a little dated), but for many I just went to the general subject area and looked through whatever my library did have (which probably was newer and had more color pictures).
It requies preparation on the part of the parent (most likely the mother), and it's best if younger children are occupied. My three year old was often a distraction rather than a younger classmate, like I'd hoped. The preparation is simple, but does take some time and materials (many you may have at home).
The Friday curriculum is a "Field Trip" that the parent must plan with some facility or organization usually. This was more work than I was interested in (plus, I have four kids 5 and under to drag out to some place for a tour or such - yeah right!)
I enjoyed the simplicity of the activities, and I just changed what I didn't like or didn't feel like doing. And now, I'm doing it my own way using what I liked best (pretty much ignoring the book completely). I didn't agree with everything in the introduction, but that part is just for you anyways.
The Christian parent is probably assumed to be protestant as it includes such doctrines as the trinity, but the values and lessons are mostly general Christian.
I enjoyed the time with my child, just not the prep before the week.