Sonlight’s NEW Literature-based Preschool Curriculum

It’s a scene that’s played itself out too many times in homeschool support groups on social media and in real life! An eager young mom asks, “I don’t know where to start, can anyone recommend a great curriculum for my 3 year old?”

She’s met with a half-dozen responses, all in the same vein:

• “I’ve been homeschooling 10 years—trust me, just WAIT! Don’t start any curriculum. Kids do best when you delay formal learning till age 6 or later.
• “You don’t need any curriculum for preschool. Don’t waste your money, just look up activities on Pinterest.”
• “Just READ, read all the books. And play! Outside! Kids need to play outdoors!”
• “Late is better than early. Ask again in 2 or 3 years.”

I am sure that all such responses are meant with the best of intentions, but they make the young mom feel discouraged, unheard, and dismissed. We can do better.

Let’s Stop Telling Young Moms Not to Use Preschool Curriculum

Somehow, the homeschool world has decided it’s not en vogue to recommend any of the many quality, delightful preschool curriculums that exist. Instead, we squash all preschool dreams belonging to young moms.

Here’s the thing. We say “Believe moms”…until a young mom feels that she and her 3-year-old would benefit from a preschool curriculum. At that point…we no longer believe the mom. What a silly young mom she is! We no longer believe that maybe the days of caring for toddlers and infants are a little bit long or that Pinterest is overwhelming with its too many choices. 

Sometimes a young mom simply wants to be able to open a curriculum guide and be given an easy idea for a fun educational activity for her 3-year-old. 

What does preschool consist of, really? In all the homeschool preschool curriculums I’ve looked at, it consists of

• reading good books
• playing games
• getting messy
• singing songs
• coloring
• sticking stickers on things
• talking about big ideas that little minds are just beginning to grasp

A Good Preschool Curriculum Makes Play Easier!

Preschool curriculums are hardly a death sentence to childhood. We do not need to chastise or correct the young mom who asks for a curriculum recommendation.

Sometimes I suspect that the veteran moms who have homeschooled for more than a decade have simply forgotten the little years…when you have nowhere to go, no big kids to teach, and you just want some fun preschool activities with your 3-year-old. 

Sometimes I think that moms who haven’t experienced it for themselves can’t imagine that there are toddlers whose favorite thing in the world is to sit next to mama and be read to. Such toddlers exist. I have one of them myself, one who drinks in books and could never get enough of listening to the great stories in the Preschool Package.

Having a preschool routine can be a delight during these long, tiring days of early motherhood. Using a preschool curriculum helps ensure that mama gets quality time with her toddler when the needs of babies and the house and life itself are pulling her in different directions. 

Let’s trust moms to know their own needs and their own children’s needs. Let’s stop letting the experts in favor of delayed education cause us young moms to second-guess ourselves and keep the schoolbooks out of our eager 3-year-old’s clutches.

This insight is written by Rachel Guerrero, a mom to a preschooler, on behalf of Sonlight. Rachel was homeschooled with Sonlight while growing up in Southeast Asia. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mandarin Chinese and continues to share her love for education, language, and culture as she now lives in Southeast Asia with her husband and son. They speak a mixture of three languages at home, but she writes in only one language on her blog The Random Writings.