God's Little Explorers

I really struggled with what to do for our preschool at home.  There is so much out there it can get overwhelming.  I also struggle because I know Aria is such a sponge and can learn a variety of things.  I've had a hard time discerning what is appropriate versus what is reasonable versus what she is ready for.  I finally decided to just go with a little curriculum I bought a few months ago.  It is called God's Little Explorers and I got it from this website.  I paid the money for the whole package instead of doing the individual free downloads because the proceeds went to build an orphanage in India and I thought that was really awesome. 

The curriculum is set up to go through the Bible and the alphabet in a year.  There are lessons for four days of the week.  It focuses on one Bible story per week with many different activities to go with.  There is math, science, life skills, letters, crafts and more.  I don't always follow all the suggestions or I modify for what we have or enjoy, but it is a wonderful starting point. 

The very first thing we really got into was a Creation Book.  During that week we made pages for a book for each of the six days in which God created the world.  Aria had a blast doing it!  A favorite was probably day three when He made the land.  We went out and gathered all kinds of dirt, flowers, plants, leaves, rocks, and sticks.  We then put those things on a piece of contact paper and covered it with another piece to contain it. 

   
Here are some pictures of the finished product:

A great quote came from reading the Creation story each day of the week.  As I started going through what God made on each day, Aria interrupted me and said, "On day 7 God rested.  I learned that in Children's Church!"  It had a little bit of an air of 'I know this stuff already, Mom,' but I was just thrilled she retained a lesson from church! 

Overall I am excited about what we are doing and Aria is too.  We don't do something every day and there are times when she exclaims, "We didn't do our creation today!"  There are some days and lessons that I don't care for as much so we just adapt or do something totally different.  The most important thing is the time we are spending together and that learning is happening for both of us.