Preschool Books for Age 3

The past week I have been in full school planning mode. Making games, laminating everything in my path, and way too much time researching. At this point I feel 100% committed to homeschooling preschool and beyond. I'm actually excited for it. We should be starting the first week of September. I'm waiting on a couple curriculum books for literacy and writing. Everything else is hands on activities and I'm sure those curriculum's will have plenty of hands on learning too. That is the hope anyways.

So while that is going on I've also compiled my list for this years literature. These books will be starting points and great ways to introduce new concepts. Each of these fall into a category that we will be going over this year. I don't have any planned for literacy and that may change. First I need to see what we may want after the curriculum gets here.

Math:

Pattern: Math Counts

The Greedy Triangle

Sorting: Math Counts

It hadn't occurred to me to use books to talk about new topics in math. The two Math Counts books came up in a separate search and I knew they would be perfect. We will be doing a lot with sorting and patterns this year so those will be a great addition to our math plans. 

Science: 

My Five Senses

A Nest Full of Eggs

What's Alive

Sounds All Around 

Air Is All Around You

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

From Tadpole to Frog

How a Seed Grows

I really like the idea of using books to introduce ideas in science. This book series looks great and there is also a level 2 with more in-depth topics. Depending on how these go we may use level 2 next year. 

Safety: 

Be Careful and Stay Safe

I said No!

Watch Out! At Home

I am really excited to have found these books. Teaching safety in preschool is so important. I have unfortunately worked at many that didn't. However I was lucky enough to work at Head Start where teaching safety was a very important topic. 

Multicultural: 

Whose Tools Are These?

Shades of People 

We already have several books that will be great for multicultural discussions. It's very important to me that the girls are exposed to all the different people in the world. I want to raise compassionate and accepting people. To me that starts even at this age. When they are aware that everyone is different and are taught the beauty in that they have a head start on accepting themselves and the people around them. Whose Tools Are These is about community helpers. Which is something Molly is actually really interested in right now. 

So that is our list of books for this year. I'm sure we will have more to add to the list as the year goes on and I can see what interests her. Having been a preschool teacher I know the frustration in not having certain materials or not having the time to present what materials you have. Things get crazy in a room full of kids. Of course many times you have what you need and you have their attention, but it isn't always the case. Knowing that and having the feeling that I am in control of what materials we have, the whole day to learn, and one on one to do so has really driven me to commit to homeschooling.