Peter’s Summer Lesson Routine

The Curriculums

I am diving into homeschooling Peter for the first time this summer! I am using a combination of the Habitat Schoolhouse Base Preschool Curriculum (I purchased the Digital Download Version, use code CLAIRE10 for a discount until the end of June!) and ‘Twenty-Six Letters to Heaven: A Catholic Preschool Curriculum‘ by Sarah V. Park. Both of these curriculums focus on the alphabet, with the latter being more faith-based. Peter and I work on a new letter together each week.

How I Lesson Plan

I really like these curriculums because they offer lesson plans, something so helpful as a homeschool newbie! Each Sunday I go through the week’s lesson plans and print out the lessons for that week and any additional work or coloring sheets I find online. Then I plan what lessons I will do for the next day in detail. I keep everything in this binder!

As I plan for the next day’s lesson, I write down the order of work and coloring sheets, prayers, and books  on these notepads so I can stay focused throughout the lesson and cover everything. I definitely encourage and leave time for creativity throughout the entire lesson, but having a simple guide for myself has been very beneficial to both of us! I also set aside any books we will be using, cut out shapes or anything he needs to glue onto his lesson sheets, and find the supplies we will need for the next day.

Planning out my day (in detail!) has helped so much. I find that when I make and follow an hourly schedule I am more motivated, energetic, and successful in reaching my goals. When I schedule time for Peter’s lessons into our routine, we are much more likely to complete them! I love my Blessed Is She planner, but lately I have been using this daily planner from Amazon.

Supplemental Materials

• Books that focus or start with the letter of the week. Both of the curriculums offer book suggestions. This is something I plan for a week in advance so I’m not scrambling the week of! I first go through the books we own and pull out any that start with, or focus on, our letter of the week. Then I check our library (recently re-opened for pickup!) to see if they have any books that the curriculums suggest. My final resort is picking out one or two used books on Amazon.
• THIS craft art case from Target. It’s one of Peter’s favorite parts of the lesson! If you don’t purchase this or something similar, make sure you have kid-friendly scissors and glue!
• Markers, crayons, colored, pencils, and paint.
• This week’s lesson includes play dough. Here is my favorite recipe!
• Each night for the past few months Mike and Peter work on reading from this book. It’s amazing to see Peter’s progress! We really recommend this book!
• I also purchased a few other programs and worksheets from Habitat Schoolhouse: Nature Studies For Kids Summer Program, Dot and Trace Alphabet, Lowercase Letter Worksheets, and Uppercase Letter Worksheets (this one is free!).
• I’m sure there will be more materials needed but we are just in our first week and I plan on a weekly basis, so I will update this list as I go!

What are your favorite homeschooling resources? Any tips you have found helpful? Please let us know in the comments below!