Now that I’ve started preschool with the kiddos (currently ages 4 and 2), I thought it would be a good idea to organize some of my favorite stomping grounds for resources and inspiration. You will also see some link love for homeschool goodies in the sidebar; these are the places I have gone for curriculum guidance, and where I tend to go to All. The. Time. for ideas and printables.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to organize this section, so it may change from time to time. Some websites contain almost everything under the sun, but I may only use it for – say – coloring pages. Still weeding through my collection and adding links!
Blogs
These are some of my favorite blogs and you’ll see that I’ve bookmarked many of their excellent resources in the categories below.
1+1+1=1
Confessions of a Homeschooler (COAH)
Counting Coconuts
Homeschool Creations
Totally Tots
Curriculum
Raising Rock Stars Pre-K & K - I used many of the preschool elements for Gwendolyn and hope to start some of the more advanced Kindergarten concepts next time around.
ABC Jesus Loves Me (ABCJLM) – I did my own version of their 3-year-curriculum with Gwen.
Brightly Beaming Resources - Started with the prep verion of their Letter of the Week program. May take advantage of what’s next: letter of the week, sound of the week, and some of the grade K content like science of the week.
Freely Educate – They offer “high quality 100% free educational finds” and post about free curriculum sources, in addition to lots of other things.
Elementary Life Science – We’re not ready for this curriculum yet, but I downloaded it for future reference. This is one of the freebies mentioned on Freely Educate.
Lesson Pathways – You can create your own studen list and customize a curriculum for them based on the available “pathways” of content on their website.
Bible
Many of the blogs and websites I frequent are Bible-based, and their curriculum and printables reflect these values.
ABCJLM – Their Memory Verse Cards coincide with the curriculum
Bible Story Printables
Biblewise - They have a Kids Korner with various activities.
Christian Preschool Printables - I’ve used this website for our creation lapbook and to print out separate elements such as minibooks & coloring pages.
Totally Tots – In My Heart Bible verse cards.
ABCs/Reading
1+1+1=1 – Tot School Printables, Preschool Printables, Read & Write the Room, You Can Read!
ABCJLM – On their Letter of the Week page there’s a list linking each letter of the 
alphabet with ideas for crafts, books, snacks, interactive websites and other resources. They also have tips for learning to write and have these handy dandy letter formation chants that are used with children when teaching them to write.
Cheateau Meddybemps - Cool interactive writing guide.
Education.com – I love their worksheets section.
First-School – alphabet printables and resources
Homeschool Printables – list of ideas and resources for each letter.
Kiboomu – Extensive database of ideas for kids, but I usually go there for their ABC activities and their sections for the letters of the alphabet giving all sorts of crafts and ideas for each one – starting with A, of course. I haven’t availed myself of this feature yet, but I love how they have song clips to go along with some of their activities.
Totally Tots – Now I Know My ABCs crafts
Worksheet Works – Hundreds of worksheets for a variety of subjects.
Colors
1+1+1=1 – Preschool Printables
ABCJLM – On their colors page there’s a list linking each color with ideas for crafts, books, snacks, interactive websites and other resources.First-School – Color activity pages and ideas.
Homeschool Creations – Color printables and resources.
Numbers
1+1+1=1 – Preschool Printables
ABCJLM – learning ideas and number rhymes to teach number formation.
First-School – Math-themed preschool crafts and activities.
Preschool Coloring Book - Number coloring pages.
Shapes
1+1+1=1 – Preschool Printables
ABCJLM - Resource suggestions for each shape.
First-School – shapes printables; the farm animals flash cards are cute, I use those with Gwen.
Homeschool Creations – Shapes printables & resources.
Lapbooks & Theme Units
Living Montessori Now – Should You Use Unit Studies?
Homeschool and Beyond – Unit Studies for Preschoolers, definition and ideas
Christian Preschool Printables
1+1+1=1 – Took Books & Packs, lapbooks
ABC Teach – Theme Units
Bible Story Printables – File Folder Games
COAH – Printables
Counting Coconuts – Mini Units
Dynamic 2 Moms – Free lapbooks, notebooks and units for homeschoolers.
File Folder Fun
KidSparkz – Preschool Themes
Lapbook Lessons – I’ve used this website a few times for their Bible themes.
Interactive Websites
Chateau Meddybemps - Stories, games, ABC activities, etc.
Paddywhack Lane – Dress up dolls, color and print, etc.
Peekuboo – Stories & games
Poisson Rouge – Exploration for the littles without instruction or direction.
Sesame Street – nice game section.
Sheppard Software – All sorts of games and activities for shapes, colors, numbers, the whole gamut. They even have a preschool section.
Starfall – Letter activities, learning to read, stories, and a calendar activity (Gwen gets excited learning her letters this way, and we try to do the calendar activitiy most mornings).
Story Place – The Children’s Digital Library.
Story Time for Me
Sensory Bins
These are a great way to incorporate a theme (or just do something fun!), especially for the little ones. Here’s a collection of ideas from lots of sources.
Counting Coconuts - Sensory Tubs
Totally Tots – What’s in the Tub?
Trays & Workboxes
1+1+1=1 - I fell in love with the idea for Tot Trays when I saw it; it’s the tot version of workboxes and helps contain activities. Here’s a Behind the Scenes look at how it’s done.
Workboxes – a review of the system, directory of workbox users, turning Tot Trays into Preschool Workboxes, portable system (love her chore chart, too), space-saving system, girly workbox ideas, and workbox activity cards.
Crafts, Projects & Other Educational Resources
ABC Teach – Printables, interactives, custom documents, clip art and games.
Activity Village - Coloring pages, crafts and printable activities.
Crayola - Coloring pages, of course. They also have a section for dry-erase pages, which would work nice in our dry erase center.
DLTK - A variety of fun, printable children’s crafts, coloring pages & more including projects for holidays, educational themes & cartoon characters.
First-School - Coloring pages, printable activities, themes and lesson plans.
The Lab of Mr. Q. – These are too advanced for us right now, but I bookmarked these downloadable blank lab sheets for future reference.
Make Learning Fun - Printables sorted by theme or activity.
Montessori for Everyone - Materials and downloads
Nature Detectives - Nature and season-related themes and activities; there are some great ideas for outdoor play and scavenger hunts.
Page Coloring – Tons of categories with coloring pages.
Preschool Coloring Book - Coloring pages
School Sparks – Preschool and Kindergarten worksheets
Super Teacher Worksheets - Worksheets for every category
Tools 4 Tots – Projects, crafts and activities. I’ve already made the clothespin color game, dyed pasta, and created a Mix and Match game (this was a big hit).
Twisty Noodle – Customizable coloring pages and worksheets.
Assessment, Planning & Organization
1+1+1=1 – Tot School planning & assessment
ABCJLM – Their objective checklist can be used to assess which skills your child knows.
COAH - Preschool assessment
The Container Store – Free downloadable labels; you could use them for workboxes or whatever. I use mine for our bulletin board.
Homeschool Creations – Preschool planning (I currently use the customizable form)
Raising Arrows – Dry-erase assignment cards.
World Book – familiarize yourself with the typical course of study and requirements for each grade level
Supplies
Besides Amazon…
Discount School Supply
Lakeshore Learning
Oriental Trading
Really Good Stuff
Legal Stuff & Support
RI Christian Home Educators - a sample Letter of Intent for the official start of homeschooling.
National Home Education Network
Homeschool Legal Advantage – defending your right to homeschool.
HSLDA - Homeschool Legal Defense Association, advocates for homeschooling.
My Routine
These are the materials I’ve found that use I consistently from week to week (you will notice that some of them are repeats of the above resources), along with the workbooks that I happen to have on hand. I have tons more workbooks from my mom – she picks them up whenever she sees them - but you can only trace so many letters before it’s overkill. I plan on using some of them as review at the end of the year, and others I’ll save for Josiah.
Books
100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs
Workbooks
Wipe-Off My Alphabet Book
Wipe-Off I Can Count 0-10
Wipe-Off All About Shapes
Getting Your Preschooler Ready to Read and Ready for Math
Kumon My First Book of Tracing
Big Preschool Workbook
Write, Learn, and Wipe
Materials
ABC Do-A-Dot Pages
ABC Color By Number
Alphabet Cut & Paste Sheets
ABC Playdough Mats
A-Z Letter Hunt Worksheets
Letters of the Alphabet worksheets
Beginning Reading: Alphabet Worksheets
Letter Mazes
Alphabet Nursery Rhymes
Letter & Number Posters
Twisty Noodle – this is where I often get a letter or number coloring or tracing pages, along with a theme coloring page that I can customize with a word or phrase. I always use the letter & number rhymes when introducing the new material.
Now I Know My ABCs crafts
Kiboomu – I search in the category for whatever letter we’re studying
ABC Jesus Loves Me memory verse cards
Online stories & activities – Starfall’s calendar and letter activities, Story Time For Me’s online library, Peekuboo’s stories & games, and Paddywhack Lane’s Costume Club Dress-Up (fun activity when school stuff is done).
Other Resources
Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center
Crayola’s mini book report page (I ask Gwen the questions and write down her answers)
Signing Time DVDs
See my Homeschool Pinterest Board for more inspiration. I have lots of other homeschool ideas on Pinterest listed under various themes – like birds, weather, the human body, leaves, ocean, etc.
