Homeschool Curriculum, Books, & Resources For Preschool & Pre-K (2022-2023)
This post is going to be a long one! I wanted to ensure that you could find everything we’re using for homeschooling all in one place!
I have a good number of homeschool-related videos over on my YouTube channel, but sometimes it’s nice to have all of the information and links in one comprehensive blog post, so that’s what I’ve got for you today!
**If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Hannah, an elementary teacher turned stay-at-home mom to our two children, Sophie and Soren. Sophie will be 5 in a few weeks, and Soren will turn 3 shortly after that! This is technically our third year of homeschooling, because back when Sophie was about to turn 3, we started a year of “casual preschool,” and then last year we did Pre-K level work. This year (2022-2023), I’m doing a second year of Pre-K with Sophie – or at least that’s what I’m calling it, since we’re not doing full-fledged kindergarten yet. Soren turns 3 so soon, and he’s been wanting to do school alongside Sophie for a long time, so we decided to start Preschool for him this year!
The outline of and links listed in this blog post coincide with my 3-part video series over on YouTube. In the first video, I share our general curriculum choices. In the second video, I give you an in-depth tour of our bookshelf and book box (this includes many picture books, chapter books, and reference books) that we’re using for this year and beyond! Finally, the third video is where I walk you through our homeschool course books and supplies organization, including all of our supplemental games and activities! So, I formatted this blog post to follow those videos and I’m giving you links in the order in which things were mentioned!
*Amazon links are affiliate. Thank you for supporting me via my links!
General Curriculum Choices for Preschool & Pre-K
YouTube Playlist of All of My Homeschool Videos
Daily Peeks At Our Life – over on Instagram!
My Video About the New Preschool Course Book (Sept. 2021)
The Good & The Beautiful Preschool Course Book
My Video About the New Kindergarten Prep Level Language Arts Curriculum
The Good & The Beautiful Kindergarten Prep Level
The Good & The Beautiful Level K (Kindergarten) Language Arts
The Good & The Beautiful Level K Math Course
Sonlight Curriculum Preschool Level Package
(You can also click on “What’s Included” to see their complete book list for the Preschool Level)
Sonlight Curriculum Pre-K Level Package
(You can also click on “What’s Included” to see their complete book list for the Pre-K Level)
Better World Books (a great place to find used books – I found it was often cheaper than Amazon’s used books!) – Use this referral link to get $5 off your order of $30 or more
Sonlight Curriculum Level K Package
(You can also click on “What’s Included” to see their complete book list for the level)
Great Article on Using Decodable Readers
Great List of Recommended Decodable Readers
Half-Pint Decodable Readers (We have Level A)
Reading For All Learners Decodable Readers (We have Set 1)
My Video About the Science For Little Hearts and Hands Course
Science For Little Hearts and Hands (NEW science curriculum, for ages preschool-2nd grade)
Book “The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home”
Homeschool Books on Our Bookshelf (Bible, Science, Social Studies, Read Alouds, & More)
Better World Books (a great place to find used books – I found it was often cheaper than Amazon’s used books, so definitely worth a shot!) – Use this referral link to get $5 off your order of $30 or more
Social Studies Books:
Then and Now – Usborne Talkabout Book
Your Life As a Settler in Colonial America
How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark
Nature/Science Books:
Better World Books (a great place to find used books – I found it was often cheaper than Amazon’s used books, so definitely worth a shot!) – Use this referral link to get $5 off your order of $30 or more
What Can You Do, Kangaroo? (Book is part of The Good & The Beautiful’s For Littles Mammals Bundle)
Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature
Flower Study (Book is part of The Good & The Beautiful’s Flower Study & Flower Game Set)
Who Lives Here? Desert Animals
What is Symmetry in Nature? by Bobbie Kalman (really hard to find online – we got our copy at a thrift store or garage sale)
A Party For Clouds: Thunderstorms
Who Lives Here? Rain Forest Animals
The Magic and Mystery of Trees
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature
Wild About Minnesota Birds: A Youth’s Guide to the Birds of Minnesota
Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?
What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?
Butterflies by Tori Kosara (hard to find online – ours must’ve been from a garage sale or thrift store)
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World
DK: Food and Farming (Picturepedia)
Fall-Themed Books:
Winter’s Coming: A Story of Seasonal Change
Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Book (I couldn’t find the plush story “props” online, and ours were from a garage sale, but you could search around for a prop set or even magnets to go along with the story!)
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves (Not in the YouTube video because I think we left it at the apartment, but I had to include this one! It’s such a sweet story!)
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn (Not in the YouTube video because I think we left it at the apartment, but this is a wonderful story about the seasons gently changing!)
Bible / Theology Books:
The Bible I Have (It’s an ESV Study Bible)
The Biggest Story ABC Board Book
Little Pilgrim’s Progress (Illustrated Edition)
We Believe: An Alphabet Primer Board Book
Jesus: Big Theology for Little Hearts Board Book
The Gospel: Big Theology for Little Hearts Board Book
Truth and Grace Memory Book One: Ages Two to Nine
Spotify Songs To Teach The Q&As in the Truth and Grace Memory Book (or at least are super similar!): “Ask Me WhoOo, Vol. 1” by Diana Beach Batarseh
The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New
The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible (This is the more detailed one I talked about in my YouTube video)
Found: Psalm 23 (Not in the YouTube video but such a great introduction to the 23rd Psalm – and the character of God – for littles)
Read Aloud Books:
*Like I talk about in my YouTube video, this collection of read aloud books isn’t just for this school year. We’ll be working our way through these over the years!
The Complete Brambly Hedge (a great “bridge” book – I talk about this more in my YouTube video but it means a book that’s a bridge or step between a picture book and a chapter book – kind of like a simple or illustrated chapter book)
Thimbleberry Stories (another “bridge” book)
The Storm (The Lighthouse Family Series) (another “bridge” book series)
The Blue Hill Meadows (another “bridge” book)
My Father’s Dragon (the book I linked here is the trilogy that I grew up with – so good! Another “bridge” book)
The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook
Little Bear (another “bridge” book)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (another “bridge” book)
A True Home: Heartwood Hotel Series, Book 1 (I haven’t read this one but I think it technically classifies as a “bridge” book too)
Winnie the Pooh (several book collection)
*Not mentioned in the video, but if you want to read the most beautiful picture book about the true story that inspired Winnie the Pooh, then be sure to check out Finding Winnie – one of my favorite children’s books of all time!
Art / Music / Poetry Books:
The Magical Garden of Claude Monet
Come Look With Me Art Book: Enjoying Art with Children
Come Look With Me Art Book: Exploring Landscape Art with Children
Come Look With Me Art Book: Animals in Art
Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great Masters
Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories
The Frogs and Toads All Sang (Poems)
Classic Poetry: Candlewick Illustrated Classic
Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf: Picture Book With a Fully-Orchestrated and Narrated CD
“Peter and the Wolf” on Spotify, if you just want to listen to it in the car or while doing another activity (this is the version I grew up with)
Reference / Large Books:
Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year (We use this one every day for school!)
The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day
Sounds of Nature: World of Birds
A Child’s Book of Art: Great Pictures – First Words
Decodable Readers / Phonics Books:
Great Article on Using Decodable Readers
Great List of Recommended Decodable Readers
Reading For All Learners Decodable Readers (We have Set 1)
Half-Pint Decodable Readers (We have Level A)
Level K Books: Reading Booster A (these are part of The Good & The Beautiful’s Level K Language Arts Set)
Soren’s Books:
*This year (2022-2023) we are starting Preschool level work with Soren! Some of these books are ones I specifically chose for Soren based on his interests (i.e. tractors/farming), but most are from the Preschool Level book list from the Sonlight curriculum (which we did with Sophie a couple years ago).
HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics
The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book
Eloise Wilkin Stories Collection
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever
Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
First Thousand Words in English – Usborne
The Tall Book of Nursery Tales
A Children’s Treasury of Nursery Rhymes
Counting with Barefoot Critters
Richard Scarry’s Please and Thank You Book
A is for Apple (Smart Kids Trace-and-Flip)
A Day in a Life of a Police Officer: DK
Our Little Adventures: Stories Featuring Foundational Language Concepts for Growing Minds (3-book set)
A Few Other Fun Books:
These are the other children’s books I chose to keep in our tall bookshelf that you see in my YouTube video – just because I like them so much and feel they’re a great option to remember to pull out!
Usborne Beginners Animals Box Set (10 books!)
Usborne Beginners History Box Set (10 books!)
Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury (so many stories in this one!)
The Children’s Book of Virtues
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children
Homeschool Resources, Activities, & Manipulatives
Art Table / Art Cart Area:
Kids’ Art Table (We found the table and two chairs on Facebook Marketplace for about $60 total. These Pottery Barn tables and chairs are pricey, but really great quality, so I recommend looking for them on Marketplace or something similar so you can get a good deal!)
White Rolling Art Cart (It’s not very tall, but it had the right dimensions I needed for that space! It’s been a great cart so far.)
Ticonderoga Pencils (“My First Pencils”)
Washable Crayons (The little wooden box we’re storing them in was probably from the Target dollar section!)
24-Color Washable Watercolor Paint Set (We love these sets so much! They’re a little hard to find so I linked the site where I found ours!)
Plastic Animal Rubbing Plates (I couldn’t find the leaf ones we have but these are similar.)
Our Favorite Watercolor Paper (Thick and slightly textured – so it doesn’t get soaked from watercolor paint)
Penny Reward System (by Abbie from M Is For Mama)
My “Mama” Reference Books & More Activities:
First Day of School Chalkboard Sign
ABC See Hear Do – Uppercase Letters
ABC See Hear Do – Lowercase Letters
Systematic Sequential Phonics Book – you can use letter tiles like these along with it!
Teaching From Rest – the first book on homeschooling I bought and read. It’s such a great one, and probably the one I recommend the most!
The Good & The Beautiful’s Creative Arts & Crafts Book (has 27 creative art projects for grades K-3 but could even appeal to grades K-6)
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home
Soren’s Animals Sticker Book – we do his sticker books together on our “date nights” when Sophie is at AWANA 🙂
Soren’s Trucks & Things That Go Sticker Book
Soren’s First 100 Words Sticker Book
Sophie’s Alphabet & Name Dry Erase Practice Board – this Etsy shop has other varieties, too, if you want your child to have a board that just shows their name or just shows the letters of the alphabet.
The Good & The Beautiful’s Mammals Set – includes the large mammals flip book
The Good & The Beautiful’s Preschool Letter Matching Flip Books (set of 4 flip books – the ones I showed you in the video)
PlayPods – I have an entire blog post all about what our favorite PlayPods are and how we use them! You can also get 10% off your order with the code HANNAH10 🙂
Roll-Up Soft Crayon Holder Case – you can select pink or blue
Phoneme Match Games – This Reading Mama is one of my very favorite resources for educational games, blog posts on teaching, and more! She has LOTS of amazing freebies.
Concepts of Print Sorts by This Reading Mama
CVC Task Cards – I think these were a free sample I received from The Measured Mom in the past, so I can’t find this specific set, but The Measured Mom is one of my other favorite sites to find great educational games and activities!
Wooden 10 Frame is from this Etsy shop (the product isn’t available at the moment)
Magnetic Letters (this is similar to what we have, although these are foam and not plastic)
Wooden 3-Letter Word Builder Blocks
eeBoo Watch This Face Emotional Literacy Game
eeBoo Good Manners Game
eeBoo What’s Going On Here? Game
eeBoo I Heard Your Feelings Game
Teddy Bear Mix & Match – such a cute game or even cute bears for littles to look at!
Mighty Mind Activity Set (Magnetic Edition)
Printable Preschool Journal Prompts
The Good & The Beautiful Level K Language Arts
The Good & The Beautiful Science For Little Hearts & Hands
Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 2 (For Age 4)
Classical Conversations Cycle 1 CDs
Logic Activity Pack (Ages 4-7) (This is not in any video as of early October 2022, since I discovered it recently! But it is such a clever pack of logic activities and we’re loving it! There are 16 games included in the pack, and they increase in difficulty. I can see how it’d be great independent work, too, once a child knows how it works!)
In The Kids’ School Bins:
Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 1 (For Age 3)
The Good & The Beautiful Level K Math
The Good & The Beautiful Kindergarten Prep Course Book
My Video on the New Kindergarten Prep Course
The Good & The Beautiful Handwriting Notebooks – Sophie’s doing the Level K one now, but we really loved the two Pre-Writing Handwriting books, too!