Preschool is a time of learning that is filled with wonder and excitement through fresh, young eyes. At the same time though, it can be overwhelming to some mothers. I never thought I needed a specific preschool curriculum until I was able to use The Preschool Experience Curriculum from Sicily’s Heart & Home. This full curriculum course ensures that I don’t miss any of the good stuff that I want my little guy to learn in these few short preschool years.

With simple child-led activities I am able to take advantage of everything this curriculum has to offer while allowing my son, who is 4, the flexibility to follow his own natural curiosities. Yet at the same time, I have the structure that I crave. In the end, we both end up with quality time spent together learning and exploring this great big world around us. 

The Preschool Experience Curriculum is available as a digital download. Everything you need to provide an enriching preschool experience is included within the pages of the download. I found it easiest to only download and print the portions of curriculum we were using at that moment and place them into a three ring binder. Prep work is needed but it is not a huge amount, nor does it take a long time.

At Sicily’s Heart & Home, the curriculum is modeled to follow a relaxed routine to Unit Study learning within an encouraging environment. I like the aspect of unit studies in the younger years since it gives the children a broad range of exposure to different topics. I especially liked that each unit came with a detailed plan of attack and included a monthly big picture schedule plan as well as a weekly schedule so you can make sure to hit all the key areas of learning. A lengthy book list of fiction and non-fiction books are included for each unit also making it a breeze to either build your own home library or to borrow books from the public library. If you are into You Tube videos, there are also links to activities provided also.

Within the Unit Studies you will find several different themes, from dinosaurs, transportation, bugs, gardening, and holiday themes as well. Each unit is broken down into several different categories including:

Invitation to Explore

Literacy

Science/STEM

Math

Motor Skills

Art

Cooking

Within these categories are several different activities with detailed materials lists and directions that you will need to pick and choose so as to not overwhelm your child. These pages also have a section with Extended Questions that you can ask your child while you are busy learning and playing. These questions are designed to get your youngster thinking and talking about what they are learning.

Like many little boys, my son loves dinosaurs and anything with wheels. We have spent several weeks just going through the dinosaur and transportation sections because there are so many activities that we can incorporate into our day. Adding bits and pieces from the Literacy and Math sections that are included in this curriculum make this a full curriculum. Helpful skills check lists are included for both the Literacy and Math sections which I found to be really helpful in helping me gauge where my son was age/skill wise. 

Sure, many people say that you don’t need a preschool curriculum, but it is nice to have a guide as you go through these years. You get just that with The Preschool Experience from Sicily’s Heart & Home. Amanda has done all the legwork for you so you get to sit back and enjoy learning along with preschooler. I definitely think you should check this curriculum out to see if it is a good fit for your preschooler. My son loves it and I can see us incorporating some of the Unit Study activities into his Kindergarten year next fall.

-Product review by Jacquelin Caffey, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018