Ideal Curriculum

Ideal Curriculum
http://www.idealcurriculum.com/

About the product
Ideal Curriculum is a product geared for early kindergarten/preschool kids. Their curriculum is made up of the same lessons and activities regardless of the format that you use. Their kits will each have a different theme and explore with art, science, dramatic play, and other hands-on activities.

All of their monthly kits include:

• Daily lessons and activities for literacy, math, calendar, oral language, and science/social studies
• Teaching guides
• Workbook
• Music CD
• Science, sight words, and concepts about print books
• Supplemental activities

Skills Taught:

• Letters and Sounds -Letter Names
• Phonological Awareness -Listening Skills
• Concepts About Print -Print is all Around
• Sight Words -Name Recognition
• Math -Rote Counting

The monthly kits are designed to start with the first month and continue in order through month nine. The concepts and skills build on each other, so it is very important to follow this order.

My Thoughts
As a member of the TOS Homeschool crew, I had the opportunity of reviewing the first month of the Ideal Curriculum which was all about transportation.

I must say that I am impressed with the schedule provided with the month I received. The instructions are quite clear and easy to follow. There were three teacher’s manuals – language arts, mathematics and science. And each contained specific learning activities for the child to do. You will also receive all the print, music, and read file you will need during the month. The images in the read files are fabulous and brightly colored. They are well done to grab the attention of the little ones.

The monthly kits are will cover various notions within the subjects of literacy (letters and sounds, phonological awareness, sight words, concepts about print), science/social studies, mathematics and calendar. Each month will have different themes and in the end the child will have learned more about transportation, color, weather, about me, a healthy life, animals, people in my community, traditions in our country (which I am assuming it will be US based) and finally the world around us.

I think it is a great product for a teacher in preschool or junior kindergarten but as a homeschooler I don’t think it is a perfect fit. I find it too much planning to do and so on. I prefer sitting down with my child and discovering the letters, numbers, and colors without having to follow a schedule. But mind you, I realize plainly that other moms would love to have a schedule to guide them during the learning time of their little ones.

Finally, I find this product quite expensive for preschool/early kindergarten kids. The year long curriculum is over 500$ US and is a good option is you teach more than a few children. However, you could order the monthly kits which will allow you to pick and choose the theme you would like to have. The print version is 55$ or you could download it for 30$ if you prefer. But keep in mind that even though you have downloaded the product, you will have to print it at home to be able to use it. Personally, I would go with the downloadable version as you can reuse it for multiple children. But honestly, I find there is other products I would spend my money on in the long run. Right now, nine months are available for 440$ US in the print version of 240$ US for the downloadable version.