Pre-Kindergarten Package

UPDATED for 2022!
Nurture a love of learning for a lifetime with Sonlight’s Christian pre-kindergarten homeschool program.

Sonlight's Pre-Kindergarten program bridges the gap between the delightful picture books of Sonlight's Preschool program, and the early chapter books (some with minimal illustrations) and early academics of Sonlight K.

Pre-K starts to expand your children's knowledge of the larger world using a few dozen books (some of which will become favorites that you'll read again and again). These entertaining stories from around the globe will introduce your children to the world beyond your neighborhood.

You'll build meaningful relationships and delightful memories with your children. You'll teach alphabet sounds and verbal skills, and work through four sequential workbooks dedicated to reading readiness, so your children will be ready for phonics next year. You'll give your children a basic understanding of the physical world around them through fundamental science concepts and prepare your children with broad foundations in Bible, art, and history. Your children will develop key life skills, both cognitive and developmental—with new hands-on Montessori-type materials and activities all designed to address the developmental needs of young children in a fun, relaxed, and interactive environment.

Your children will start to come to you for wisdom and guidance. They'll see that learning is fun, as they start down the path of a lifetime of learning.

In this 36-week program (done 4 days a week), you'll teach with confidence as you follow along with your complete lesson plans, materials, and teaching tips.

Estimated daily time for Exploring God's World: Student and Parent: 20 mins to 1.5 hrs.

Here’s a look at what the Sonlight Pre-K program includes:

Instructor’s Guide

Teach like a pro! The Instructor's Guide schedules all the stories, poems, and hands-on activities included in this program to be done 4 days a week. This is your guide to complete lesson plans, materials, activities and teaching tips for this 36-week program. Just follow along!

In addition to the scheduled books and activities, you’ll also find developmentally appropriate, easy, creative hands-on activities connected with many of the stories, so you can extend your learning into daily life and play.

With the Sonlight Instructor's Guide, you can prepare a thoughtful learning environment for optimal exploration.

Note: The included Instructor's Guide is loose-leaf, 3-hole punched, and shrink wrapped. We recommend adding a small binder with tabs to organize your materials.

Literature

Pre-K includes many fiction titles, nicely illustrated, but the number of words per page increases significantly. And rather than compilations of picture books, the Pre-K program includes collections of short stories, plus a developmentally appropriate title that teaches your child more than 1,000 everyday words in Spanish.

But overall, the emphasis shifts away from only picture book pleasure, as in Preschool, into gentle teaching. If Preschool encourages imagination, Pre-K both continues the imaginative literature and starts to expand your children's knowledge of the real world.

For example, Peter Spier's oversized book People illustrates the incredible variety around the globe. He has a half-page simply showing profiles of noses; a two-page spread on celebrations around the world; a page of hairstyles; two pages of hobbies. In Things People Do, cute illustrations and funny names ("Les Chatter" the teacher, and "Honor Toze" the dancer) introduce a range of real jobs.

Children also start to learn History. How to express the concept of time? In Then and Now, illustrations show the same scene, 1 year apart: a farm, a grocery, a living room, a bedroom. Find the differences! There are, as in all Sonlight programs, stories. This one includes several powerful missionary biographies – true stories of God at work in the world.

And the Pre-K Science books are delightful. The Year at Maple Hill Farm offers one look at the months of the year, centered around farm animals. One chapter in The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature also has an almanac, this one a rhyming look at what the four seasons bring. Another chapter talks about three simple machines (the lever, the wedge, and the wheel). In How Do You Lift a Lion?, the author talks about levers, wheels, and pulleys. One science book describes things ever smaller, down to subatomic particles. Another describes things ever larger, up to galaxies and the universe.

Pre-K also includes two stellar books to start introducing the humanities to your children. One is an oversized art book. Look at the famous paintings and see what you can find. Is there one that you like more? Is it different for your children? The other is a book of poetry, beautifully illustrated by collage artist (and popular children's book writer) Eric Carle. It's a feast for the ears and the eyes.

Language Arts

Explore the sounds of the alphabet with Dr. Seuss's ABC and his delightful lilting rhyme and distinctive drawings. Students then identify everyday objects beginning with each sound of the alphabet in First Thousand Words.

Hands-On/Readiness Skills

Children learn best by doing so we've selected tactile materials that are especially effective for reinforcing pre-writing, pre-reading, and pre-math skills. The new pre-kindergarten program includes Montessori-type materials and activities that are hands-on, self-paced, and confidence-building. The included pre-kindergarten supply kit includes an assortment of hands-on learning materials in one convenient, sturdy cardboard box. This preschool supply kit includes:

• Math Beads (45 singles, 10 tens): Includes 45 single pony beads in yellow and 10 bead bars. Each bead bar has 10 yellow pony beads on a stiff wire.
• Sensory Capital Letters: 26 tactile capital print letters with textured surface
• Sensory Number Cards 11-30: 20 tactile numbers (11-30) with textured surface
• Teen Board & Number Tiles: Includes one heavy cardstock Teen Board, ten single-digit number tiles with the numerals 0-9, and three double-digit number tiles with the numerals 10, 20, and 30

In addition to the 26 splendid books and carefully sequenced hands-on learning activities, you'll also receive four carefully sequenced workbooks that help your children build motor skills (useful for handwriting), visual skills (useful for letter recognition and reading), auditory skills (important for following directions and listening to great books), and comprehension (understanding those great books).

Sonlight’s pre-k program embraces a nurturing learning environment where you create fond memories, build meaningful and intimate relationships, and prepare your children for a lifetime of learning... all while developing your children's reading readiness, cognitive and developmental skills.

Here are some of the things your children will learn:

• Build independence and self-confidence, while also reinforcing fine motor coordination through daily practical life skills. Some of these skills include washing dishes, table manners, preparing simple foods, and folding laundry.
• Develop an understanding of the quantities and numerals from 1-30.
• Develop spatial reasoning and fine motor skills through hands-on play.
• Introduce how to write capital letters and their sounds.
• Build fine motor skills by tracing shapes and letters, using scissors, and sorting.
• Begin learning a foreign language. Learn hundreds of Spanish words you can use throughout your day.
• Explore praise and worship songs that coordinate with the Bible stories. Songs that make you move!
• Introduce God's wonderful world and the many interesting animals, events, and environments. Visit a farm throughout the year to experience the different seasons. Answer questions like, What's under the sea? What is the smallest and biggest thing on earth? What is in the middle of the earth?
• And so much more.

Is Your Child Ready to Read?

Sonlight’s pre-kindergarten packages comes with two options:

• With Readers
• Without Readers

If pre-k seems a perfect fit for your student, but they are also demonstrating an interest in learning to read, you may wish to choose our Pre-Kindergarten Package with Readers. (Choose Readers K in the Readers Level drop-down above.)

The Pre-Kindergarten Package with Readers includes Language Arts K and a more advanced level of readers. That package will take the place of the pre-k language arts included in the Pre-Kindergarten Package without Readers.

To choose the pre-k package without readers, choose No Readers in the Readers Level drop-down above.

Use Sonlight's Reading Assessment to see if the kindergarten reading level is the right level for your child.

Together, the pieces of pre-k add up to a wonderful program that helps you give your children what they need to grow. Finish pre-k with great memories, a closer relationship with your children, significant improvements in foundational skills, and an eagerness for learning that will continue to grow in the Sonlight years ahead.

Please Note: While a complete package, Sonlight's Pre-K package does not qualify as an All-Subjects Package. This package does not qualify for the 20% All-Subjects Package discount and cannot be personalized. This package does qualify for the History / Bible / Literature 15% discount.