The Preschool Homeschool

If you’ve been homeschooling a while, you’re probably already familiar with the Starfall website. If not, here are some tips for integrating the Starfall site into your curriculum.

First, you need to visit Starfall and browse around and see all the fun stuff available. We use Starfall whenever we start a new letter. We work on the letter and then go online and she does the letter on the Starfall program. She loves all the music and interaction that Starfall provides. The best part is that it’s all free. If you have a printer, and if you’re a homeschooler you need a printer, there are plenty of free homeschool printable activities that correspond with the site.

Just visit the download center for alphabet pages, printable books, make a word papers and bunches more. If you plan a weekly curriculum, jump on starfall the night you plan and just print out your activities for the week. It’s also great to use Starfall as a filler activity. For example, if you feel like you’ve achieved nothing one day because the fridge busted, toilet overflowed, your cell phone fell in the dog’s water bowl, etc…let your kid spend some time playing on Starfall. No matter what they do, they are learning something, and the site is easily navigated by little hands. My daughter needs no help whatsoever navigating to different activities. Enjoy!

As a homeschooling family, we occasionally try out affordable curriculums and see how we like them. We used Brighter Visions with our son and tried it with our daughter. Our son was 2.5 when we started with him and our daughter was 3.5. Even after trying Brighter Visions with two different age groups my opinion remains the same.

With Brighter Visions you get a workbook, craft, stickers, storybook, and manipulative or song. While it’s fun for the kids to get these little boxes in the mail each month, it’s not a curriculum that keeps their attention long. My son and daughter both enjoyed the crafts and stickers the most. My daughter can do the workbook in one day and my son was never interested.

I stayed with Brighter Visions for about 4 months with my son, until I realized I could come up with the same things on my own or find similar projects online for free. I only got 2 boxes with my daughter. However, if you struggle each month to come up with a learning theme or ideas, then Brighter Visions may work for you. The cost is certainly affordable. The hardback books that come in the box are worth the price. At around $20, the price can’t be beat. However, if you’re looking for something truly enriching for your curriculum, you may want to try something else. You can decide for yourself by ordering a free sample curriculum from BrighterVisions.com. They do honor the guarantee that you own nothing if you don’t like the product.