I was first introduced to The Homegrown Preschooler and their curriculum, A Year of Playing Skillfully at the THSC Conference. I was walking the exhibit hall and saw a beautiful and fun booth with hands on activities like sensory bins and water beads for kids to try – of course I wanted to know more.
Last year I decided to do just AYOPS with my 5 & 3 year old. I invited two other moms to join us once a week and we had a little coop. It was lots of fun. Perhaps I will do a blog post on it later. When I got an email saying they were doing a summer version I pre-ordered immediately. There was a shipping delay so it just arrived yesterday BUT the ladies at The Homegrown Preschooler went above and beyond in getting the curriculum shipped.
Lets start by answering some common questions about the curriculum in general…
WHY do I like this curriculum? The above quote (found in the book along with many other inspiring reminders) pretty much sums it up. I love beautiful curriculum. I love hands on activities. I love connecting books with activities like art and cooking. I love getting outdoors with my kids. I love learning without realizing you are learning. AYOPS is all these things!
Could you recreate the curriculum? I am the QUEEN of DIY. I go shopping and see something I like and think “I can do this on my own”. The truth is yes, I usually can BUT what I have begun to realize is that the time and money it takes for me to “reinvent the wheel” as it were ends up taking away time from my family, something I don’t want to do. I was actually doing something similar to this curriculum idea with a friend and it was a lot of fun but it was quite a bit of work. Now that I have multiple children my time is more and more precious. So yes, if you are a creative person you can probably recreate it but not without a lot of time, work and money. It is beautiful. The ladies are creative and fun.The price is very reasonable so I am not sure why you would want to recreate it.
What if I am NOT creative? It is absolutely ok! The ideas and descriptions are such that you don’t have to be creative, you just have to follow the directions. If you have questions or are unsure there is a FB group full of ladies who are doing the curriculum too so you can share ideas and ask questions. Creative or not this is a great resource and I have used it as my own personal Pinterest of ideas for when my kids were needing some fun!
Can I do this with multiple ages? 100% yes! Our little coop had kids as young as 2 all the way up to my 5 1/2 year old. We did have to modify a few things for the young ones but it was totally doable and everyone had fun. We also found that the older kids could fly through the activities so we started doing multiple activities each time we met. The kids loved it.
Do I have to be a homeschooler to use this? NO. You could easily use either version to supplement whatever schooling you have chosen. I homeschool so I use it as part of my curriculum but it is not a traditional curriculum set up so it is a great option for use in various ways.
E-book or paper version? That is a preference decision. I personally love having the hold in my hands paper version but others love the e-book so know yourself and decide. Maybe you want to have both? They have that option too. I will be showing pictures of my paper version but all of this would be included in the e-book for you to print if you chose to do so.
The elements of the summer edition are the same as the original edition. Each month has a gorgeous calendar that lists all the activities and what category they fit in.
I put my calendar in a frame and display it on a shelf in the kitchen for easy access and…its pretty!
Each month has a theme and a character trait which provides continuity for that month. I like to add a scripture or poem following the same theme. Sometimes they already give a suggested idea.
Each month also has a supply list, & a planning list so you can map out which activities you want to do that month and in what order. There are also a few papers with room for you to record memories made while doing the various activities.
Notice how adorable even the planning portion is!! LOVE
Each month also has a mom’s corner with books and other suggestions for that month. Some are for the kids and some are for you as the mom.
The curriculum itself is so beautiful. Filled with pictures of children and families having fun doing the various activities. There are also recipes, snack ideas, arts and crafts, field trip ideas and more. The summer version really focuses on the outdoors since the weather is typically good in the summer.
There are also printables that go along with specific activities. Again, beautiful and fun!
Here are a few examples of the printables. There are LOTS more…
I like to keep my curriculum in a 3 ring binder and each page in sheet protectors, that way everything stays together and clean cause you know…life.
My curriculum also came with an updated version of the e-book since I paid for both e-book and paper copy. I really appreciate the way they keep their members up to date.
I also got some water beads as a thank you for waiting so patiently 🙂 My kids LOVE water beads so they were super excited.
Cons of the Summer edition:
There really aren’t many but I want to be real about what I think so I will mention what I have noticed. Please note that none of these possible cons are enough for me to give anything but 5 stars to this curriculum. I LOVE it and highly recommend it.
- Quite a few of the activities involve either the beach or lake. This could be a con for those who don’t have either an ocean or lake around them. For most of us its easy to plan a trip to one of these but it would require some advanced planning.
- Lots of outdoor activities. I hesitate to even list this as a con because we all know that kids need more outdoor time. The only reason I list it here is for those who are fair skinned (like my red heads) or have weather that is unpredictable. Either is easy to overcome with some sun protection and planning but I thought it may be worth noting.
- The recipes aren’t allergy friendly. Good news is we have the internet and a plethora of awesome cookbooks so you can simply substitute your fave allergy friendly version instead. Just be sure to alter your supply list.
- I am not sure I have time to do all the fun stuff!! This is actually a pro disguised as a con. The curriculum is made for flexibility and can be used a resource. You can skip some activities and then do them later when you have more time. Type A, list checker moms this is an opportunity for you to do some planning but still have the freedom to say “I don’t have to check all these boxes right now”.
I hope you look into both A Year of Playing Skillfully and A Summer of Playing Skillfully. Let me know if you have other questions. Gotta go play with my kids now!
-Thara
