Catholic ABC's Preschool Curriculum - the free (abridged) version

*Check out my new Catholic ABC's (The Book!), and find more than 50% new content! It's easy to use, and all inclusive!* :-)

I am so excited that many of you have chosen for Catholic ABC's to be a part of your homeschooling curriculum this year! This post will tell you everything you need to know about how to use the curriculum, what supplies you need, and how to find what you're looking for. Even though Catholic ABC's is now available in a much more complete form as a book, I wanted to leave this older and shorter version up for anyone who was in need of a program that couldn't afford the book.

<a href="http://catholicicing.blogspot.com/p/cathoilc-preschool-curriculum.html" target="new"><img alt="Catholic ABC's" src="http://i554.photobucket.com/albums/jj427/bunnydeau/ABCs2.jpg" width="180" border="0" /></a>

This is a Catholic curriculum for preschoolers that can be used at home, or with a co-op. However, I'm posting this here to be used by individuals or non-profit groups only! It is great if you link to this, but do not republish this information anywhere else. A more complete version of this program is now available as a book.

This preschool curriculum will help them to thrive on routine. The crafts will help improve their fine motor skills, and serve as reminders for reviewing what they've learned. By the end of the year they will have been exposed to numbers 1-5, every letter in the alphabet, and many saints and Catholic prayers.

We are starting with numbers 1-5, then moving onto the alphabet- learning one letter or number per week. By the end of the school year, we will make it through all the letters.

~Supplies Needed for Teaching Catholic ABC's~

first quarter

• A Good Shepherd Set (You can make it yourself. This is the only unit study available online. You'll find 5 all new unit studies in Catholic ABC's The Book! )
• A picture of the Good Shepherd (Print one)
• A set of magnetic alphabet letters (You can get these at the Dollar Tree)
• A Magnetic Dry Erase Board and marker (Also available at the Dollar Tree)
• 2 bags (You can use paper lunch sacks or sew something fancy- it's up to you!)
• A package of cross stickers

You will still need materials for the crafts each week, but these are the things you'll be using every week.

This program is going to be broken into quarters. The curriculum for the first quarter is below. This is the "script" you follow each week. Every Wednesday I will provide the letter or number of the week, and the coordinating craft, memory verse, and saint. Click here to see the newest post. 

Your preschooler(s) may not be able to handle all of this in one day, especially at the beginning of the year. You can always add more of this in as the year goes along, or break the activities up over several days. What the teacher says to the children is in red. The children's responses are in blue- you just help them with the responses until they are responding on their own.

First Quarter Catholic Preschool Script- The Good Shepherd

Begin class every week by singing this song 

(Tune London Bridge)

Can you stretch up to the stars, to the stars, to the stars? 

Can you stretch up to the stars? Up towards heaven!

Can you bend and touch your toes, touch your toes, touch your toes?

Can you bend and touch your toes? Now be seated!

(stretch up to each side and all round during first verse.

Bend over and stretch towards your toes for the second.
At the end be seated and ready for the lesson.)

~Opening~

-"Good Morning _____" 

-Good morning _____! 

-"How do we start our day?" 

-(With a prayer!) 

-"That's right! And how do we start a prayer?"

-(Wish the sign of the cross!)  

This is when you put a cross sticker on their right hand. Explain that this is their "right hand" and their "sign of the cross hand". 
-"Show me your sign of the cross hand! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (As you sign the cross)

(Pray this prayer together)

Good Morning, Dear Jesus
This day is for you.
We ask you to bless all we think (point to head) say (point to mouth) and do (palms reach up).
Saint _____, Pray for us. (Insert saint of the week here, which will be provided each Wednesday)
Amen.
(sign of the cross)

-"The Lord be with you."
- And also with you. 

~Good Shepherd Lesson~ 

Show the Good Shepherd picture. 

-"Who is this?" (The Good Shepherd or Jesus)

-"That's right, and he loves his sheep very much, just like he loves you!"

 

Now bring out your Good Shepherd set and use it to act out the story for the little ones. All the directions for making and using the Good Shepherd set are included in the Good Shepherd post. You will use this story for the first quarter of the year.

~Jesus Loves You~

Now look at each child in your group, and make eye contact. Then say...
-"(name of child), Jesus loves you." Do this for each child in the group separately.
-"Jesus loves everyone! Lets sing our Jesus Loves Me song! Show me your ME fingers." (hold up pointer finger and have them do the same. Tell them to point to themselves each time we say "me" in the song.)
-Sing Jesus Loves Me, waving your finger around for the length of the song and pointing to yourself each time you say "me".

Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to him belong,
they are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus love me!
The Bible tells me so.

~Letter of the Day~

-"Now we're going to learn about our ABC's! Lets sing the alphabet song!"
-Sing the alphabet song
-Review previous letters and what they stood for (the craft you made with them) You can draw the letter on the dry erase board, and ask the child to recall the craft. This will be easier for them if you have kept their crafts displayed somewhere in your home.
- "Today we're going to learn about the letter __. It looks like this." (draw it on the board; upper case and lower case). "And it sounds like this. __ ."
-"Now we're going to sing the alphabet song again, but we'll stop at the letter__!" (insert letter of the week)
-"Now lets see how many __'s we can find!" (again, letter of the week)
-Dump all of your magnetic alphabet letters on the floor, and let them search for the correct letter. When they find them, stick them onto the magnetic dry erase board. Tell them they did a good job.
-Sing the Barney clean up song and pick up the remaining letters on the floor. (Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!)

-"Now it's time for our grab bag! In this bag, there are many things that start with the letter __. Lets see what they are!"
-Bring out your grab bag filled with items starting with the letter of the week. If you're teaching multiple children, call their names one at a time and have them come pull something out, and go sit back down. Then have them tell everyone what they got. Repeat the name of the item, stuttering the first sound. If items remain after each child has a turn, the teacher takes them out to show. Avoid items with mixed sounds such as "Ch". Keep the sounds of the letters "typical".
-"______, can you bring your ____ and put it back in the bag?" Continue until all items are back in the bag.
* If you're only teaching one child, they may pull the items from the bag you are holding one at a time and you can talk about each item.*
** If you're looking for ideas of things to put in your grab bag, scan the dictionary**

~Memory Verse~

Your child(ren) may be too small to memorize long phrases, but this is a good way to expose them to the idea of memorizing bible verses, and expose them to different prayers. I will provide a coordinating memory verse of some kind each week. If it is a bible verse, look it up and read it to them straight from the bible. This will give them exposure to the idea of reading from the bible.

-"Here's our memory verse of the week." (hold up the your paper) "Let me read it to you." (run your finger under the words as you read it out loud to them. You can talk about the verse here.
-"This time, you repeat after me..." (read it in small chunks having the children repeat it).
-"Good job everyone! Now lets try it all together. Say it with me!" (read it again slowly and see if they can try to keep up.)
-"Great job!" (set it to the side)

-Implement the week's memory verse each night at the end of your bedtime prayers.

*Due to time restraints, the bible verses were never included on the letter pages. They can be found in Catholic ABC's The Book.*

~Craft~

Now it's time to do your craft. The coordinating crafts for this program are posted each Wednesday. I have now made a directory of the crafts for this program, and update it as I post them. See below and find your current week: *I do provide crafts from A-Z here, but many of the crafts have been improved upon in Catholic ABC's The Book. In the book, you will find lessons to read aloud to your children, which were not included in this free, online version of the program.*

~Closing Time~

- "Alright. Can you show me your "little light" finger?" (hold up your pointer finger) "Who is the light of the world?"
- (Jesus!)
- "And we all have his little light inside of us. Jesus gave us this light when we were baptized. It is called the Hold Spirit. Yes, you have it inside of you. It helps you be good, brave, and happy. You will have this light forever. You will let your light shine for everyone to see how good, brave, and happy you are. You won't hide it away, like under a bushel basket; and you won't let any bad people blow it out! Let's sing about your little light. You can sing and do what I do."
- Sing This Little Light of Mine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
(hold up your finger as your "little light")

Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine!
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine!
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
(put one hand over your "light" when you say 'under a bushel' and remove suddenly when you proclaim "no!")

-"We had a good class today! Time for our blessings!"
- Finish with "God bless you and may your angel watch over you today" while you do a sign of the cross on each child's forehead.

That's it!

I'll be adding more to the script for the second quarter, but the letters will continue all year. Definitely print this out and keep it with you during class to refer to.

To read more about this program or to find Catholic ABC's The Book, click here.
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