Designed for children ages 36-48 months, this easy-to-use, comprehensive curriculum is FREE for immediate family and in-home use. If you intend to use the curriculum in a preschool, church, or daycare setting, please refer to the Complete 3 Year Curriculum.
Each Online Lesson Plan includes:
To get started, choose objectives and activities that suit your child's needs and situation. Please know that the Week 1 Lesson Plan is significantly longer to help you begin. Incorporate them into your child's daily routines to create a seamless and enjoyable learning experience. This flexible approach allows you to customize the curriculum to fit your unique situation, ensuring a solid foundation for your child's growth and development.
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Objectives| The 3 Year Curriculum introduces the child to learning, and the objectives are the learning goals that you introduce to the child over one week. Don’t feel the need to cover all the focused objectives each day. Instead, spread them throughout the week. As much as possible, pull the learning from the play and activities that the child is doing. |
Bible Story: Creation Days 1-3
Scripture: Genesis 1
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes: pg 14-17
The Beginner's Bible: pg 7-13
My Story Bible: pg 8-9
Verse: Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Tune: Are You Sleeping
In the beginning, (2x)
God created (2x)
The heavens and earth (2x)
Genesis 1:1 (2x)
Bible Song: This is the Day Traditional
This is the day (echo)
That the Lord has made (echo)
I will rejoice (echo)
And be glad in it (echo)
This is the day that the Lord has made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day (echo)
That the Lord has made
Poem: Seven Days Author Unknown
Tune: Are You Sleeping? or Where is Thumbkin?
Seven days, seven days
In a week, in a week
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Saturday, that’s a week
Colors: Black, White, Blue
One color is covered per week in the Complete 3 Year Curriculum, 2nd Edition.
Number: 0
Number Rhyme: Around, around, around you go. That’s the way to make zero!
Book for the Week: 
Five Little Ducks by Various Authors
Fine Motor Skill: Draw My Family
Gross Motor Skill: Put the Fire Out
Suggested Activities| Because busy lives make it difficult to think of activities that pair well with learning objectives, I’ve provided suggestions to help you teach the week’s objectives. Choose activities that your child would enjoy and that fit into your schedule. As often as possible, achieve the learning from books, play time, craft time, and current activities. |
The goal of the 3 Year Curriculum is to introduce the child to stories in the Bible. The Objective section includes page numbers to The Beginner's Bible (when available), but any age-appropriate children’s Bible can be used. For variety, you may read the same story from different Bibles. Be sure to read the Scripture yourself to understand the story's details. Another fun way to further Bible learning is to tell the story in an interactive way. The ABCJLM Interactive Bible Stories offer an age-appropriate script that is the perfect length for your active toddler. This supplemental product is available as a digital download, either included in the 3 Year Curriculum Bundle or purchased separately.
Bible Activities: Creation Days 1-3
The Beginner's Bible
As you read the story, have the child give a thumbs up every time God says, "It is good!" Focus on the colors of Creation in the Bible story and snacks (e.g. black - darkness, blue - water, white - clouds in the sky). Find additional Creation activities and crafts on the ABCJesusLovesMe Creation Idea pages.
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Creation Snacks
Help reinforce creation with fun snacks. (Image shared by Megan)
Day 1 (Day, Night) - Oreo cookies, chocolate and vanilla chips
Day 2 (Sky, Water) - Blue Jello and marshmallows or cool whip clouds
Day 3 (Land, Plants) - Make plants and flowers with stick pretzels, colored M&M's, and raisins image shared by Megan
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Creation Wheel Adapted from Big Book of Christian Crafts
Cut out the Creation wheel template. Add a title to the empty segment. Color the pictures. Using construction paper, trace and cut out a second circle the same size. Cut out a “pie” segment from the second circle that is slightly smaller than one segment on the first circle. Make sure not to cut all the way into the center. Insert a brad (paper fastener) into the center of both circles with the second circle on top. Review the creation story by turning the top wheel to expose the pictures below. You can also create your own wheel by cutting two circles and drawing or using stickers for the seven days of Creation.
Tell the Story with Flannelgraph
Flannelgraph provides a beautiful visual and tactile addition to the Bible story. Discover how to use it in this video.
Memory Verse: Genesis 1:1
Each week includes a simple memory verse. Help the child memorize at least the key words. Discover helpful memory verse tips. Remember to say each short phrase very slowly with the child.
Bible Song: This is the Day
The carefully selected Bible songs are beloved classics sung in Sunday School throughout the generations. Learning these tunes helps the child memorize verses and Bible stories while connecting them to strong theological truths. If any of these songs are unfamiliar, I've created free videos of each one, complete with actions, to help you learn them easily.
Sing this song very slowly and incorporate the actions throughout the day. Create a tradition of singing it during bath time, while driving, or as part of your bedtime routine. As you sing this song to the child repeatedly, they will gradually start to join in.
Under the Math objectives the child will be introduced to nine colors, eight shapes, sorting, spatial words, and patterns. Through out the curriculum, it will be suggested that a child use a broken crayon to color and write. Occupational therapists have discovered that broken crayons (under 1” in length) force a child to correctly hold a writing utensil so no bad habits develop. The end goal is that the child will hold a utensil with her thumb and index finger while supporting it on the middle finger. Read more handwriting tips.
Color: Black, White, Blue
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Color Ice Cream Cone
For the next few weeks, use the Building with Colors worksheet to build a color ice cream cone. This week add the black, blue, and white ice cream scoops to the cone.
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Boz Video
View Boz Colors and Shapes and discover God's world through colors and shapes!
Number: O
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Number Book
Number posters introduce the child to various art media and counting. After decorating each poster with the suggested medium, add the appropriate number of stickers to the poster. At the end of the curriculum, the posters will be combined to form a book of numbers 0-15. For this week, use black, white, and blue broken crayons to color the Number 0 poster. Since zero can be a difficult concept to understand, explain that zero means none and do not put any stickers on the worksheet. Play a game where the child jumps up and down, claps, and says their name zero times to reinforce the concept of zero.
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Tactile Numbers and Letters
Tactile numbers and letters (also called sandpaper or textured) are key to the 3 Year Curriculum. Because many 3-year-olds do not have the fine motor skills for handwriting activities, this curriculum emphasizes tracing the numbers and letters with the child’s finger. Using the roughness of sand, glitter, or yarn adds one more aspect of learning. The ABCJLM website contains a plethora of simple ideas to make or purchase your own tactile letter set. As the child traces the tactile numbers and letters, be sure to say the Number Rhyme and Letter Formation Chants. This helps the child learn the correct formation. All numbers and letters are formed from top to bottom, left to right, and counter clockwise. This formation is important for pre-reading.
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Writing Letters and Numbers
For older children or those with strong fine motor skills who are ready for basic number writing but not the full 4 Year Curriculum, use the Number Posters to teach correct number formation. Add green and red dots to the posters and use the Number Rhymes to guide the formation. Encourage the child to stay within the lines while forming each number.
Calendar Activity
Discussing the calendar each day can be a fun activity that reinforces numbers, counting, days of the week, and months of the year. Starfall.com offers an interactive, online calendar that is a great way to start the day.
Pre-reading activities, such as rhyming, phonemic awareness, and rhythm, prepare children for reading and spelling independently. Each Lesson Plan includes a Nursery Rhyme or fingerplay to work on the beginning and ending sounds of words. The goal is to introduce these concepts, with any understanding and retention being a fun bonus. Each Lesson Plan also includes Books of the Week. Children should be read quality literature for at least 15 minutes a day. Each week, the child will be introduced to a quality picture book to complement other learning and provide pre-reading exposure. Read the book multiple times throughout the week, discussing the illustrations and focusing on concepts related to this week's objectives (e.g., black, white, 0, Creation).
Poem: Seven Days
At first, quote the short phrases of the poem very slowly to help the children correctly learn the words. Also, assist the child in performing actions with the poems. Quote them throughout the day (e.g. while driving, in the bathtub, while washing hands) and discuss vocabulary the child may not know.
Book of the Week: Five Little Ducks
- Fingerplay: After reading the book several times, sing the song while doing the actions by memory.
Number - show the number of ducks on your fingers
Over the hills - move hand in front of you like you are going up and down over hills
Far away - move opposite hand in front of you in same motion
Quack - move hand like a duck's beak saying "quack"
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Five Little Ducks Countdown
Color and cut apart the Five Little Ducks worksheet. Back each duck with sticky tape and post. Sing the song or read the book and have the child remove one duck for each verse (begin with Duck #5). If the child is ready for a more difficult activity, scramble the ducks so that the numbers are not in order.
- As the book progresses, sing each verse in a more "sad" tone. Talk about the feeling of "sadness" and show a "sad" face. Talk about things that make us sad just like the Mommy Duck in the story.
- Practice counting backwards from 5 to 1 using your fingers. This is a great fine-motor activity.
- Visit a local pond and feed the ducks.
- Discover more Five Little Duck ideas...
Fine motor skills are activities that improve one’s ability to write and manipulate small objects. Gross motor skills involve large muscle movement (e.g. running, jumping, hopping etc.). These skills are important for pencil control, balance, and coordination. Each Lesson Plan includes an activity to improve the child’s fine and gross-motor skills. Also, refrain from using markers or pens in activities as they do not strengthen fine and gross motor skills as much as crayons and pencils. Be sure to look over the 3 Year Development Guide so that you are familiar with developmental milestones for your child's age.
Fine Motor Skill: Draw My Family
Fine motor skills are those activities that allow you to better do things such as writing and manipulating small objects. Each lesson plan includes an activity to help improve the child's fine-motor skills. Periodically throughout the curriculum, the child will be instructed to draw his family. This can be a daunted task for some children. Begin by demonstrating how to draw a person. Use simple shapes for parts and explain what you are doing as you draw. Let your child assist in the process. Later in the week, give your child a chance to try it himself. For more ideas read, "Teaching Your Child How to Draw a Person."
Gross Motor Skill: Put the Fire Out
Gross motor skills are big motor skills that require balance and coordination (e.g. running, jumping, hopping etc.). Each lesson plan includes an activity to help improve the child's gross motor skills. This week, play "Put the Fire Out," a fun outside activity that involves sidewalk chalk, water, and a sponge. Begin by drawing a ladder on cement with sidewalk chalk. Draw a fire at the top of the ladder. Place a bucket and a sponge at the bottom of the ladder. Have the child wet the sponge and jump between the rungs of the ladder to get to the fire. Once at the fire, squeeze the sponge over the fire to put it out! (Idea from YourTherapySource.com
Family Fun Ice Cream Activity
Create a family tradition of making homemade ice cream in a bag or in a coffee can. Correlate with the "Building with Colors" activity.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup milk, cream, or half and half
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the three ingredients in a quart-sized zip-top bag or a small coffee can. Mix and seal the container very well. Because the seal may not hold through the mixing process, you may want to tape the seals closed. If possible, refrigerate this mixture for a few hours to speed up the freezing process. Place the well-sealed zip-top bag in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or the small coffee can inside a large coffee can. Place crushed ice cubes and approximately 1/2 cup rock salt inside the larger containers to surround the smaller bag or can. Seal the larger bag or coffee can very well. Then shake and roll the containers for 5-10 minutes until the mixture turns into ice cream. Carefully open the smaller container making sure that the water and salt freezing ingredients do not come in contact with the ice cream. Grab a spoon and enjoy!
Use the First Day of Preschool poster to create a precious photo op for remembering today. Be sure to tag #ABCJesusLovesMe or @ABCJesusLovesMe when you post the image on social media!
Warning: All information on the ABCJesusLovesMe website, on Facebook Groups under the ABCJesusLovesMe name, and on the Parenting to Impress blog is for general information purposes only. All the activities and ideas shared require adult supervision and children under the age of three should not participate in activities in which small pieces are involved. Also, what works with one child may not work with all children. ABCJesusLovesMe, as well as Parenting to Impress, contain suggestions and all should be taken simply as suggestions. Please seek the advice of a professional when questions arise.
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