Welcome to the Basic Curriculum for 3-Year-OldsDesigned for children ages 36-48 months, this easy-to-use, comprehensive curriculum is FREE for immediate family, 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.
The Basic 3 Year Curriculum introduces your child to learning, with weekly objectives to guide your focus.
Each Online Lesson Plan includes:
To begin, choose one objective and activity to do with your child. Gradually add more as you establish a routine that fits your home. Read more in "Creating a Daily Schedule."
Week 1 includes extra guidance to help you get started. By incorporating learning into daily routines, you’ll create a seamless, enjoyable experience that fosters your child's growth and development.
Bible Teaching and PlayThe goal of the Basic 3 Year Curriculum is to introduce children to Bible stories. While I suggest The Beginner's Bible when available, 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 Story: Creation Days 1-3
Scripture: Genesis 1
As you read the story, encourage the child to give a thumbs up each time God says, "It is good!"
Help reinforce creation with fun snacks.
Cut out the Creation wheel template and add a title to the empty segment. Color the pictures, then use construction paper to trace and cut out a second circle the same size. Cut out a "pie" segment from the second circle, slightly smaller than one segment on the first circle, making sure not to cut all the way to the center. Place a brad (paper fastener) in the center of both circles, with the second circle on top. Review the Creation story by turning the top wheel to reveal the pictures below. Alternatively, you can create your own wheel by cutting two circles and drawing or using stickers for the seven days of Creation.
Each Lesson Plan includes a simple Bible verse for the child to memorize. Focus on helping the child memorize at least the key words. To make it easier, say the verse in very short phrases, using a slow tempo, so the child can follow along more easily. Videos of the piggyback memory verse songs with actions have been created to help with retention.
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.
Flannelgraph provides a beautiful visual and tactile addition to the Bible story. Discover how to use it in this video or read the "Using Flannelgraph with Preschoolers" page.
Make teaching your child even easier with the Complete 3 Year Curriculum, designed to build a strong foundation of learning. With engaging, hands-on activities printed and mailed to you, this Curriculum focuses on objectives like pre-reading, math, Bible stories, and social-emotional development, ensuring children are confident and eager to learn.
Academic Teaching and PlayChildren are always learning. The goal of the Curriculum is to introduce them to the world around them—letters, numbers, colors, shapes—in a way that feels like play. Whenever possible, incorporate learning into playtime, reading, conversations, and daily activities. Focus less on the outcome of the child’s art and more on the learning that takes place during the creative process. Note: While not in the Basic Curricula, weekly themes are covered in the Complete 3 Year Curriculum.
The child will be introduced to nine colors, eight shapes, sorting, spatial words, and patterns. Throughout the Curriculum, it will be suggested that the child use a broken crayon for coloring and writing. Occupational therapists have found that using broken crayons (under 1” in length) encourages a child to hold a writing utensil correctly, helping to prevent bad habits. The goal is for the child to hold a utensil with the thumb and index finger, supported by the middle finger. Read more handwriting tips.
Color Ice Cream Cone
For the next few weeks, use the Building with Colors Template to build a color ice cream cone. This week add black, blue, and white ice cream scoops to the cone.
Note: Only one color per week is covered in the Complete 3 Year Curriculum.
Boz the Green Bear Color and Shape Video was a favorite of my children's when they were in preschool. With fun songs and God-focused learning, this video was a special treat for them to watch.
The Basic 3 Year Curriculum offers several fun opportunities for the child to begin learning about numbers (0-15) and letters starting in Week 3. Number and letter posters introduce various art media, formation, phonics, and counting, allowing the child to create both a Number and Letter Book throughout the curriculum.
While writing isn’t encouraged until Week 20, tracing letters and numbers with the index finger is crucial for developing handwriting skills required in the 4 Year Curriculum. Tactile letters and numbers provide a textured surface, enabling the child to learn proper formation through finger tracing without the fine-motor demand of the tripod grasp.
All numbers and letters should be formed from top to bottom, left to right, and counterclockwise. Starting with correct formation is key to long-term success. The aim is to introduce letters and numbers, with any understanding or retention being an enjoyable bonus.
Number Rhyme
Around, around, around you go. That’s the way to make zero!
Number Poster
Number posters are provided for number learning to 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.
This week, use black, white, and blue broken crayons to color the Number 0 poster. Since zero can be a difficult concept, explain that zero means none and do not add any stickers to the poster. For a fun way to reinforce the concept of zero, play a game where the child jumps up and down, claps, and says their name zero times.
Tactile numbers (also called sandpaper or textured) are key to the 3 Year Curriculum. Since most 3-year-olds lack the fine motor skills for handwriting, this curriculum focuses on tracing numbers with the child’s finger. Using materials like sand, glitter, or yarn adds a sensory aspect to the learning experience.
The ABCJesusLovesMe website offers many simple ideas for making or purchasing your own tactile set.
As the child traces the tactile numbers, be sure to say the Number Rhyme provided in the Lesson Plan. This reinforces the correct formation and prepares the child for future pencil writing. Remember, all numbers are formed from top to bottom, left to right, and counterclockwise.
Introduce the alphabet in a simple way with our Letter Posters featuring each letter with fun formation poems and recognizable phonic images. Perfect for classrooms or home, these posters make learning letters interactive and fun!
Pre-Reading LearningPre-reading activities like rhyming, phonemic awareness, and rhythm help prepare children for independent reading and spelling. Each Lesson Plan includes a Nursery Rhyme, poem or fingerplay to introduce the child to beginning and ending sounds of words and fluency. The aim is to introduce these concepts, with any understanding or retention being an enjoyable bonus. Read more in "How to Teach Poems to Children."
Additionally, each Lesson Plan features 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 carefully chosen picture book to complement their learning and provide pre-reading exposure. Read the book multiple times throughout the week, discussing the illustrations and focusing on concepts tied to the week’s objectives (e.g., black, white, 0, Creation). Read more in "How to Teach Key Skills While Reading."
Five Little Ducks, available by multiple authors, is a popular counting rhyme that follows a mother duck as she calls her five little ducks to come home, but one by one, they wander off in different directions. As the book progresses, sing or read each verse in a "sadder" 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.
After reading the book several times, sing the song while doing the actions by memory.
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). Then practice counting backwards from 5 to 1 using your fingers. This is a great fine-motor activity.
If the child is ready for a more difficult activity, scramble the ducks so that the numbers are not in order.
The ducks from this worksheet will be used to review numbers for the next few weeks.
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
Poem Teaching Tips
Begin by quoting the short phrases of the poem very slowly to help the children learn the words correctly. If actions are provided, guide the child in performing the actions that go along with the poems. Recite the poem throughout the day, such as while driving, during bath time, or while washing hands. Take the opportunity to discuss any unfamiliar vocabulary to expand the child’s understanding.
Help your little ones learn their colors with these vibrant, fun flashcards—perfect for preschoolers! Click the link below to download your free set today and start learning through play.
Developmental Learning and PlayDevelopment is just as important as academic and Bible learning. Fine motor skills help a child improve their ability to write and handle small objects, while gross motor skills are essential for larger movements like running and kicking a ball. Both types of skills are crucial for developing pencil control, balance, and coordination. Each Lesson Plan includes activities to strengthen the child’s fine and gross motor skills.
Avoid using markers or pens, as broken crayons and short pencils provide better opportunities for muscle development and proper pencil grasp. Please ensure these activities are not skipped, as they play a vital role in the child’s growth.
Periodically throughout the 3 Year 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."
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! My children loved this game!
Create a family tradition of making homemade ice cream in a bag or in a coffee can. Correlate with the "Building with Colors" ice cream cone 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!
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