Introduction to the Basic 5 Year Curriculum

Welcome to, and thank you for using, the basic ABCJLM 5 Year Curriculum for children who are more advanced or "redshirting" kindergarten due to their birth date, maturity, or other issue. Remember to use the following Lesson Plans and links found here only in an immediate-family, home setting.

For all non-family usage, purchase Licenses for the Complete Curriculum here.  In addition, please read our Terms of Use for further information.

Each Lesson Plan includes:

  • Supply List
  • Objectives for the Week
  • Suggested Activities for each Objective

Choose objectives and activities that are appropriate for your child and situation, and then incorporate them into the child's normal activities

Want to use a completely remodeled curriculum which requires less work and includes additional ideas, an updated handwriting curriculum, new drawings, and more teaching tips?  Take a look at the Complete 5 Year Curriculum, 2nd Edition. 

Green HandprintHandprint images in the Lesson Plan below designate items only included in the Complete 5 Year Curriculum.  The online Basic 5 Year Curriculum and the Complete 5 Year Curriculum are not compatible.

 

Items Needed

Below a list of suggested items needed for the objectives in the Lesson Plan.  Substitute these items as needed. 

Books:

Worksheets: 

Activities:

ORDER SUPPLIES Quickly order supplies in the ABCJLM Amazon Shop.

Objectives:

The objectives are goals for your child’s learning in a given week. I suggest using the Introduce, Practice, Identify teaching strategy to be successful in helping a child reach those goals.  Choose the objectives that you want to cover.  Not all objectives need to be covered each day; feel free to spread throughout the week.

Theme: Trinity

Bible Story: God the Father
Objective: God is my Father and He loves me.
Scripture: Genesis 1, I John 3:1a
My First Hands-On Bible: pg 10-21
The Beginning Reader's Bible:  pg  2-7
Through the Bible in Felt:  Story #1

Comprehension Questions:
Why is God called our Father?
Why did God create us?
What do loving fathers do for their children?
Are you a child of God?  How do you know?

Verse: I John 3:1 (NIV84) - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Tune:  10 Little Indians
How- great- is the- love the
Father- has lavished on us,
that- we should be- called
the children of God.

And that is what we are,
And that is what we are,
And that is what we are,
First John three- one.

Bible Song: Trinity Song
Tune: Are you Sleeping?
God the Father, God the Father
God the Son, God the Son
God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit
Three in One, Three in One.

Books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Math : Name Shapes and Colors
Science : Calendar - Days and Weeks
Social Science : Weather - Sunny, Cloudy
Letters: I, i
Numbers: Point to and Count 0-5
Literacy: How to Care for a Book
Sight Word : I

Book of the Week:
Blueberries for Sal Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Fine Motor Skill:  Draw "My Family"
Gross Motor Skill:  Put the Fire Out
Visual Perception Skill:  Coloring Tracking Worksheets 

 

Suggested Activities:

Busy lives make it difficult to think of activities that pair well with learning objectives. Below, I’ve listed 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

"I am Learning" Objective Poster:

 5 Year Curriculum Objective Poster Optional Addition:  The “I am Learning…“ Objective Poster is one of the best tools for helping you track what objectives the curriculum introduces to your child and when to incorporate the objectives into daily activities and play.  Transfer the weekly objectives to the poster and hang it in a prominent place to remember the objectives.  By placing the poster in a dry erase pocket or a picture frame and using a dry or wet erase marker, the sheet is reusable each week. Click to order this printable found in the 5 Year Workbook.  

First Day of 5 Year Curriculum:

First Day of 5 Year Curriculum Print the First Day of Preschool poster to create a precious photo op to remember today.  Be sure to tag #ABCJLM or @ABCJesusLovesMe when you post the image on social media!

Objective Checklist:

5 Year Objective Checklist Use the 5 Year Objective Checklist to determine what your child knows and to check learning progress throughout the curriculum.

Scope and Sequence:

5 Year Scope and Sequence  Optional Addition:  The Scope and Sequence explains what to teach and when to teach it.  This is especially helpful to see in table form exactly what the curriculum introduces to the child and to and note planned review weeks.  Use the spreadsheet to plan around special events and holidays, easily switch objectives if needed, or to combine curricula with more than one child.  Click to order this printable found in the 5 Year Curriculum Guide.

Bible:

My Hands on Bible  The goal of the 5 Year Curriculum is to take the Bible stories to a personal level.  The Items Needed section includes page numbers corresponding to My First Hands-On Bible (when available), but you may use any children’s Bible.  For variety, consider reading the same story from several Bibles.  Be sure to read the Scripture for yourself to make sure you know the important story elements.

- Shamrock Craft God the Father
Although the concept of God being three-in-one is too hard for even adults to understand, it is important to introduce children to the Trinity.  Start by sharing the Shamrock worksheet with the child.  Label the stem "God."  Explain that God is showed to us in three ways.  This week, introduce the child to "God the Father" as one part of the Trinity.  Have the child label one leaf "Father."

- God the Father:
God is the Creator.
God shows His love to us by forgiving and forgetting our sins.
God has no beginning or ending.
God is everywhere at once - omnipresent.
God is perfect and knows everything - omniscience.
God is all-powerful - omnipotence.
(Although the "omni-" words are difficult, most children love to learn big words.)

- As you go about your day, ask your child:  Who is always with you?  Beside mommy, who loves you no matter what?  Who knows everything about you? (God)

- Begin by reading Genesis 1.  God is called the Father because He created the world.  God made us - His children - because He loves us.  (For ideas to further this lesson view ABCJLM Creation Activities.)

- Next read I John 1:3a.  Discuss what a father is and what loving fathers do.  Loving fathers care for their children.  This means that fathers provide for their children's needs and give their children what is good for them.

- Because God is the ultimate Father, the words "God the Father" is always capitalized.  God is the Father of all people.
- I am a Child of God Craft  Have the child draw a picture of himself in the mirror of the "I am a Child of God" worksheet.  (Combine this activity with the Fine Motor Skill drawing.)

- Creation Day 6 Flannelgraph While it is an investment, for toddlers and preschoolers I believe flannelgraph is one of the best ways to teach Bible stories.  Because of this, in each lesson plan, you will see story numbers associated to the Betty Lukens Through the Bible in Felt Teacher Manual.  The Bible story, as well as a list of the needed flannelgraph scenes, characters, and props, are listed to help you tell the story.  Read more about "Using Flannelgraph."

ABCJLM Video:  Using Flannelgraph to Teach the Bible



Comprehension Questions:

Use these questions when planning the story and at the end of the week to check the child's understanding of the Bible story.

Memory Verse:

- I John 3:1 Verse Actions:
great - arms open wide
love - arms crossed across the chest
Father - point up in the air with index finger
lavished (given) - both hands "give" something
us, we - point thumbs at chest
children - move hands outward as if patting children's heads
God - point up in the air with index finger
And that is what we are!  - shout with fist cheers

- Memory Verse Cards Optional Addition:  Memory Verse Cards are a wonderful tool to learn the memory verses.  Each card contains the verse, reference, a corresponding picture, and a piggyback song or CD to sing the verse.  Also listed is the week the verse is used in the ABCJLM Lesson Plans (i.e. 5 Year Week 6).  Cut out and glue both the front and back of each card to cardstock for extra durability.   Rubber band together or hole punch and combine with a c-ring.  Keep in the car, by the child's bed, or near the dinner table for quick reference and review for the whole family.  Click to order this printable found in the 5 Year Workbook.

Song:

The songs chosen are old "Sunday School" favorites and are added to enrich the curriculum.  I included those songs that are familiar to most, but if unfamiliar, use any Bible song.  Find most songs on YouTube, Spotify, or Amazon.  Before teaching the song to your child, teach it to yourself.  Then, teach the child the song slowly in small sections.  Use the recording once the song is learned.

5 Year Bible Song Cards  Optional Addition:
Available as a digital download, the 5 Year Bible Song Cards consists of 29 cards containing lyrics from the Bible Songs and the Old Testament Books of the Bible used in the 5 Year Curriculum.  Also included are 3 extra cards to custom create your own.  Print, hole punch, and bind together for easy access and mobility.

Books of the Bible:

;

To study the Bible, I believe everyone should know the order of the books of the Bible.   With a little help, most preschool children can master this task.  Because of its importance, I have added this to both the 4 and 5 Year Curriculum.  Children using the 4 Year Curriculum learn the New Testament books while children using the 5 Year Curriculum learn the Old Testament books.  Every two weeks a new set of books is added.  Use a song (as shared above), motions, or simply repetition to help your child.  Click for more ideas on learning the Books of the Bible

Math:

Use this week to make sure that your child knows all of the basic shapes (oval, heart, rectangle, triangle, circle, square, star, diamond) and colors (black, white, blue, brown, green, yellow, orange, red, purple).  Use the Shape worksheets or Color worksheets if needed. (Available in the ABCJLM 2 Year Workbook)

Science:

Song: 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

Social Science:

The first eight weeks of the curriculum focuses on the calendar, weather, and seasons. A calendar and weather wall chart is a strong supplement to these units to help further the learning throughout the curriculum.  You can purchase wall charts online.  Or, you can make your own by using a Big Print Wall Calendar and Weather Symbols worksheet. (Only available online.)

- Calendar Activity - This is an activity that would be a great start to each day to reinforce numbers, days of the week, and months of the year.

Sun -

- Dress: Sunglasses, hat, sunscreen, shorts, t-shirt

- Science:  God perfectly distanced the sun and earth so that the sun keeps us warm, but not too warm.   The sun also provides us with light. Use a balloon to represent the earth and the child to represent the sun.  Instruct the child that the sun does not move. (This may be very difficult for some children!)   Mark the balloon representing where you live on the earth.
Demonstrate:
Day and night - Rotate the balloon 360 degrees to show where you live compared to the sun.
Warm and cool - Discuss how it is warmer during the day (when the sun is shining on the place you live) and cooler at night (the sun is shining on the opposite side of where you live).
Year - Rotate the earth around the sun and say the months of a year.  Discuss how a complete rotation is a year or another birthday.

- Sun Craft Sun Craft:
Draw a circle on a piece of white paper.  Drop large dots of yellow paint inside the circle along with a very small dot of red paint.  Lay a piece of wax paper on top of the circle.  Press with the pads of your fingers to mix the paint and cover the circle.  Pull up the wax paper.  With a q-tip, pull extra paint from the circle to make sun rays.

Clouds -

-  Clouds are small collections of very small droplets of water.  The droplets are so small and light that they can float.

- Dress:  Depending on the season, cloudy weather may mean you need to wear warmer clothes.

- Cotton Ball Clouds Glue cotton balls on a piece of blue construction paper to form different sized clouds.

- Crayon Clouds With a white crayon firmly draw clouds on a piece of paper.  Using diluted blue paint, have the child paint the entire piece of paper to find the clouds.  Count the clouds that are discovered.

- More information and experiments on clouds are available at WeatherWizKids.com.

Letters:

Letter Worksheet  Ii Writing - Use the Writing worksheets to practice correctly writing the letter while saying the  Letter Formation Chants, drawing pictures of words that begin with the letter, and finding the letter in words.
Letter I Activities - Use these ideas to further study each letter.  Ideas include Letter Posters, crafts, books, snack ideas, and computer games.

Numbers:

Gather five items.  Point to and count from 0-5.  Make sure that each item is pointed to and counted only once.

Literacy:

- Slowly turn pages at the corner.
- Do not write in books unless it is a workbook and an adult tells you to.
- Keep books away from food, drinks, younger siblings, and animals;  make sure your hands are clean.
- Do not turn down pages in a book.  Use a bookmark instead.
- Do not fold the cover of a book back or lay an open book upside down.
- Shelve books vertically.
- Gently turn pages without bending or ripping them.
- Take care of books so that others can read them.

Sight Word:

- Sight Words Sentence Help your child create a short sentence using the weekly sight word.  Write the sentence on 3/4" Tracing Paper for the child using proper capitalization and punctuation.  Instruct the child to copy the sentence.  The goal is to have the large letters reach from the blue line to red line with appropriate lower case letters beginning at the green line, place finger spaces between the words, and add punctuation.  This week create a sentence with the word "I."
- Dry Erase PocketBecause the 3/4" Tracing Paper is used each week, I encourage you to place it in a dry erase pocket and write with a fine tip dry erase marker for repeat use. 

- Bob Books  At this age, some children are interested in reading.  Although reading is not specifically part of this curriculum, it is a useful addition for those who are ready.  I suggest using the Bob Books as they are excellent for beginner readers.  We use these with our children.  Be sure to read the back cover to get the gist of the story.  Click to read suggestions and print the "Bob Books Reading Checklist."   If you choose to begin the reading process, follow your child's leads and make each reading situation fun and positive.

5 Year Sight Word Cards  Optional Addition: The 5 Year Sight Word Cards Printable is made up of 28 cards containing the sight words.  Print, hole punch, and bind together for easy access and mobility. 

Book of the Week:

- Play a musical instrument every time the words "ku-plink, Ku-plank, ku-plunk" are read.
- Make blueberry muffins, jam, or pancakes.
- Blueberries for Sal Blueberry Pie Craft - Dip a small cotton ball or pompom into blue paint.  Dab it onto a paper plate to create a blueberry pie.  Glue on brown strips of paper for a lattice top.

Family Fun:

- Homemade Icecream Recipe Create a family tradition of making homemade ice cream in a bag or in a coffee can.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup milk, cream, or half and half
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the three ingredients in a quart-sized ziptop 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 ziptop bag in a gallon-sized ziptop 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!

Motor Skills:

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 muscles as much as crayons, painting, and pencils.

Fine Motor Skill:
Pencil Periodically the curriculum tasks the to draw his family.  This can be daunting for some children.  Begin by looking in the mirror and discussing how special God made the child.  Then, demonstrate how to draw a person.  Use simple shapes and lines while explaining what you are drawing.  Let your child assist in the process.  Later in the week, give your child a chance to try it unassisted  For more ideas read, "Teaching Your Child How to Draw a Person."

Gross Motor Skill:
Put the Fire Out Game 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)

Visual Perception Skill:
Color Tracking Worksheet Along with fine and gross motor activities, each lesson plan in the 4 and 5 Year Curricula contains visual perception activities. Visual perception is the translation between the eyes and the brain.  Correct translation is imperative to reading and writing.  These activities can help correct visual perception issues as well as strengthen the brain and eye communication.  While one activity may be difficult for your child, another may be simple.

For the first week, use the Color Tracking Visual Perception Worksheets.  Ask the child to color certain shapes, certain colors. Highlight the color words the correct color to help the child associate the word with the color.  Use this activity to help the child search for items left to right and row by row. Another option is to assign each shape a colored candy. Ask the child to lay the correct colored candy on the corresponding shape.  

For additional practice, purchase the Visual Perception Workbook.

• Be sure to look over the Development Guide - 4 Year and Development Guide - 5 Year so that you are familiar with developmental milestones for your child's age.
 

Daily Schedule – Week 1

Optional Addition:  Below is a Daily Schedule dividing the Lesson Plan into a week's time. Beyond Week 1, the Daily Schedules are not provided on the website but are available in the printed 5 Curriculum Guide.

  Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
Bible Story God the Father     Comprehension Questions
Bible Activities Shamrock Creation Activity I am a Child of God  
Verse I John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Song Trinity Song Trinity Song Trinity Song Trinity Song
Old Testament Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Science/Social Sc Calendar Sunny Cloudy  
Letters/Numbers Point & Count 0-5 Shapes I, i Writing Worksheet Colors
Literacy/Book How to Care for a Book Read Musical Instruments Blueberry Pie Craft
Sight Word I I I Write Sentence
Skills   Draw “My Family” Play “Put the Fire Out” Worksheets
Other Objective Checklist Objective Checklist   Homemade Ice Cream

 

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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