Child painting with watercolors

The goal of the ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum is to help adults be intentional with the children in their care and for the adult to incorporate learning into daily activities.  But what does "being intentional" mean and how does one pull learning from a normal day?

Each Curriculum is made up of objectives - goals that you want the child to learn or be introduced to during year.  The Lesson Plans break these objectives into 36 weeks of learning with supportive activities to help the child learn the objectives.

"Being intentional" means looking for opportunities in daily activities to teach life, Biblical, and academic skills.  Instead of the objectives dictating the day, I encourage you to incorporate the learning into the day.

image by catherine

Intentional Learning

Incorporating learning into a day is especially important for toddler and preschoolers.  Keep the sit-down activities to a minimum and break activities into small sections throughout the week.  This amount of time typically ranges from 15-30 minutes per day with sit down activities on 3-4 days per week.

Below are real-life situations that will help you incorporate learning without much effort.

Objective

Incorporate the Learning

Color: Red Wear red, eat red food, look for red items at the grocery store.
Number: 2 Count pictures in books, objects around the house, body parts during bath time
Book of the Week Read the book before naptime
Song Sing at a stoplight, during bath time, while waiting for supper
Memory Verse Sing or say while driving or before each meal, discuss verses that apply to everyday life
Sorting Cleaning up toys, sort silverware from the dishwasher
Letter Recognition Talk a walk downtown
Spatial Words Throwing rocks into a pond or creek
Character Traits Waiting in line at the grocery store or to get a drink
Bible Story: Creation Praise God for the beauty of His creation while playing outside
Thank you to Bonnie for sharing a few of the above ideas.  

 

Examples

Intentional Learning with the 2 Year Curriculum

Unsure how to teach through play? Read how Rachel wisely divides the learning between morning and afternoon play.  Read more...

Combining the 1 and 3 Year Curricula

I am frequently asked, “How do you use multiple ABCJesusLovesMe Curricula at a time?”.

Keeping two or more active children focused for intentional learning can be challenging. But by using daily activities and intentional play-based learning, it isn’t nearly as hard as you might think!

For just 30 minutes a day, Stacy builds a strong foundation of academics, Bible, and development in her toddler and preschooler. Using the 1 and 3 Year Curricula simultaneously, she provides age-appropriate learning for her 1 and 3 year olds in ways that they don’t even realize they are learning.

Discover her daily routine and how Stacy introduced her children to the Week 1 learning objectives from the 1 and 3 Year Curricula.  Read more...

Intentional Learning with the 5 Year Curriculum

A 2nd popular question that I am asked is “How long does it take each day to use an ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum?”.

If ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum was a drill-and-kill type method, this would be a valid question. Instead, ABCJesusLovesMe pulls learning from daily activities, hands-on experience, and play with an added dollop of focused, age-appropriate learning. The older the child, the more intentional the learning is.

To give you a glance at what this looks like, I asked a few mommas to share how they are intentional with the various ABCJesusLovesMe Curricula.

Today I invite you to look through the window at how Mary Beth is intentional with Week 1 of the 5 Year Curriculum.  Read more...

How to Use the 3 Year Curriculum in a Preschool (or Home)

A 3rd popular question that I am asked is “How do you use ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum in a preschool?”. 

Today I invite you take a peek into Jill’s 3 Year Classroom. Even if you are teaching your child at home, you are going love Jill’s simple ideas for using the 3 Year Curriculum.  Read more...

 

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