Bright Beginnings review by Cathy Duffy

Bright Beginnings
By Tammy A. Shaw
American Book Publishing
PO Box 65624
Salt Lake City, UT 84165
www.bright-beginnings.net
Book 1: ISBN 1-58982-021, Book 2: ISBN 1-58982-079
$44.95 for the set

   If you want to get a jump on homeschooling with your preschoolers, this one-to two-year program provides a nice balance of academic and informal learning. Written by a homeschooling mom, it is a practical curriculum for those with some dedicated time to devote to teaching their preschoolers. (Moms with a houseful of children being homeschooled are usually better off including preschoolers in lessons designed for older children because of time constraints.)
   This two-volume set has detailed lesson plans for 144 days. Using lessons every other day or so will spread it out over two years rather than one.  Plans are for four days of schooling per week. Each day's lesson might take about 2 ½ hours. Tammy has wisely arranged the daily lesson plans so that sedentary and active lesson time frequently alternates.  Volume one is the "base" volume. Here you find the daily plans, each of which follows a similar format. The day begins with a Bible story. The introduction and questions are scripted for parents, then you can use any Bible version you wish to read each story or passage. Each Bible reading/discussion is followed by an arts and craft type activity that relates to the Bible reading. A suggested "prayer focus" reminds you to pray with your child.  "God's World" is the next item on the day's schedule. Instructions for this, physical education, music/art, and a snack are all in Volume 2, so I'll come back to them after I finish describing the first volume.  The next thing on the daily schedule, Language Skills, works on readiness skills such as sound discrimination, patterns, narration, learning to write their names, and letter identification. P.E. comes next followed by Math which is again focused on readiness activities such as shapes, directions, number recognition, counting, measurement, and money. Next is a music or art activity, followed by alternating lessons on either health, safety, and manners or character building. A short memory verse is learned every week, then the lesson culminates with a snack. A list of supplies needed is at the end of each lesson. Supplies might range from a paper plate, scissors, and markers to toothpicks, cotton balls, chenille wire, craft sticks, and construction paper. You will need to plan ahead to make sure items are on hand.
   Volume 2 allows you to pick an appropriate "God's World" theme for each four-day week. You might select themes to fit the season or to fit your child's interest. Examples of the themes are Christmas, Easter, Pets, Insects, My Body, Food, Transportation, The United States and It's Flag, Fall, Winter, and My Birthday. Field trip suggestions are given for each theme, so you might use day 5 each week for a field trip. Physical education ideas are in the separate appendix since they are a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities that will need to be selected in light of the weather.  Art activities include drawing, cutting, pasting, painting, molding and sculpting, printing and patterns, mixed media and creating gifts. Music activities are divided into seven sections: listening, creative movement, musical instruments, traditional favorites, traditional action songs (e.g., "Hokey Pokey"), nursery rhymes, and Christian favorites. You can choose whatever you like from each area. A check-off box next to each activity will help you keep track of those you've already done.  Snack ideas can be chosen to correlate with learning letters of the alphabet if you so choose. There are lots of great ideas here, including some recipes. Materials needed for each activity in Book 2 are listed immediately next to the activity. Do not forget to check both Books 1 and 2 supply lists when you are preparing your lessons!  Book 2 also has reproducible pages that are used with some of the lessons, including a few worksheet type pages. In addition, there are alphabet "card" pages, and suggestions for Scripture memory and story time. Parents who want to do structured preschool with their young children should be very pleased with this program.