Discover more in this series on Intentional Learning with the ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum
1. Combining the 1 and 3 Year Curricula
2. How to Use the 5 Year Curriculum
3. How to Use the 3 Year Curriculum in a Preschool
4. Intentional Learning with the 2 Year Curriculum
5. How to Use the 4 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.
Intentional Learning Day 1
My middle daughter and I so enjoyed using the 3 and 4 Year ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum. Now it is time to dive into the 5 Year Curriculum.
To begin the week I decide what is most important for my daughter to learn and make those objectives the main focus for the week.
I’ve learned that breakfast is the best time for us to start. We being by discussing the memory verse and Bible song for the week. After singing these a couple times we move to the calendar, weather, and days of the week.
Next, sitting down at the child-sized table we focus on a few minutes of handwriting. Today, I showed her the tracing paper and her first letter/sight word of the school year, “I”. She beamed with pride for knowing the letter from past learning. After practicing writing the letter, it was free time with her siblings.
At lunch, we repeated the memory verse and Bible songs. We also discussed God the Father, which is the Bible topic for the week.
Following the evening bath is reading time. My daughter and I snuggled up on the couch to read the book of the week Blueberries for Sal. Next is our family devotional time where we read from the My First Hands-On Bible the story for this week – Creation – and again talked about God being our Father.
Intentional Learning Day 2
We started off today praying over our day and singing the Old Testament Books of the Bible song with Ms. Heidi on video. Then we sang our memory verse and Bible song. For calendar work, we looked at the day and date on the calendar and practiced saying the day/date/year combo before singing the “Days of the Week” song.
Then for my daughter’s favorite part: Craft Time! We moved to the children’s size table to do the Sun Craft. We discussed colors and shapes as well as how God created the sun, what the sun does for us, and what a sunny day looks like while she painted the sun. She then traced the “I” and wrote a sentence with the word. She feels like such a big girl when she writes.
Free play before lunch and then we reviewed the memory verse and Bible song during lunch. All my children love singing these.
After bath time we read Blueberries for Sal again. This time I pointed to each word as I read it. We also read a little more of the Creation story from her Bible for family devotionals.
Intentional Learning Day 3
After breakfast on Wednesday we sang the three songs. She still stumbled on a few words, but I was excited to see improvement. After discussing the calendar, we did the Cloud Craft. While she crafted, we discussed how God works through the clouds, what clouds provide, and what a cloudy day looks and feels like. She was excited to see the clouds surprise through the blue paint. She then pointed to and counted the clouds on the picture.
Following the science activity, my daughter drew a self portrait on the “I am a Child of God” worksheet. She loves to draw and color, so this was great fun for her. Because she wanted to draw more, we flipped the paper over for her to “Draw My Family.”
Next I presented the Color Tracking worksheet. I colored the “key” for her to pick out the correct shapes. As I pointed to each shape, she named the shape and colored it. I directed her when needed to move from left to right on the worksheet.
As tradition, we sang the memory verse and Bible songs at lunch.
During our reading time, we discussed proper care of the book and flipped through the illustrations as she explained the story as it unfolded. I also pointed out words in the book that would be recognizable to her. We discussed “God the Father” during our devotional time using the Shamrock worksheet. We ended the time reading from her Bible.
Intentional Learning Day 4
After breakfast:
- Sing memory verse, Books of the Bible, and Bible songs
- Calendar – day, month, year, and date
- Weather (look at the window)
- Color Tracking Worksheet #2 – shapes, color, visual perception
For the morning craft, which correlated with the book of the week, she made a blueberry pie using a paper plate, a blue dot marker to create blueberries, and construction-paper strips for the lattice. She completed the “I” Worksheet and wrote another sentence. Suggested as the gross motor activity, the kid played “Put the Fire Out” outside with chalk, a bucket of water, and a sponge. The children loved this activity.
At Lunch: Sing memory verse and Bible song
After Bath Time:
- Blueberries for Sal – Discussed the illustrations, I read the book while pointing to the words
- God the Father – Comprehension questions and further reading of the Creation story from the Bible.
Seizing a teachable moment, I mention to my daughter how her daddy is her earthly father and God is her heavenly father. We talked about how the roles are similar and different. She also found shapes and colors around the house to check for complete learning.
While Day 5 isn’t as formal, I use it as a catch-up day for unfinished learning and to reinforce the songs and key points. By the end of the week, I am always impressed with how much of the learning sticks and how well she does.
Thank you, Mary Beth, for reminding us that intentional learning doesn’t need to be complex. And when woven through daily activities and play, children are excited about learning!
