Here is another review by an ABCJLM user! Thank you LaToya for sending me the link and letting me share with others!
Last year I went on the search for a free Christian preschool curriculum to work with Bubba. After looking through a few choices I settled on ABC Jesus Loves Me (ABCJLM). While I didn’t use the curriculum as much as I’d planned, I was very, very pleased with what Momma C has created. Here’s my review of the curriculum overall. I used the 3 year old lessons last year and this year will be using the 4 year old lessons. The content is a little different but the format is the same so anything that I say applies to both.
Format of the curriculum:
•Each lesson is offered in it’s entirety on the website, included are hyperlinks lots of resources and activities. And each lesson is further divided by type of activities: Colors, numbers, fine motor, writing, gross motor, etc.
•This summer Momma C has started offering the curriculum in book form (for a small fee). I went ahead and purchased both years in book form and it’s wonderful. For me it’s much easier to read and plan from the book instead of the computer screen. And I just love having it all together in one place.
Substance of the lessons:
•My favorite part of these lessons is by far the Bible portion. The 3 year old lessons focus on different Bible stories and the 4 year old on character development. The stories are perfect for the age group and my boys LOVE learning about the different characters. (Momma C also links to the stories in specific children’s Bibles). There’s also a memory verse and song that work great for our morning/evening devotions.
•My second favorite would be the gross motor activities that she lists. There are some very creative and fun games in each lesson. And they are things that both my boys can to together. We really like to play “Put the Fire Out.”
•There are lots of fun things as well under fine motor activities that work with preparing your little one for writing (age 3) and beginning to write letters (age 4).
•Games, crafts, books, even videos are all recommended (and linked) in the lessons as well. All appropriate for the age group and very supportive of what each lesson is seeking to achieve.
Lessons in Real Life
•These lessons are very flexible!! There is no real strict schedule to follow. Momma C provides the different activities and options and you are free to work with them in any way that fits in your family’s schedule. This was key for me with my busy school schedule and being a single parent. I usually plan the more “school type” things over three days and then sprinkle in the fun stuff whenever I can squeeze in some time.
•The overviews (the general one and the one at the beginning of each lesson) are EXTREMELY helpful in planning. I can sit down for 15 minutes and know exactly what I need for the next month and get those things ready to go.
•As I mentioned before, many of the activities work with all age groups. My toddler loves them as much as my preschooler.
•It’s very easy to jump between the curricula if you need to. There are some areas that Bubba is on target for and some that he needs more work on so we do some Age 3 stuff if/when he needs it.
General Conclusions:
•The lessons are so simply and easy, yet full of lots of great things for the little ones
•The ABCJLM website has additional resources listed everywhere. Some of my favorite are the developmental checklists for ages 3-5 and handwriting worksheets and tips.
•Everything on the site is geared towards the children in a way that they can understand and retain. Bubba learned so much more than just the basic Bible stories last year. It was great to have a conversation about the deeper meaning behind the stories.
There’s just so much that I could rave about the website, the lessons, and Momma C that I would write forever. I hope that this has been helpful to you, I’ve had some many people ask me about the program that I thought it was time to do an official write up. I will also be writing about the individuals lessons and the school year goes in my Preschool Corner posts about Bubba, so check those out for even more information.
Thank you, Heidi, or creating such a wonderful tool!!
