Our Pre-K Homeschool Curriculum for 2026–27

There is something especially sweet about homeschooling a little one.

At this age, I don't want our days to feel like a miniature version of elementary school. I want them to be filled with stories, play, wonder, conversation, beauty, and plenty of time to simply be a child.

Our goal for pre-K this year is not only to gently introduce some math and phonics, but to build a foundation for a lifelong love of learning. We will work on the basics, certainly, but we'll do it through games, good books, hands-on activities, and lots of time together.

Here's what we're planning for our pre-K year.

Phonics & Letter Recognition

For phonics and letter recognition, we'll be using The Good and the Beautiful Pre-K program.

I love that it gives us a gentle framework without making learning letters and sounds feel like a chore. The program also comes with a wonderful packet of games and activities, which is especially helpful at this age. The program is completely plug and play, which is fantastic for a busy mom homeschooling several other ages. Each lesson is fully scripted out and the games and activities are all ready to go!

We'll use the lessons as a starting point, but I expect many of our phonics activities will happen naturally throughout the day, too—pointing out letters on signs, playing with letter sounds, finding letters in books, and noticing the written words that surround us.

The other major curriculum I will be using to dovetail with the Good and the Beautiful is The Peaceful Preschool by Jennifer Pepito. I used this years ago with my oldest girls, and I love the emphasis on learning through literature, hands-on-activities, and so many ideas for fine and gross motor skills to go along with it. This program focuses on one letter per week, so it will dovetail perfectly with the Good and the Beautiful Pre-K program. I won’t use everything in this book - there’s a lot! But we’ll pull out some pieces each week and I LOVE the books picked for this curriculum. 

Math Through Games & Play

For math, we're going to jump into The Good and the Beautiful Kindergarten Math program.

She's ready for it!

We've spent the past year playing lots of number games and developing those early number sense skills through play. One of our favorites has been Sum Swamp, along with other simple games and activities that have helped her become comfortable with numbers and counting. So she will be ready to start the Kinder program with The Good and the Beautiful. Once again, the curriculum is very open-and-go, which makes this so easy to use but it’s beautifully designed and the math box has everything you need to make the games and hands-on learning quick and fun.

This year we'll continue making math very hands-on. We'll use tangrams, manipulatives, counting games, puzzles, dice, and plenty of real-life math as we work through the Kindergarten program.

I want her to experience math as something she does and discovers—not simply something she fills out on a worksheet. If we can make a math lesson feel like a game, even better!

Bible & Faith

For Bible study, we'll be reading through The Jesus Storybook Bible, along with lots of other beautiful Bible story books. I’ve read through this book with each one of my kids around this age, and I appreciate the deep emphasis on how much they are loved by Jesus. Every story points to the love from their Savior, and that is the key message I want my daughter to absorb now.

At this age, I want Scripture to be something she encounters through stories, conversation, prayer, and family life. We'll read together, talk about what we've read, and look for opportunities to connect those stories to our everyday lives.

And, of course, some of the most important faith formation will happen outside of a "Bible lesson" altogether—in our family prayers, attending Mass, celebrating the liturgical year, and simply living our faith together.

Lots and Lots of Living Books

If there's one thing I know we'll do abundantly this year, it's read.

So much of our pre-K year will simply be good books.

Classic children's literature.
Beautiful picture books.
Fairy tales.
Poetry.
Bible stories.
Books about nature and the world around us.

I want her childhood to be full of stories.

One of the things I love most about a Charlotte Mason-inspired education is the idea that children are capable of engaging with rich ideas and beautiful language from a very young age. We don't need to reduce every story to a lesson or an activity.

Sometimes we can simply read a wonderful book and enjoy it together.

Co-op & Community

She'll also attend our homeschool co-op one day each week.

I love having this little bit of community woven into our week. It gives her an opportunity to learn alongside other children, participate in activities outside our home, and develop friendships.

And then we'll come home and return to the rhythm of our family.

And Plenty of Time to Play

Perhaps the most important part of our pre-K plan isn't a curriculum at all.

It's time. Time to play with her siblings. Time to build. Time to imagine. Time to be outside. Time to help in the kitchen. Time to make messes. Time to listen to stories. Time to follow a rabbit trail because something suddenly caught her attention. Time to be bored enough to invent something.I don't want to fill every hour of her day simply because we could.

There is so much learning that happens when children are given the freedom to play, explore, imitate their older siblings, and participate in the life of the family.

A Gentle Beginning

So that's our pre-K plan for this coming year:

Phonics: The Good and the Beautiful Pre-K, and The Peaceful Preschool
Math: The Good and the Beautiful Kindergarten Math
Math enrichment: Sum Swamp, tangrams, manipulatives & games
Bible: The Jesus Storybook Bible + Bible story books
Literature: Lots and lots of classic children's literature
Community: One day a week at homeschool co-op
And the rest: Play, nature, family life, stories, and plenty of time to grow

It's not an enormous curriculum list, and the majority is composed of books. At this age, I'm much more interested in cultivating curiosity than compliance, wonder than worksheets, and a love of books than a checklist of accomplishments.

There will be plenty of time for harder and more scheduled things later. For now, I'm happy to give her a peaceful and beautiful beginning.