Montessori-Style Preschool at Home with Sonlight

If you are considering an at-home preschool program or want to start homeschooling your 3-year-old or 4-year-old, you’ve probably considered or read about a Montessori-style preschool program.

The Montessori method follows the teaching of Italian doctor Maria Montessori. Montessori preschool programs promote exploration and self-directed learning through hands-on activities, collaborative play, and multi-sensory learning. This approach not only nurtures a child’s natural curiosity, but helps them grow socially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links’. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I was given the newly updated Sonlight Preschool curriculum for free and compensated for my time in writing this review. The opinions and thoughts are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

I’m thrilled to share that Sonlight has updated its Preschool Curriculum to follow a Montessori approach to learning while still including the literature-based foundation that we know and love. I was given the opportunity to experience this updated preschool program first-hand and am excited to share it with you!

Why You Need a Preschool Curriculum At Home

There is a lot of debate on whether or not you need a formal curriculum to successfully homeschool your preschooler. Preschool learning revolves around play and hands-on activities. So it may seem as though you can easily pull together an at-home preschool program on your own.

Thinking about creating a preschool curriculum to use at home brings about some questions though:

• How do you know what subjects and topics to include in a preschool program?
• How do you keep learning light and fun for 3 and 4-year-olds?
• What are the best types of activities for little learners?

Plus, if you are wanting to follow a Montessori-style approach, you’ll be wondering things like:

• How do you incorporate Montessori principles into your homeschool planning?
• Where do I find budget-friendly Montessori activities?

If you are brand new to homeschooling or new to homeschooling a preschooler, this can be extremely overwhelming!

By using a preschool curriculum, you are saving yourself lots of time, energy, and money. And I know those 3 things are SO valuable to busy moms!

Sonlight takes all of these things into consideration and takes the leg work out of gathering all the resources and planning out each week.

An open-and-go curriculum like Sonlight makes it so easy to get started and stay on track with your lessons. Even with a preschool program where open-ended play is the main focus, having a guide to loosely follow can be so helpful.

Sonlight has over 30 years of experience in at-home, literature-based learning. Their philosophy of natural learning encourages children to ask questions, use critical thinking, build confidence and develop a love for learning. So it makes sense to follow the lead of a well established, Christian-based homeschool company when considering an at-home preschool program.

Stress-Free Montesorri-Style Preschool

With Montessori-style programs, there are always so many amazing hands-on and interactive components. I will be totally honest with you though, the thought of having to come up with those activities, purchase the supplies, and introduce them in a way that fosters curiosity and play is more than I would want to take on.

One way to avoid having to do a lot of the leg work is to purchase a boxed preschool curriculum. However, some Montessori-style preschool programs can also be extremely expensive and very complicated. I’ve seen some that include thousands of pieces (which may seem awesome at first but can quickly lead to overload).

The Sonlight Preschool curriculum includes some basic, hands-on components that are perfect for the 3 and 4-year-old age group. These pieces were carefully curated to pair alongside the read-aloud books for a complete preschool experience.

The curriculum introduces letters, shapes, numbers, arts, crafts, life skills, music, Spanish alongside the amazing stories that have been carefully selected for the program.

The combination of the literature and the Montessori activities is the perfect balance between structure and self-directed learning.

What’s Included In Sonlight Preschool

Instructor’s Guide

I can be a tough sell when it comes to teacher’s guides. I have pretty high standards and expectations when I open an instructor’s manual for a new curriculum or program.

I need the guide to be:

• easy to navigate
• laid out for open-and-go lessons
• customizable or easy to adapt
• able to serve as a record-keeping system

The Sonlight Preschool Instructor’s Guide meets all these needs in a beautiful format that I’ve come to expect from their manuals. It’s actually the cornerstone of their programs and has been consistently my favorite part of any of their programs I have experienced.

Not only does it give a 3 day per week schedule, but it also provides many opportunities for you to extend the learning and add in your own activities and family discussions.

Weeks are broken down into 3 days. Each day then gives you the pages of the readers, specific activities or included worksheets, hands-on practical life skills and art projects, and sing-alongs.

The weekly view is color-coded for easy use. I love that you could easily pass this guide onto a family member and they could pick up the daily lessons with your child without skipping a beat.

Here’s a tip: The daily plans are mixed throughout the guide and are in order of subject instead of by day each week. This made by brain hurt slightly as I like things to be in order chronologically at first glance. Simply highlight each day on the week view with a specific colored highlighter. Then highlight the same day portion in the detailed lessons. This way, you can quickly glance and see all the pink portions which are to be completed on Day 37 for example.

Preschool Supplies Kit

The Preschool Supplies Kit includes lots of hands-on activities and supplies that I wouldn’t have thought to include in a preschool curriculum. Our preschooler was very excited to dig right in and start playing with all the fun pieces.

Included in the kit:

• clipboard
• number flashcards
• bingo counters
• sandpaper sensory letter and number cards
• colored pencils with grip
• beginner scissors
• nylon knife
• plastic geometric shapes with frames

Read Alouds & Family Bible

There are 19 read-alouds and a family-style bible included in the preschool package. Some are new titles and publishers to our family while others are long-time favorites.

The variety of stories and books is fantastic. I love that there are lots of picture books as well as a few story treasuries.

All of the books are sure to captivate the kids and draw them in with memorable characters, exciting events and important lessons.

Titles included are:

• Mother Goose
• Make Way for McCloskey
• The Bee Tree
• Go, Dog. Go!
• Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales
• Horton Hatches the Egg
• Ian and the Gigantic Leafy Obstacle
• Mike Mulligan and More
• Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs
• Noah’s Ark
• Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
• Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day?
• The Tall Book of Nursery Tales
• Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics
• George and Martha
• Look Inside Your Body
• My First Spanish Word Board Book
• A Big Quiet House
• Last Stop on Market Street

One of the things I love about Sonlight is the ability to purchase the components of a curriculum separately. This is especially useful if you have a large family library and own some or many of the titles. You can simply pick up the additional titles, instructor’s guide and supply kit separately if needed.

Benefits of Using Sonlight Preschool

Open-and-Go Program

When I say open-and-go, I mean you’re able to open the box and get started right away with no prep work. And to make it even more fun, the box itself is lined with a castle design so you can repurpose it easily for play!

Mando here thought I said it was a CATSLE…..Sorry buddy, this castle is for the kiddos!

The only additional activities or prep work that you will need to complete is the practical life activities and art projects. They use easy-to-find supplies and ingredients that you most likely have lying around the house. There are also some fun suggestions for family activities and projects.

Easy to Follow Curriculum

With the amazing Instructor’s Manual and supply kit, this program is extremely easy to follow. I’m always worried about simplicity and ease of use when opening up a new curriculum. Many times I have to head to Google or YouTube for help in understanding how a schedule should flow or what resources are needed during which lessons.

With Sonlight, I am never confused about our weekly plan. It’s one of the few programs that I can send with my kids to their grandparent’s house know they will be able to complete their lessons easily.

Plus, Sonlight offers literature-based curriculum for lots of homeschool subjects. Be sure to check out all that they offer!

Adaptable

Preschool is the perfect opportunity for free play, imagination, and independence. With the 3 day a week schedule, Sonlight gives plenty of room for additional activities and personalization.

There’s space in the instructor’s guide for you to add your own activities, notes, and extension activities. While it’s definitely not necessary with this program, the ability to modify and adjust the schedule and activities if needed is a plus!

My Thoughts on Sonlight Preschool

Overall, this curriculum package is at the top of my list among open-and-go curriculums for young learners. It can be easy to get overwhelmed when searching for a program or trying to create your own. Sonlight has taken away all the work and created an easy-to-use, complete Montessori style preschool program.

New homeschool families and veteran homeschoolers alike will love this program. It provides structure but is flexible and adaptable.

If you’re looking to start homeschooling a preschooler and want a Montessori-based program, check out Sonlight Preschool. Or if you’re simply interested in learning more about literature-based, Christian curriculum visit Sonlight and see all their homeschool offerings!