Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Review: Twenty Six Letters to Heaven

Sarah Park, the author of Twenty-Six Letters to Heaven, sent me a review copy and asked if I would share my thoughts on this lovely pre-school program she put together. This past weekend, I sat at a table with lots of other Hillside Education publications and got a good chance to take a look at it, not to mention, share it with everyone at the IHM North Texas Homeschool Conference. There was not a more popular book on my table except maybe the Father Brown Readers but those aren't for preschoolers! It was a delight to get to look through it and explore it with friends and fellow homeschoolers.

While I have not had a preschooler in many years, I do still remember first doing preschool with The Professor when I was a young mom and excited to start teaching him at home. I used another Catholic pre-school program that I liked at the time but soon realized was better suited to a larger class environment or maybe co-op; not a home.

Sarah's program is wonderfully suited to a home teaching environment with lots of fun suggestions to keep little people busy. With simple suggestions and even recipes, not gawdy craft ideas that make a mom want to pull her hair out or itch to throw away the glitter/paint covered monstrosity. And it's a total package... science suggestions, math games, picture book lists, literacy skill practice and more but not so much that you feel overwhelmed with options. There is even a coloring page for each saint of the alphabet in the back so you don't have to go hunting all over the internet or some silly woman's blog : ) to find one for each letter.

I look forward to using this program when Cupcake reaches the pre-school age. I especially look forward to watching my big girls bake and play and color with her!
 

5 comments:

  1. I'm sure there will be more than a few moms saying, "I wish that existed when I had a little one."

    ReplyDelete
  2. If only that "silly woman" would just put all of her coloring pages into a convenient little book like this for us - sorted by letter would definitely be a plus! ;) I'd sure buy it!

    And I love the title of this book! Very cute and Catholic!! My Kindergartner will most likely be traveling the "Alphabet Path" again this coming year, but I really need to simplify it from what my girls did a couple years ago, if I hope to complete it. Thankfully my old posts are jam packed with ideas, but I also want to focus on my "boyish" topics and crafts. Anyhow, I have had my eyes on this book and had been wondering if it would be good to have on hand for additional inspiration?

    At this point in my homeschooling journey I probably don't need it, but it sure would have been helpful back when I started! I remember trying to do "everything" in the preschool program I choose for my first two and was practically burn-out on homeschooling before I even started! lol

    Thanks for sharing the review, Charlotte!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh this looks like just what I was looking for last year for Bella. I wonder if I should get it for Sophie so she can have her very own school book.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks/sounds wonderful! I've been wanting to get something like this for my kiddo (he's 3), and I think this is perfect. :) Thanks for sharing the review!

    Also, I'm with (the other) Jessica. I'd also buy a copy if you put a little book together! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Charlotte~I"m commenting here, a little late, since I stumbled upon your review in a google search. I am currently using this book as one of my resources for pre-school. I just have to say that I LOVE the book list! I pre-order the books from our online library and we have discovered some wonderful new favorite books and authors. It really is a great curriculum that's easy to follow and use what's best for our family. My older ones LOVE to join in to help make AND eat the snack ideas;) I am a visual person so once I got past the fact that there are no pictures to show me what to do, I recognized the gem that it is:)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and yourself!