*This post is brought to you in partnership with Timberdoodle. I received a free product to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
Developing the Early Learner tackles all four of the essential perception skills – visual, auditory, motor, and comprehension. Using a gently progressive sequence of enjoyable activities, these workbooks guide your child through fundamental thinking skills – essentially teaching them how to think.
I love what the author of these workbooks, Simone Bibeau had to say – “When we want to learn a new skill, we need to divide the desired goal into the necessary subskills and learn those first. An example of this is swimming. Children are not just thrown into the water. They are taught to float, kick, move their arms….and then they swim successfully.”
If we want our children to be successful readers, we need to teach them the underlying skills required for reading – Visual, Auditory, Motor, and Comprehension Skills. As they work their way through the Developing the Early Learner series, they learn foundational skills like left to right tracking, memory, rhyming, sequencing, similarities, hand-eye coordination and more.
I have been using Developing the Early Learner with my 4 year old – although I believe the workbooks are appropriate for many children ages 2-6. The books do not require any reading – allowing younger children to feel successful and competent. (Sometimes I feel like younger children need to know they can do important work outside of reading!) My preschooler and I work through 2-3 pages per day, depending on our time and/or the specific activities covered that day. She enjoys the varied activities and feels successful as a learner all while developing the foundational perception skills necessary for reading (and writing, thinking, and learning!)
It is so rewarding to watch my daughter’s thinking skills develop before my eyes. The workbooks provide me with all the tools I need to help her navigate through the pages. The workbooks include an answer guide, scripted directions when applicable, and each page indicates what perceptual skill is being addressed. With no special prep or additional materials (outside of a pencil or crayon!) required, this is one of the easiest ways to help prepare your child for reading.
Harper is learning to determine order, is developing her fine motor skills, is becoming quite adept at rhyming, and zooming ahead in her comprehension skills. It is such a blessing to have something ready-made and stress-free to implement that works through these foundational pre-reading skills in a systematic and engaging way. These workbooks are invaluable.
Please check out Developing the Early Learner, and consider purchasing them for your early learner. The series is comprised of 4 workbooks and the entire set of 4 books retails for just $36.00 on the Timberdoodle website. (It’s worth every penny!)
I talk to so many parents that want to homeschool, but don’t feel up to piecing together their own curriculum package. Timberdoodle has done the hard work of finding the right combination of activities and curriculums, and has put together complete Curriculum Kits! Choose the grade level that is right for your child and be blessed with an entire curriculum kit.
Developing the Early Learner is part of the complete Kindergarten Curriculum Kit. These workbooks are just one of the FANTASTIC components found in this kit. I urge you to check it out and see if it (or several of the pieces found in it!) is a fit for your family.
