Homeschool Curriculum Picks for my preschooler with Autism Fall 2017

This Fall, just after Drake’s 4th birthday, we started a homeschool routine with him. I toyed with the idea of unschooling, but it just isn’t for us. I selected curriculum that wouldn’t take a ton of time because Drake has a fleeting attention span (Autism-related), and I tried to select things I thought he would enjoy based on his interests and learning style. We started small by only doing Math, Reading, and Writing, and our routine can take as little as 15 minutes some days.

It has been about a month and despite some interruptions due to illness, we have done homeschool just about every day. Sometimes Drake comes to it happily and sometimes it takes a little nudging, but either way, once we are started he enjoys doing the work and is proud of himself.

I’m happy to say I have already seen improvements in his attention span, handwriting, pencil grip, and overall confidence in the areas we are working on.

(FYI: I am not affiliated with any of these companies, and these are not affiliate links.)

Math:

Math U See Primer is a great math curriculum at this level for the visual learner. It is slow paced, but this is perfect for us. I’m happy Drake can gain confidence in math before we move on to more difficult concepts. If you have a math wiz, you might want to start with Math U See Alpha. This was our more expensive curriculum purchase, and I don’t regret it one bit.

Writing:

My First Book of Uppercase Letters by Kumon is a hit with Drake, who loves the alphabet. It has large letters for children to trace as well as line tracing practice (vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved). The nice big letters are perfect for the emergent writer.

Reading:

We are using the READ Curriculum by The Crafty Classroom for the majority of our reading work. We don’t do every single activity in this curriculum, as some of them are beyond Drake’s ability in writing, but with some modification, he does about half of them. We are going a bit more slowly than recommended as well. The best thing about this curriculum is that it offers a variety of activities that require cutting, pasting, coloring, and writing, so it never gets boring.

We are also using The Reading Lesson by Michael Levin, but we recently took a break from it as I think Drake will benefit from getting a couple of lessons in on the READ Curriculum before we proceed with The Reading Lesson book. It is a great book for teaching reading! I just want him to gain more confidence before we proceed.

In addition to teaching Drake to read, we also do a ton of reading aloud. I read at least 3 pictures books a day to Drake, and usually many more! We also spend at least 30 minutes before bed reading from a chapter book.

Bonus:
My First Book of Mazes by Kumon is a treat. Drake LOVES mazes. This is one of his favorite parts of his homeschool routine. Sometimes we skip it, but I always put one in with his handwriting if he wants to do it. Usually he does.

Finally, we also do some crafty(ish) creations. I would not call myself a crafty mom, but I try to give the kids opportunities to create and celebrate through crafting. So far, simple and short seem to be the best for Drake because of his attention span. I usually just wing it or find something on Pinterest. 

I hope you all found this useful. Let me know in the comments your favorite resources for your preschooler!