This past year, I reached a point where I wasn’t really sure what I needed to do. Why? Because this year my oldest turned 5, and was what most of the world considers kindergarten age – time for the real stuff to start.  Sonbeams covers so many bases in preschool, even advanced preschool lessons – but what was next?

DS1 was already familiar with what most kindergarteners knew. But what I didn’t know was what else he might be missing. So, I started asking questions, and had several people respond. I am grateful to be on a list of Christian Self Publishers, and to have several companies share their websites with me. Gentle Shepherdwas one such company. Diane Hurst has been a homeschool mother for many years, and has started putting together her teaching methods for others.

There’s really too many subjects she offers to share in one post, so this time I’d like to share on her math program. For us, Preschool Math : Number Tiles (an e-book) was a great backup/ review program for our son. DS1 knew numbers to 100, could count by 5’s and 10’s, and could do very basic addition – all this using Sonbeam’s techniques. BUT, my children always want more, and with all these little ones, Diane’s program was a life saver! It’s already put together and is something my children can do without me.

Diane has a simple way of presenting basic addition and subtraction. One of the ways she encourages to try teaching is by using an abacus – store bought or handmade (which she gives directions for!). By the time you bought supplies, it was nearly the cost of buying one, so I opted to do that for DS1 at Christmas. He LOVES it, as well as younger siblings! It really has been great, watching them add and subtract the beads – and get so excited about finding answers themselves.

Diane presents lessons starting with only 3 problems per page, so little ones don’t overdo – yet they still have their feel. For children old enough to read numbers and count, but not yet write them in the answer field, she has a solution for that too! Her package includes number cards that your child can identify the correct number and place it in the answer.

Now, you might be thinking… these are 4 and 5 year olds we are talking about, WHY are you teaching math so early, isnt’ this too much? For my children, they WANT to learn – they beg for it. While we are at this stage, I want to encourage them as much as possible. Their brains are soaking up learning like super sponges!

While doing math with DS1 (5), DD (4) has somehow joined in and is now doing math too. I’m really excited that she’s taking such an interest in learning. We’re not at the same place with her at age 4 as her brother, mainly because she hasn’t shown the interest he did. At this age, I’m not pushing learning on them. But as they show interest, we go as fast as they want and are able to learn things.

She has really taken hold of Diane’s approach to math, for which I am very grateful. I haven’t seen interest like this in her before – but this has given her a way of learning that’s perfect for her. (Something each parent has to find out for each child.) I still teach her with Sonbeams, but this is a wonderful addition for us – as my little ones LOVE worksheets!

For anyone seeking for a simple, hands on approach to teaching basic math (addition and subtraction), Gentle Shepherd would be a great place to start! I’ll share on some of her other products in the future…

Until next time,

Mrs. Candace

E-mail: Candace @ Sonbeams.com

Facebook: Sonbeams – Homeschool Preschool

*This is not a paid review. Files were offered for review purposes, and opinions are 100% based on our family’s experience.