Bju Press Footsteps For Fours Curriculum (3rd Ed./2nd Ed.)

This is Bob Jones' newest program for preschoolers. The all-inclusive program covers all topics that are appropriate for a 4 year old in a bright, colorful format. This curriculum offers interactive, hands-on learning in a flexible format which can be adapted for half-day, full-day, or even a partial week in order to fit your family's schedule.

Several new mascots make their appearance in this program as they introduce young children to different concepts. Max the dog introduces daily learning and color and sound recognition. Sidney and Sophie the Squirrels introduce pre-reading, Toby the Turtle works with children to find numbers and dot patterns, and Honey the Humming Bird helps with music lessons.

There are several components to this program. Included in the kit are the listening CDs, writing packet, activity packet, practice cards, and a set of 3 teacher editions with one toolkit CD-ROM.

The Teacher Editions are a major component of the program. In the front of the teacher edition you will find goals, materials and prep lists, sample pages, classroom routines, references, and the scope & sequence for this course. Appendices at the back of the book include components of the lessons, reproducibles, visuals, songs, etc. The toolkit CD-ROM found at the back of the part one teacher edition includes reproducibles, visuals, alphabet sound cards, phonics charts, assessments, schedules, bulletin board ideas, center signs, and much more. Within each teacher edition are the scripted lessons for each day of the week. Each book is divided into units which begin by showing the concepts and the songs for that unit and each week of lessons begins with a lesson preview, what to gather and prepare, background information, and a snack of the week. At the top of the first lesson page 'Skill Steps' will tell you the concepts to be covered in the different content areas. Each lesson includes welcome activities and activities in a variety of areas such as science, language arts, prereading, phonics, handwriting, math, social studies, social skills, art, and music. Suggestions are given for learning centers, 'Wrap it Up' summarizes the lesson, and 'More Footsteps' offers ideas that are optional and can be used as morning or afternoon activities. There is even an 'Eager Beaver' section for advanced students. The two Listening CDs include all music and tunes for songs in the lessons. The Student Writing Packet contains tracing and tracking of lines & letters as students develop their letter and number writing skills. The full-color Activity Packet offers practice pages, lacing activities, sequencing cards, alphabet sound cards, 11 reading books for word family and phonics reinforcement, and activity stickers. A packet of 50 brightly colored Practice Cards includes alphabet cards from A to Z, number and dot pattern cards, color and shape cards, and a 'Max' card which has the words to his song printed on the reverse side.

Although this program is written for classroom use, lessons can be adapted for smaller groups of students and for individuals. If you are the type who wants everything in one place, with no running to get additional resources, this program may be for you. The teaching materials are readily available, and the presentation is colorful and eye-catching for little ones. This is "Bob Jones-quality; preschool in a box."