The Starr Playschool program is a 37-unit curriculum created to introduce preschool-age children to a
variety of learning concepts in an engaging way. This program is hands-on and play-based. This homeschool program has been carefully curated and designed as a hands-on, multisensory, noprep curriculum free from worldly holidays, birthdays, and patriotism. It’s designed to be mostly completed at home with a parent or caregiver, but there are also be two virtual
Zoom classroom sessions per week.

You will find this program to be filled with activities that are full of learning, but without the pressure
or length of a typical school. There’s a progression of skills in this program, so as the children grow
and develop over the next year, so do the activities.

The four main components of this program are read alouds, literacy/phonics activities, math/number
sense activities, and art/sensory activities. They have each been carefully crafted to help our
preschoolers learn in an interactive, and developmentally appropriate way.
There will be some preparation required on the parent/caregiver end, but it mostly consists of printing
and cutting. Each unit lesson plan gives detailed instructions on materials needed and items to
prepare.

Enjoy this program and the special time with your little learner. It’s an amazing time in their life as
the world begins to unlock around them

While this program was designed with ages 3-5 in mind, it is possible that a 2.5 year old may be
developmentally ready for it. Unfortunately I can’t give a concrete answer because every child is
different. The program will get progressively harder, but it is a very flexible curriculum. The majority
of activities will be appropriate for a 2.5 year old. Some components, such as cutting with scissors or
sequencing events from a story, might be a little more challenging. 
I definitely do not recommend it for anyone younger than 2.5. Any younger than that, attention span,
vocabulary skills, and motor skill development would not be mature enough. We want this to be fun,
light, and successful, so waiting until their skills have matured is best.

In short, yes. But let me explain in detail why. When I was creating this curriculum, I thought back to
what I would have liked my former early elementary students to have understood the best. The most
important tools in the tool belt of a successful learner are: being able to ask and answer questions,
knowing how to categorize information, being able to retell the order of an event, being able to listen to
a story and recall key pieces of information.
These are huge skills! But today’s world often focuses only on quantifiable skills like knowing letter
names and counting to 100. The skills listed above are getting lost as school performances are
measured by test scores.
This is about building a deep relationship with letters, to see them as building blocks of words, and to
see their place in the world of reading.
One of my favorite educators always says: Lebron James still goes to basketball practice every day.
Professional athletes repeat, repeat, repeat basic and simple skills. Repetition and practice are vital
for these little, developing brains.

The main goal is to go beyond memorizing and teach our preschoolers how to think. Sounds simple,
right? Here’s what it involves:
Sorting groups
Classifying data
Measuring
Sequencing events
Comparing and contrasting
Cause and effect
Recall and retell
Making predictions
Comparing information
Creating and reading graphs

Twice weekly classes are be kept to a 40 minute length since our young learner’s brains cannot focus
for more time than that when learning virtually. Classes follow the basic format: Calendar, Weather
Report (each student will take a turn reporting the daily weather), Letter of the Week, new
vocabulary, fine motor skill activity, gross motor skill activity, Read Aloud book and answering questions. We play lots of learning games that focus on literacy and emergent mathematics. Children
have opportunities to share their thoughts and answers throughout class.
Microphones will typically be kept muted unless your child is giving a comment. That way no one has
to worry if they have a loud sibling in the background or some other noise

Each week will have a Suggested Materials section, and each individual lesson has a list as well. I tried to create a hands-on curriculum that mostly relies on materials you likely already have in your home.
For example: muffin tins, toothpicks, paper clips, playing cards, shoebox lids, etc. Since a large portion
of the curriculum is art-based, you will need basic art supplies such as: washable paint, liquid
watercolor paint, painter’s tape, butcher or easel paper, dot stickers, post-it notes, dot stampers, color
paper, various color pom poms, and craft sticks.
Most materials can be found at a local dollar store. I love to buy school craft supplies from Dollar Tree!
They have a wide variety of materials that can be used for this program. The Target Dollar Spot is also
a great place to find affordable materials. Also, here is an Amazon list of my recommendations https://starreducation.com/products-i-love-for-preschool-homeschool/

No. In fact, all of the activities are optional! The plans and printables are meant to be a tool for you to
use at your discretion. This is a flexible program, and you are at liberty to do the home lessons on your
own time. Life gets crazy sometimes, so if you have an “off” day where you don’t finish all or any of the
projects…no problem! There are no penalties for missing any days or assignments.
I will be assigning monthly partner projects for the children who are able to do the full year. At the
beginning of the month, your child will be assigned a partner (I will send you the parent’s
information). The monthly assigned partner projects will be easy enough to do together over Zoom.
Your child will have the whole month to complete the project, so there is no pressure for time. You are
free to coordinate with the other parent what time works best for your children to “meet” virtually
and do some partner work.

Not at all! So far, we have like-minded young ones from multiple states and multiple countries (we
currently have had students from 12 different countries!) who have signed up to participate in Playschool.
This is going to be a great way for your child to meet other friends who live in different parts of the
country and world

Kids have developed on the same basic trajectory for the past 100 years, but only recently have we as
a society begun to change our expectations of kids and attempted to hurry up their development.
We know that a child who starts walking at 10 months doesn’t grow up to be a better walker than the
kid who starts at 14 months. Similarly, it’s also been well-documented through scientific studies that
children who learn to read at 4 do not necessarily become better readers compared to children who
learn to read at 6. By ages 9-10, it levels out academically. I’ve seen this personally countless times
with past students. Our program’s focus is laying a solid foundation of phonemic awareness as opposed
to memorizing how words are spelled. That will come later down the road when a child is ready
developmentally. It does happen for some 4 and 5 year olds, however, it is not the focus of Playschool.
Remember that learning through repetition and doing the same thing again and again is actually a
good thing. Why not let our preschoolers become masters of skills rather than just checking the box
“completed” and moving on. Think of all the skills in your life that you have repeated over and over
and how much you have grown. That same idea applies to preschoolers mastering letter sounds and number sense

Nope! That’s the beauty of Playschool. You can choose to do morning calendar routine and song/poem
right after your child wakes up. Then Read Aloud and Literacy after breakfast. Math before lunch.
Art/Sensory before dinner. Or you can do everything at once! The day’s activities shouldn’t take more than 1.5 hours total. So feel free to do it in one shot or spread it out as you see fit. And remember, you
don’t need to do all of the activities! Pick and choose what works for your family.