Becca-

I think it is great you are wanting to be so proactive, but there really isn’t any kind of curriculum you should be doing with a child under the age of 4 or 5. Your job is to make sure they are exploring more than learning. Before preschool age, I did lots of activities to help my children explore their environment, emotions, bodies, and words. For instance, listen and dance to music to encourage gross motor skills and rhythm. Read a lot of books to engage your child’s imagination and make it easier for them to identify letters later on in life. Spend as much time outdoors doing whatever; the natural environment is the world’s best playground. Encourage independent play so your child can learn to not be bored as well as problem solve. Go to open gyms or ECFE classes so your kid can practice social skills and get some energy out. Most children do not enter preschool with much knowledge. Even if you teach Lilly nothing at all, she won’t be behind! The general sentiment I’ve read from the latest child psychology research is that putting formal curriculum into our children’s lives too soon actually harms them more than helps. Read this article to give you the gist: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence. I know exactly how it feels when you want your kid to succeed and be the smartest out there, but I think it’s more important to let them be a kid. 🙂

Best of luck to you,
Melissa