Ahhh, young learners! They are so full of potential. Parents want to launch their little learners into success, get them off on the right foot. The thing about small children is that they are little learning sponges. They will soak up everything they can. Have you ever tried to force liquid into a sponge? Probably not because the sponge will soak up the mess on its own. It is the same thing with kids.
Look, I was forcing the sponge when the kiddo was in Pre-K. I wanted to set him up for success but I also felt the pressure to prove to our family and friends that I wasn't making a horrible mistake by homeschooling. His success was as much for me as it was for him. So, we had themed weeks with worksheets, books, sensory bins and all the "right" skills covered as early as possible.
I have learned and loosened a lot since then. With the tot things are much more relaxed. I have learned that when you wait till a kid is ready to learn something they will just do it, quickly and easily too. For example, he is just about 5 and I was a little worried that he just wouldn't learn letter identification anytime soon. I let it go though. Then, one day a few weeks ago, he met a llama. He drew a picture of it and wanted to write the word. I wrote it and he copied it beautifully. He does that all the time now. I didn't even show him how! He still doesn't know the names of most letters but I bet it will come with time.
So, what am I using for "curriculum"? We are reading lots of books, anytime he is willing. I make suggestions, but he picks. We play a lot of games, of course! Many require counting, matching and color identification. We do have a couple of dry erase workbooks that he asks to do from time to time. He loves to play the Khan Academy Kids app. It is excellent and entirely free. I am on the lookout for some early readers for him because he seems to be nearly ready. I won't push it. Following his lead is the aim of the game at this stage in life. Many of the activities we do end up in the unit studies I create for this site. You can find many units for littles here.