Examine Shakespeares presentation of Ophelia Essay Example for Free

Examine Shakespeares presentation of Ophelia Essay Throughout the play, Ophelia is treated as an inferior by the men in her life. She is instructed and also used by them to achieve their own selfish goals. As Rex Gibson states, Shakespearean women were virtually helpless pawns in the power games of their main relatives. Her tone towards them is most often submissive and accepting of their commands, although the audience is given occasional glimpses of the seemingly intelligent and opinionated young woman beneath her clichi d exterior. In the play, she is merely a side story. She has no particular role in the play rather than to reflect the traits of other characters, and this secondary importance to the plot reflects Shakespeares presentation of her. Upon Ophelias first appearance in the play, it becomes obvious that she and her brother have a close relationship. Laertes tells Ophelia, let me hear from you, to which she replies Do you doubt that? Laertes mentions Hamlet as a cause for concern, weigh what loss your honour may sustain, If with too credent ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open To his unmastered importunity. He believes that Hamlets intentions are dishonourable. He is quick to form this opinion, and as he feels he knows Hamlets true motives, this suggests that men of the era shared this abusive attitude towards women. While he may be expressing a genuine concern for his sisters well-being, there is a tone of authority in his voice. He is not her father, but as a male he talks down to her. His primary concern may be more for the honour of his family, which Ophelia would destroy should she conduct a relationship with Hamlet. She does however retort defensively with, Do not as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles like a puffed and reckless libertine Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. Here she is warning him against hypocrisy and recognising that some men (ungracious pastors) are promiscuous while expecting women to be virtuous. In seeing that society has double standards, the audience is shown that there is a side to Ophelia deeper than is obvious in most of her appearances in the play. A modern audience would feel that her reply is justified, and would respect her for standing up for herself. She has a more relaxed attitude to verbalisation of her thoughts when she is in the presence of her brother, but still respects and accepts his will. In conversation with Polonius for the first time in the play, the audience sees the submissive side to Ophelia. Polonius is also quick to suspect Hamlets motives, reinforcing the suggestion that all men of this time have a common view of women. Polonius treatment of her reflects the double standards of Shakespeares society, as he at first seems disgruntled that she acts like an inexperienced green girl | Unsifted in such perilous circumstance and then goes on to say think yourself a baby, enforcing her inexperience. Ophelia implies her own inability to form an opinion I do not know my lord what I should think. This seemingly air-headed behaviour could cause much annoyance to a modern audience, whether she simply cannot think for herself or has an opinion and is too intimidated to voice it. Polonius perception of his daughter becomes clear with the statement you have taen these tenders for true pay | Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly. The financial references here show that these tenders are worth nothing to Polonius unless they become cash, or stirling, in his hand. The acquisition of wealth comprises all of Ophelias uses to him. She is a possession and a tool to him. This is noted by Gibson, women were regarded as possessions, as capital to be exploited. He also harbours selfish concerns about his own social standing, and that Ophelia will tender him a fool, as her behaviour reflects upon him as a father. Ophelia concludes by submitting yet again, I shall obey, my lord. Despite the fact that Ophelia has firstly rebelled against expectations by meeting with a man without the permission of her father, or has gone against social mores (Pitt), she continues to treat her father as her superior and conform to his wishes. Again the audience witnesses the dual personality of Ophelia. This could leave an audience confused, and unsure of exactly what to think of her as a character, as her true identity remains a mystery until her death. After Hamlet advances upon her looking like he had been loosed out of hell, Ophelia runs to her father, seeking protection and comfort. She enters the room saying O my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted. Modern audiences may draw comparisons between this and the behaviour of a small child. Not only is she treated like one by men, but at this point she proves their treatment to be right. This might anger a modern audience who could perceive her to be lacking common sense and therefore totally unable to deal with a hostile situation. To increase the antagonism of a post-feminist audience, she then goes on to relate that she was sewing in her closet at the time of incident while to a Shakespearean audience sewing was part of life for women, a modern audience would see this as a stereotypically effeminate activity being used by Ophelia to play up her helplessness. As stated by A. C. Bradley in the Victorian era, a large number of readers feel a personal kind of irritation against Ophelia; they seem unable to forgive her for not having been a heroine. While this does not represent the viewpoint of todays audience, it shows that even in Victorian times when women were still much less free than they are now, Ophelias helplessness is exaggerated to the point of irritation. We witness Ophelias utter submissiveness yet again, and her acting as if she has no thoughts of her own I do not know, | But truly I do fear it. Ophelia incessantly addresses her father submissively as my lord. It can be presumed that Ophelia has been taught to address him thusly, reflecting on Polonius as a father, who is an example of men at the time of the play. Polonius sees Ophelia as being far inferior to him. He speaks to her in short commands Come, go with me, rather than asking her to do things. He also seems to think that she is untrustworthy, as he questions her, Have you given him any hard words of late? suspecting that she has not done what he told her to do. As Ophelias letters are read aloud, she stands on the stage in silence to endure this harsh and humiliating experience. She is utterly powerless as her most intimate secrets are exposed to the King and Queen. Her father has granted her no right to privacy, to the point that he publicly proclaims and meddles in her affairs. Polonius says I have a daughter have while she is mine, this bluntly suggests his intentions to sell her, and continues Who in her duty and obedience, mark, | Hath given me this. Here, it is as if he is marketing her, making her good qualities known to the King and Queen, telling them to mark, possibly in the hopes that they approve of her as a wife to Hamlet. In this situation Polonius social standing would vastly improve. She is certainly seen by him as capital to be exploited. Upon the Kings questioning Ophelias chastity, Polonius asks him What do you think of me? This shows that in a Shakespearean society, the behaviour of a daughter was seen to be an indication of how honourable her father was, again proving that women were taught chastity, modesty, obedience and faithfulness to their husbands (Gibson), to be used as social and financial tools. Elaine Showalter accurately describes Ophelia as that piece of bait. She is used to confirm whether or not Hamlets separation from her is the cause of his madness. Before the first conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia (which is held under surveillance by Polonius and the King), Ophelia is not even given a greeting, but is spoken to only by the Queen, and exclusively about Hamlet And for your part Ophelia, I do wish That your good beauties be the happy cause Of Hamlets wildness. Their main concern is Hamlets return to his prior sane state and hope to be able to use Ophelia as a way of bringing it about. Ophelia herself has absolutely no control over events relating to her. She speaks briefly, only when spoken to, and to express her desire to see Hamlet well again Madam, I wish it may. Her father again talks to her commandingly, as if she were a dog, Ophelia, walk you here. When she is at first left with Hamlet, she remains silent onstage throughout his long monologue, until he mentions her. A conversation begins with Ophelias greeting Hamlet, Good my lord, and hereafter she uses the words my lord repetitively. When she mentions rememberances that she as longed long to re-deliver, she is shunned by Hamlet, as he says I never gave you aught. Ophelia further shows the audience that she is an intelligent young woman rather than a girl who is full of nonsense. She elaborates on her feelings for Hamlet with the words: My honoured lord, you know right well you did, And with them words of so sweet breath composed As made these things more rich. Their perfume lost, Take these again, for to the noble mind Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. There my lord. The audience sees here through her passionate statement that these words held great importance to Ophelia and that she is expressing the depth of her emotion. With Hamlet she gives the first indications of her true feelings, things that she would not share with her father. She is however belittled and mocked by Hamlet (Ha, ha, are you honest? ). Her clever response to Hamlets mad ramblings gives us another insight into the more hidden side of Ophelia. Fundamentally, however, Ophelia is a side story, and is of secondary importance to the main plot and has no story without Hamlet. She appears in only five of the plays twenty scenes (Showalter) and is used to inform the audience of what Hamlet was like before his descent into madness. As stated by Angela Pitt, Ophelias main function in the play is to illuminate a particular facet of Hamlets decline. She has known him in both friendship and gallant devotion. She fulfils this role: O what a noble mind is here oerthrown! The courtiers, soldiers, scholars, eye, tongue, sword, Th expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion, and the mould of form. While we see here that she is articulate, is underestimated by Polonius and does have something of value to say, it is quite tragic that this outburst of expression is not of herself, but of Hamlets personality prior to his fathers death. As she is used throughout the play by men, here Shakespeare uses her as a way of imparting information to the audience. At this point in the play, the audience can sympathise with Ophelia, as the pain of rejection by a lover exists outside of time. By proving to the audience that she is intelligent and educated, she wins respect, as modern society values these qualities highly in both men and women. Just before the play, Hamlet initiates a tirade of sexual references directed toward Ophelia. It begins with heres metal more attractive, a mocking reference to her looks. He goes on to say to Ophelia Lady, shall I lie in your lap? to which she replies No my lord. He persists in trying to humiliate Ophelia with phrases such as Do you think I meant country matters? and Thats a fair thought to lie between maids legs. Ophelias responses are short and she again repeats my lord No my lord, Ay my lord, I think nothing, my lord. Her words are sharp and brief as she denies Hamlet the pleasure of provoking an outburst from her. While this repetition could show her merely being weak and submissive, as she is forced to take his insults, it can also be argued that she knows here exactly what she is doing, as she later goes on to retaliate, You are naught, you are naught Ophelias naivety must be assumed and not genuine, because later she gives as good as she gets (Pitt): Ophelia. You are keen my lord, you are keen. Hamlet. It would cost you a groaning to take off mine edge. Ophelia. Still better, and worse. Here she neglects to say my lord, which shows that her tone has changed, and she has given up trying to be tolerant of Hamlet. Ophelias descent into madness portrays her in an ironic and rather tragic light. Her condition has caused her to be more vocal and to reject authority. Now people notice that Ophelia is speaking, and try to understand what she says, when her mind is not her own nothing she says makes sense. Even though she is louder, her position is still largely unchanged her madness expresses itself through her, but does not allow her to express her own true thoughts. At the time, women who were vocal and opinionated, who challenged authority or sought freedom were often portrayed as being insane. This overly emotional, nonsensical state was also thought to be womanhood in its purest, unsuppressed form Ophelia might confirm the impossibility of representing the feminine in patriarchal discourse as other than madness, incoherence, fluidity, or silence Ophelia represents the strong emotions that the Elizabethans as well as the Freudians thought womanish and unmanly. (Showalter). The themes of her songs are death and true love the two issues that have most recently affected her. Firstly, her exploitation by Hamlet: And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donned his clothes, And dupped the chamber door, Let in the maid, that out a maid, Never departed more. In Shakespearean times, it was extremely important that a woman maintained her chastity it is implied quite obviously by these songs that Ophelia did engage in sexual relations with Hamlet. This would have meant the loss of her reputation altogether. People will now take notice of these open declarations, as a woman her promiscuity is condemned, whereas a mans promiscuity (Hamlets) will be overlooked. This exposes Shakespearean societys double standards. A woman of high social standing such as Ophelia was expected even more so to exhibit virtue, and so was very vulnerable and open to condemnation, with every relationship putting her in a potentially life-destroying position. Now, when the relationship has dissolved, she is in a difficult position. Her imprisonment is particularly distressing to a modern audience, who are very used to seeing women with much more freedom. While todays morals are not quite as tight as Shakespearean morals, a modern audience will still feel a lot of sympathy for the poor abused and abandoned Ophelia. As well as being an issue of chastity, it also involves trust. She trusted Hamlet with her love and her reputation wrongly. Secondly, she sings about her fathers death: At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone. His death has marked the loss of two of the men in her life who, while they were controlling and dictating, were all that she had, and both of whom she loved dearly. When Ophelia falls into the river where she eventually perishes, she does nothing to save herself. She is as passive at the moment of her death as she was throughout life, doing nothing to save herself. Gertrude is able to describe Ophelias death in detail, down to the exact type of flowers Ophelia had decked herself with (crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples). This may be seen as Gertrudes expression of genuine sympathy for her fellow woman. Ophelias death can be seen as a suicide, but Gertrude, perhaps to prevent Ophelia from being denied a Christian burial, which would have deepened Laertes grief, describes her as having been one incapable of her own distress, suggesting that she fell in and simply did not care enough to get out. Ophelias last influence in the play is her funeral, where Laertes jumps into her grave in grief. Hamlet however jumps in after him, and they begin to grapple irreverently, arguing over who loved her more: Hamlet. I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum what wilt thou do for her? Hamlet persists in trying to out-do Laertes in his love for his sister, to the point of ridiculousness Woot drink up eisel, eat a crocodile? | Ill dot. This sudden display of affection for Ophelia from Hamlet contrasts hugely with his treatment of her during her life, and seems unrealistic. Laertes grief for Ophelia is overshadowed by his desire for revenge as Hamlet has destroyed his family. The two use their love for Ophelia as an excuse to let private rivalries surface, even at her funeral. This is symbolic of how she has been used throughout the play, by Polonius to get closer to the king and by Hamlet to portray his insanity. To a Shakespearean audience, peoples treatment of Ophelia would have been typical of the way in which women were treated. Her silence and oppression would have been met with sympathy, as well the empathy of women of the time. While her situation with regards to Hamlet and his cold rejection of her still holds poignancy with a modern audience, people today may question more why she made little attempt to defend herself in certain situations, and why she so blankly followed the instructions of her father and brother at the expense of her own mental and emotional well-being. Bibliography Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, Heinemann, 1996 Pitt, Angela, Shakespeares Women, David and Charles, 1981 Gibson, Rex, Cambridge Student Guide: Hamlet, Cambridge University Press, 2002 A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, 1904 Showalter, Elaine, Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism. in New Casebooks: Hamlet, Macmillan, 1992 Eleanor Crossey Malone L6G.

Run With The Horsemen Essay -- essays research papers

Little Porter Osborne, Jr. grew up on a farm in Georgia where the people own the land and the land, in turn, owns the people. In the novel, Run with the Horsemen, Porter fights his way through adolescence and the depression, learning more about life every day from the big boys under the tree at lunch. Ferrol Sams is able to portray a realistic account of life on a farm during the depression by using humor, dialect, and vivid imagery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Humor is used throughout the book to keep the reader interested in what would otherwise be a boring story of hard work and hard times. The boring and tedious act of plowing is turned into a dangerous, yet humorous, occurrence when a release of methane gas from the mule was met by a match that Porter happened to be holding in cl...

Effects of advertising Essay

Advertisements are everywhere, traveling by all ways possible, infiltrating the privacy that every person holds important to themselves and their family. American Marketing Association defines advertising as â€Å"the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.† Today, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. Advertising has been applied in most of fields in society such as economical advertisings, educational advertisings, political advertisings, and healthy advertisings, etc. Advertising is used to promote goods, services, images, and anything else that advertisers want to publicize. It is becoming a major part of mass media. We may view it positively; at other times we may just skip or ignore it. In order to attract audience, advertisers use various techniques on their advertisement to make people aware of the firm’s products, services, or brands. Although the methods used by advertisers are infinitely, they have a common goal to persuade those who may become their customers to buy their products. An excellent advertisement will create a deep impression on its potential customers through particular techniques. They deliver their advertisement through TV, radio, magazines and newspapers, internet, billboards, and other multi-media means. By advertising, individuals or companies are able to get more extra profits from their products, promote their products, and gain the most important purpose – to sell. In many cases, there are some negative effects – some annoying hindrances in our daily lives. It makes our nerves, distorts the truth, and adds to the cost of the product. Advertising is designed for one purpose – to sell. To achieve this goal, advertisers are willing to stretch and distort the truth, just to convince people to buy their products. For example, an advertiser  may convince buyers to purchase their products by stating those have been tested and found superior. In reality, the products are not better than any other – the tests themselves doubtlessly conducted by the promoting company – conducted to ensure at least something is superior about the product, even if it is only the color. These advertisements are worded carefully so that they are telling the â€Å"literal truth† – the truth is exactly what the words say, although people misinterpret the message by using conversational logic as something different – something better. By using ingenious tactics like these, the populace is deceived into buying a product that may not do what is required, or a product that a buyer may have never needed. That is why advertising is not good for our society. First, I would like to discuss about the negative effects to children and youth. One of the most corrupt forms of advertising comes from cigarette companies. According to some investigator, â€Å"Cigarette advertisements are degrading not only because the products behind them are proven to be a health hazard, but also because the advertisements are focused toward younger generations.† Many advertisements use young, attractive, healthy looking models when advertising for a brand of cigarettes or beer. Company promotions have led people to affiliate certain products with feelings of happiness or euphoria. There is no doubt that people smoke the most heavily advertised brands of cigarettes. â€Å"Tobacco advertising increases young people’s risk of smoking by using themes that appeal to them, such as fun times, action, and being popular and attractive.† (Family Education 1). Advertisings that supply the Surgeon General’s warning along with the main body of the message are blatantly contradictive. These advertisings prove that there are many forms of advertising without any morals, and that companies will go to great lengths to have their name and image promoted regardless of the results. The nation’s companies have put themselves before the children. Similar to the case of cigarette companies, Ph.D. Henry Saffer show that spending money to advertise alcohol contributes to increase the rate of students drinking. Alcohol remains popular with American college students, as indicated by the Core Institute Survey (1998). In 1997, 84.2% of college students reported drinking alcohol, an increase of 2% over the prior year. For comparison, there were similar increases in the prevalence of tobacco and marijuana use. Moderate to heavy drinking also increased with corresponding reductions in abstention and light drinking. Nationwide, students reported consuming an average of 5.64 drinks per week in 1997, up about 7% over 1996. The Core Institute also reported that 45.5% of students had consumed five or more drinks in one sitting in the previous 2 weeks. More than 21% of the students reported three or more episodes of this kind of high-risk drinking in the previous 2 weeks. Finally, more than 90% of American college students reported that drinking is a central part of campus social life. (Henry Saffer, Ph.D., Alcohol Advertising and Youth, pg. 173) According to Competitive Media Reporting, more than $1.2 billion was spent in 1998 on alcohol advertising in measured media (i.e., print media, outdoor advertising, radio and television). An additional two-thirds billion dollars was spent on other forms of promotion, including sponsorships, couponing and direct mail. Alcohol advertising had decreased from 1987 to 1996 by 34%, in real terms. However, since 1997, alcohol advertising has been increasing. Part of the recent increase includes the use of cable television by spirits advertisers. (Henry Saffer, Ph.D., Alcohol Advertising and Youth, pg. 173) Second, advertisements can change or impact an individual’s behavior, attitude, expectations, or relationships. The more advertising that a person watches the more that they are influenced by it. The more that they are influenced by advertising the less important their relationships become. Consequently, the behaviors that we display and the influences on our physical environment are directly affected by the amount of advertisements that we see. In the world of advertising, lovers are things and things are lovers (Kilbourne, Can’t Buy My Love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel, pg. 77). Sadly, advertising promotes a corrupt and bankrupt concept of relationships (Kilbourne, Can’t Buy My Love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel, pg. 77). It is unavoidable and extremely damaging to our relationships and especially families. With the divorce rate and domestic  violence rate at the highest it has ever been, it is necessary to evaluate the influences of advertising to our relationships. It has become more and more difficult to relate to our partners in a manner that isn’t objectifying and exploitative. These are images that are forced into our heads and we may have very little control over. Moreover, advertising creates images of what is appropriate behavior in a relationship, using products. That behavior is not always one that is idealistic for real life relationships and generally can be very damaging to intimate and personal relationships. Advertising plays a part in dictating our expectations of our mate, ranging from money and clothing to behavior and attitude. Therefore, when messages and images are repeatedly presented to us they inevitably have an impact on our relationships. Our intimate relationships have been trivialized and our relationships with products have become more important. Another negative effect is that some advertisings use the sexual content to attract the attention of consumers. Consistently, studies have demonstrated that sexual appeals attract attention to the advertising, typically without a corresponding advantage for brand information processing. Sexual content may be eye-catching and entertaining, but it may not be communicative and might distract the viewer from the message. Reichert, Heckler, and Jackson (2001) claim that when sexual stimulus is used in advertising, viewers’ perceptual and processing resources are directed toward the sexual information in the ad rather than toward the brand. Therefore, they will not have a perspicacious decision to buy the products. Recently days, on the television, some company try to develop the crazy adverting project that use women’s belly to advertise. They make some small advertising boards and they paste them on the belly of women and then they ask them to wear short skirt and bikini, after that they will go around some public locations. In this case, it is very stupid that it can promote the women’s body not the products. Finally, use sexual content to advertise is one of the negative effects of advertising that is worse in the society. Throughout history politicians have used various methods, such as persuasive speeches, political advertising and political rallies, to achieve their â€Å"primary goal, the winning votes†. But according to the results of the  research made by Won Ho Chang (Professor and Director of the Stephenonson Research Center at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism), Jae-Jin Park (Public Relation Specialist with LG Corporation in Seoul, Korea) and Sung Wook Shim (graduate student in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri) in 1998 â€Å"over the years, politicians have found that it is most advantageous to use political advertising to persuade voters†. For example, the majority of presidential campaigns depend on television advertising. Clinton spent $12 million of his $30.9 million limit on television commercials in the middle of the primaries, $42.4 million during reconvention, and $44 million on television ads in the general election. A total of $98.4 million was used on television commercials. In my opinion, it is not good for the citizens and will influence on the result of voting. The voters will receive much positive information of the politicians and they will be distracting the purpose of vote. Moreover, by using an effective political advertising, a politician can win the other politicians even though he is not as good as the others, and it is unfair to them. There are no a commission to check the information of political advertising that is wring or wrong; therefore, the voters will have no chance to predict what the politicians will do for them. Some politician just tries to get votes by any ways, and when they win they forget what they promise. In short, advertising in voting is not a good method and it also makes some disadvantage to both the politicians and the voters. The last problem is that some activities in our society are wrapped by the advertisings. On the streets of our city, many advertising billboards are built to advertise for some products and it makes he city become uncivilized. On the television, there are many programs of advertising that trouble the audiences. For example, when people are attracted by a wonderful program, some adverting programs are run and distract them. More over, on the Internet, now people get many difficulties to check their e-mail in the inbox because they have seen many advertising letter from some company in their inbox. In short, some of advertisings are now obstructing the process of some activities in our society. Advertising has a strong influence over social behaviors, attitudes, and  expectations of individuals involved in intimate relationships between men and women Companies spend millions of dollars on advertising every year. The companies are very aware of the effect of advertisement on the community. Companies would not spend millions of dollars on advertising if it had little or no effect on the public. We all know that advertising provides a general service of informing us about products. But, does it also unnecessarily affect our behavior, relationships, and environment? How can we avoid the negative effects of advertising, especially in our relationships? Nowadays, in order to promote the products, many companies abuse so much of the advertising. In this case, they do not pay enough attention to the quality and the value of the products. Therefore, although advertising can bring them the profit and promotion from selling their products, they have to consider some bad effects of them on the society. References Family Education Network â€Å"Cigarettes – Don’t Believe the Hype† cited in 18/12/2004 at www.familyeducation.com Henry Saffer, Ph.D., Alcohol Advertising and Youth, National Bureau of Economic Research, 365 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor, New York, New York 10016-4309 Kilbourne, Jean (1999). Can’t Buy My Love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel. New York: Touchstone. Andrea Dworkin, Pornography: Men Possessing Women (New York: Phime, 1989) Reichert, T., Heckler, S.E. & Jackson, S. 2001, the effects of sexual social marketing appeals on cognitive processing and persuasion. Journal of Advertising, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 13-27. Won Ho Chang, Jae-Jin Park, and Sung Wook Shim. â€Å"Effectiveness of Negative Political Advertising.† Cited in 21/12/2004 at http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/wjmcr/vol02

Top Choices for Preschool Homeschool Curriculum

A preschool curriculum is a course of study  designed for 2- to 5-year-old children. Preschool curriculums include two key features: a set of developmentally-appropriate learning goals and specific  activities through which the child will achieve those goals. Many preschool homeschool curriculums also include approximate timelines for the completion of the activities, which creates structure and helps parents track their childs progress. Because preschool age includes children as young as 2 and as old as 5,  preschool curriculums are designed to serve a wide range  of ages and skill levels. However, the best curriculums  will provide strategies for modifying activities based on your childs childs cognitive, social, and emotional development. How Preschoolers Learn A young child’s primary tool for learning is play.  Play is a well-documented human instinct that enables  children to practice real-life scenarios. Through play-based learning, children hone their problem-solving and social skills,  increase their vocabularies, and become more physically agile.   Preschoolers also learn through hands-on exploration.  Sensory play—using a variety of tools and materials to engage physically with their environment—builds critical thinking abilities and improves  fine  and gross motor skills.   In order to reach their full developmental potential, preschoolers must have time devoted to play and sensory exploration every day. These  active learning experiences are crucial to early childhood development. What to Look for in a Preschool Homeschool Curriculum When researching preschool curriculums, look for programs that teach the following skills through hands-on  learning opportunities:   Language and literacy skills. Reading aloud to your child is essential for the development of language and literacy skills. When  children watch you read, they learn that letters form words, words have meaning, and printed text moves from left to right. Look for a program that includes the quality of children’s literature and encourages reading and story-telling. Although preschoolers don’t need a formal phonics program, you should look for a curriculum that teaches letter sounds and recognition and demonstrates rhyming through stories, poems, and songs. Math skills. Before children can learn arithmetic, they must understand basic mathematical concepts like quantity and comparison.  Look for a preschool curriculum that encourages children to explore  mathematical concepts through hands-on activities. These activities may include  sorting and categorizing, comparing (bigger/smaller, taller/shorter), shapes, patterns,  number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence (understanding that â€Å"two† isn’t just a word but that it represents two objects).   Children should learn the basic colors, which may not seem to be a math skill but is important in sorting and categorizing. They should also begin learning simple time concepts such as morning/night and yesterday/today/tomorrow, along with the days of the week and months of the year. Fine motor skills.  Preschool-aged children  are still honing their fine motor skills. Look for a curriculum that gives them opportunities to work on these skills through activities such as coloring, cutting and pasting, stringing beads, building with blocks or tracing shapes. Top Choices in Preschool Homeschool Curriculum These preschool homeschool curriculums encourage active learning through play and sensory exploration. Each program includes specific hands-on activities that support the development of literacy, math, and fine motor skills. Before Five in a Row: Designed for  children ages 2-4,  Before Five in a Row  is a guide  for learning with your child through quality childrens books. The  first part of the guide is a list of 24 high-quality childrens books accompanied by related activities. Because the guide was originally published in 1997, some of the suggested titles are out of print, but most will be available through your local library or the Five in a Row website. The second section of the curriculum  focuses on making the most of learning moments in everyday life.  There are ideas for turning bath time, bedtime, and trips to the store into engaging educational experiences for your preschooler. WinterPromise: WinterPromise is a Christian, Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum with two distinct options for preschoolers. The  first,  Journeys of Imagination,  is a 36-week read-aloud program featuring classic picture books like  Mike Mulligan,  Corduroy, and various  Little Golden Book titles. The teacher’s guide includes questions to ask your child about each story in order to build their  critical thinking, narration, and listening skills. Parents can use Journeys of Imagination alone or couple it with  I’m Ready to Learn, a 36-week program designed for kids aged 3-5 that teaches specific language and math skills through hands-on activities and themed units. Sonlight: Sonlight’s preschool homeschool curriculum  is a book lover’s dream come true. The literature-based  Christian preschool curriculum  features over a dozen quality children’s books and more than 100 fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The program emphasizes quality family time, so there  is no daily schedule. Instead, families are encouraged to enjoy the books at their own pace and track their progress using trimester-based checklists. The curriculum set also includes pattern blocks, mix-and-match memory games, scissors, crayons, and construction paper so that children can  develop spatial reasoning and fine motor skills through hands-on play. A Year of Playing Skillfully: A Year of Playing Skillfully is a play-based curriculum for children ages 3-7. Based on the book  The Homegrown Preschooler, A Year of Playing Skillfully is a year-long program that parents can use to guide their children through  exploration-based learning. The curriculum offers a list of recommended children’s books to read and field trips to take, as well as plenty of hands-on  activities to promote language and literacy, math skills, science and sensory exploration, arts and music, and motor skill development. BookShark:  BookShark is a literature-based, faith-neutral curriculum. Aimed at children ages 3-5, BookShark features 25 books designed to teach preschoolers about the world around them. The curriculum includes classics such as Winnie the Pooh and The Berenstain Bears  as well as  beloved authors like  Eric Carle and Richard Scarry. The all-subject package  includes hands-on math manipulatives to help your preschooler explore numbers, shapes, and patterns. Children will also learn about plants, animals, the weather, and seasons.