Beginners Guide to Homeschooling Preschool

We started homeschooling when I noticed he needed some extra support. He noticed and started talking about things kids can do better than him. It seemed to come easier to other kids, especially his cousins. He started saying things like “I can’t do it”, “I can’t draw” , “I can’t color!” , etc.

How to Homeschool Preschool

Start small & keep it enjoyable with play! 

Play

Carve out some time together and play. Make make mudpies, playdough or a good old fashioned mess. Pick one thing and make playing together a part of your daily routine.

Preschool Academics

In the early years academics if far more about building vocabulary (baby board books, singing & talking), exploring nature & discovering content (Like Science, number sense and social skills) than reciting ABCs and learning how to read.

Don’t get me wrong, the alphabet and reading are very important but come in time after a proper foundation for learning is built.

3 of the BEST (free) things you can do to enrich your child’s preschool years is talk, play and read (in that order).

QUICK TIPS: When taking your daily walks allow kids time to explore nature (even if you live in suburban or urban areas) explore the aspects of nature that your environment provides. When at the library select books together and make sure you are reading regularly to your child. Everyday reading is a hard goal for some schedules so set attainable goals so that you stick with it. It’s better to read once or twice a week regularly than everyday for a week then quit & pick it back up again & quit again & so forth.

I SPY books help you integrate talking and reading and are REALLY engaging for younger kids. They help kids developing vocabulary and language & some books even incorporate beginning math or science topics.

Besides reading, what else can we do to support learning at home?

Play games, draw, count everything & indulge your child’s interests by exploring thematic units.

Preschool eBooks

You can look into preschool eBooks for ready-to-go thematic units like; dinosaurs, ocean, farm, arctic, summer camp and intro to play-based preschool. They should include some type of activity calendar or table of contents (what you’ll be doing for the theme) and step-by step instructions on how to set up activities.

I like using an activity calendar. It helps me organize daily activities and not get overwhelmed. On Sunday I pull out all of the materials I need (that I purchased in advance) and then each daily I just take out what I need.

Preschool Activity Calendars

Starting one big project like a garden was fun but I wanted to work on other skills as well. I also wanted to be organized so I started making monthly activity calendars. I plan for one activity per day (in case we’re stuck indoors due to weather & I need back up options) but only actually do about 2-3 per week.

This system works well for me.

1. Pick a Theme
2. Pick Books, Plan activities, Write it down
3. Play
4. Repeat

Creating a Homeschool Routine or Schedule

Consistency and repetition are the MOST important things for any child. You can create a detailed schedule or a simple routine that supports your family.

Schedule, Routine or Rhythm… What’s the difference?

A schedule is more detailed with specific time frames.

A routine is something that may not happen exactly at the same time every day but happens (mostly) in the same order. See sample below.

A rhythm is an organic natural flow that doesn’t happen in order, necessarily but everything still gets done in time.

For more ideas on Homeschool Schedules click HERE.