For preschool, we’ve tried lots of different activities and curricula.
Preschool homeschool doesn’t have to cost really anything. I know some homeschool parents who buy these expensive boxed curriculum sets, but I think these are a waste of money and cause lots of stress for child and parent. The schedules are strict and seem to have a lot of worthless busy work.
Our homeschool days have always been only a couple hours of academic work, even for high schoolers!
I highly recommend the books by Louise Bates Ames. Good guides to follow are What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: Get Ready for Kindergarten and What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
How We Homeschool Preschool:
While I believe that small children should play, play, play as much as possible, my younger kids wanted to “do school” like big sister, so I obliged with workbooks and fun activities and they soaked it up like sponges.
I read aloud to my kids from pre-birth through high school age. We all love books.
Autonomy
I don’t force anything on my kids. I allow them to explore their interests. We don’t worry about handwriting. Reading comes naturally, whenever the child is ready. They love learning about science and history.
Toys
Lots of plastic electronic toys are a waste of money. My kids prefer building materials and toys and recyclable items for craft creations. Pretend play is important. I shop after Halloween sales and thrift shops for fun dressup clothes.
Technology
Screens in moderation. Sometimes kids just need and want the downtime. When it’s bad weather outside or we’re not feeling well, it’s fine to curl up together or alone with the cats and watch a show or play an app. Why should we make kids feel guilty when adults do it all the time?
Outdoors
We spend lots of time outside. We play balancing and running games and run free and wild. We learn about and experience nature.
Practical Life
They use real tools in the kitchen, helping cook real food meals.
We explore textures and colors and drawing with real art supplies.
We go to the library weekly – for storytime and checking out lots of fun books.
Lots of fun field trips – farms, museums, science centers, historic locations, beaches, parks, nature centers. We prefer realistic locales over entertainment places like amusement parks. We love to travel!
Letter of the Week
We loved using the programs from Confessions of a Homeschooler and 1+1+1=1. It was lots of paper and printing, but the girls really loved it. Alex liked it ok.
My girls completed 2 levels of All About Reading and my son used their entire program. They all loved it! It was a fun and easy way to learn to read and they begged to do a lesson every single day.
Here are some of our random letter blog posts. I didn’t record all of our letter learning efforts.
Unit Studies
- Astronomy
- Beach
- Back to School
- Fall
- Apples
- Winter
- Snow
- Antarctica
- Transportation
- Royalty
- Dinosaurs
- Foxes
- Wizard of Oz
Preschool Pinterest Board
Montessori Pinterest Board
I try to limit toys to encourage imaginative play.
