Preschool at Home Your Way - elizabeth clare

So I shared with you what our preschool philosophy, goals, and routine is the other day. Today, I’m turning the tables and asking you to think about what would make the perfect preschool for your family. There is no one size fits all – make it your own!

Before we open a catalog or scour the internet for the best preschool curriculum, let’s figure out exactly where we want to go with our children in their little years. Here are some questions to help you discover your preschool style and goals.

Consider this…

What are my goals? Do you want your child to know their alphabet or beginning phonics by the end of the year? What are your goals for writing/fine motor, math, character training, life skills, etc? Get a paper and write your ideas down. The more specific, the better. Your goals will help you decide what materials and methods are appropriate. You can see our preschool goals right here.
Are my goals realistic? I was so eager to get my first son reading (the ultimate hurdle for beginning homeschoolers) that I created a lot of stress for both of us. Looking back this was not a realistic goal. Go through your list of goals and make sure they are achievable for your child.
What kind of teacher am I and what kind of a learner is my preschooler? I avoid kid crafts like the plague; they are just not my thing. I know coloring books would be a bore for my boys. But living books are a pure delight for our whole family. As a consequence, in our preschool we do very few crafts but read, read, read! What do you enjoy and what it pure drudgery? Don’t waste your time and money on materials that will not work for you or your student, no matter how shiny they are!
How much time do I have to devote to preparation and teaching? Avoid materials that involve lots of work on your part (unless you have lots of time – lucky you!). I love all those Pinterest preschool materials, but I know I do not have the time to prepare them during this season of life. Also remember, these materials must all be stored somewhere. Be realistic with your time and space restrictions.
What is the right amount of work for my preschooler? Too much will overwhelm your student (and you!). I would err on the side of doing less school than you think, especially at this age. It really is amazing how much a child picks up on their own in a loving and stimulating home environment.
What do you own already that you can use to teach your preschooler? My bet is you all have alphabet books, card/board games, playdough (homemade is great!), markers, crayons, and paper lying around. How can you use them in your preschool?
What would make teaching easier? Would you feel more confident with a boxed curriculum? (By first grade, our students transition to Mother of Divine Grace.)
What are some materials you would like to use? What has really caught your eye while investigating preschool? Go for it!

Develop your preschool schedule and routine

What is working/not working in your current daily routine? Write down meals, chore times, and naptimes. Get rid or change what isn’t working.
Where is a natural time slot for your formal preschool learning? When will your child learn best and when will you best be able to teach him?
What are some simple chores your preschooler can do? When? Life skills and a sense of responsibility are also important to instill at this young age. Make sure you take time to add a few chores to your child’s day. Establishing a work ethic now will pay dividends in the future!
How long do you have to devote to your preschool? Remember how much can be accomplished with little nuggets of time. You are not trying to replicate half day preschool!
When can you read to your child if you aren’t already? This will be the single best gift you can give your child over the years. (You’ll love our favorite Must Reads for Young Catholics.)
Sketch a weekly/daily routine. Use excel or some fancy smanshy planner. Whatever floats your boat, use it! Fine-tune your routine as you implement it. (free printable weekly planning pages are below!)

Above all, relax! Observe and enjoy your little one. I guarantee that your child will thrive regardless of the amount of schooling accomplished in preschool!

Now that you’ve set your course and figured out what you want to see in your homeschool, you may be considering buying some materials to help the educational process along. Remember that most preschool objectives can be accomplished without purchasing a single thing, but sometimes we busy mamas like to have something to help us along.

Knowing your goals, time limitations, teaching style, and learner will help you save a lot of time and money when you order materials for your homeschool preschool. It’s helpful to ask the following questions before you commit to purchasing something for your homeschool.

Printable Weekly Planning Pages

I typed up some weekly planning pages for your home preschool. There are several different formats: 5 days a week (labeled with Monday, Tuesday, etc.), 5 days a week (labeled Day One, Day Two…), and a 4 day week. Each day has the 4 R’s listed to help you develop those critical areas. Add on what you want.

Preschool Planning Worksheets

Questions to Ask before you Buy

Can I teach this with something I already have?
Where will I store this?
Can this be used again or in a different way?
Does this help me accomplish our goals for preschool?

Asking these questions will usually stop those impulse purchases and make sure we only end up with those materials we really need or want.

Most of the materials in my list can be used again with another child. Many you can make on your own. I’ve included links to where you can purchase some of the items, depending on how much time and money you have at your disposal. Some of these items make great birthday or Christmas presents to ask for from those over-eager grandparents.

Remember that our preschool centers around the 4 R’s (Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, and Religion), so all the materials below keep those goals in mind. You can read more about the 4R’s in our preschool here.

Picks for Preschool at Home

Reading

Sandpaper Letters You can make your own sandpaper letters and numbers, but I purchased mine from Amazon. You can use these for all sorts of activities: matching capital and lowercase, tracing formation, phonics flashcards, and beginning words.

Alphabet Flashcards These are great to use in practicing phonics or letter names. I have flashcards I purchased at the Dollar Tree. I also have made them by writing on index cards.
Die-cut Letters We put a letter on our alphabet wall every week and review old ones. This set is similar to one I purchased from the Dollar Tree.

Alphabet Puzzles. I bet most of you have these on hand. If not, I see these things at garage sales all the time for a couple dollars or less. The large alphabet train floor puzzle has been a favorite in our home. They are a sneaky way to add in extra learning. (A great item to add to the Christmas wish list!)

Mathematics:

Sandpaper Numerals I have my preschooler trace the correct formation of the number while we say the number. This is a great way to get some pre-writing practice. We also practice putting the numbers in order or matching the correct number to an item I want them to count.

Board Games Card and board games have been a sneaky and fun way to help my child learn to count and recognize numbers and colors. Here are some of our favorites: Hi-Ho Chery-O, Candy Land, Uno, Go Fish.

Things to Count You can buy counting bears, but why store something when you can count cars, tractors, beans, legos, or whatever else is easy to grab?

Fine Motor:

Kumon Scissors Practice These workbooks are fun and a quick no-stress way to do some learning. To save money, I draw lines across scratch paper and have the child cut along the line as neatly as they can.
Kumon Mazes My two children have really enjoyed this book. Mazes were a fun way for my first child to work on his early writing skills.
Rod and Staff Wo rkbooks I love these simple workbooks. They aren’t colorful or fancy, but they do the job. They are a great thing to get when your littles want to “do school” like the big kids!

Preschool Workbooks While I really like the Rod and Staff workbooks, I got the Big Preschool Workbook this summer for my littles to work in. It is bright and colorful and full of activities. They love it!

Lauri Toys Primer Pack This pack is a great value and has seen many hours of play in our home.

Paper and pencils Everyone has this on hand, but it is worth noting. You can sacrifice convenience and go with strictly paper and pencils, modeling letters and number for your child and then having them copy.

Other:

Playdough We make our own, but this set of colors looks fun.

Saltbox Get a tub and put a thin layer of salt on the bottom. We use a cookie sheet and dump the salt in a smaller container to use again later.

Leap Frog DVDs We love the Leap Frog educational videos in our house. The kids think they are hilarious, but have picked up a lot of phonics and math from them. They teach reading through phonics.

Fridge Phonics We have gone through 2 sets of these fridge phonics toys. They get quite a bit of use at our house. The little ones learn phonics while mom cooks supper. It’s a win!

If you are looking for educational ways to keep your preschooler entertained during quiet hour at your house, you’ll love my post with our favorite preschool quiet time activities. If you need a little inspiration or would like to see our preschool in action check out my post on our home preschool here.

(The above links may contain affiliate links.)