When our first son was preschool age, I was mesmerized by all the great curriculum available. Every catalog or website had something new and enticing. I admit I fell victim to all the advertising and bought a lot of workbooks and curriculum thinking each new item would educate my preschooler in everything he needed to know before entering kindergarten (ha!).
Four years later, my early education philosophy has morphed into something much simpler based not only on the fact that I have less time to work with my preschoolers, but because of a personal paradigm shift. Our homeschool preschool is now focused on providing the foundation for their future education in a relaxed and simple way. I’ve found the glittery curriculum doesn’t necessarily provide what everyday materials coupled with a loving parent can!
Today I’m sharing our simple goals and educational philosophy as well as how that plays out in our day to day.
The 4Rs: Goals for a SIMPLE Preschool
When I think about what I want to accomplish with any of my children, I find myself always falling back on the rusty, yet trusty, 4 R’s: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, and Religion. When all else fails in our homeschool, I know focusing on these 4 areas will give my children a solid education.
- Religion Child will be familiar with Bible stories, memorize several scripture verses, and continue character development.
- Reading Child will know letter names and sounds, identify beginning letter in words, and be familiar with rhyming.
- aRithmetic Child will know numbers 1-25, count to 20, do simple subtraction and addition (ex. If you had 5 cookies and you ate one, how many would you have?).
- wRiting Child will develop gross motor and fine motor skills, practice using a pencil, be able to write their name.
Children all differ in development, so they may or may not be able to accomplish all these goals by age 5. These goals aren’t necessarily a checklist as something to aim for with our time together. (You can find printable preschool planning pages centered around the 4 R’s in this post on Home Preschool Your Way)
S.I.M.P.L.E. Preschool Philosophy
I’ll use the acronym SIMPLE to describe my education philosophy. The SIMPLE acronym stands for Simple, Inexpensive, Malleable, Purposeful, Literary, and Exciting.
SIMPLE Planning, preparation, and teaching time must be uncomplicated or I’m likely to give in and give up! I don’t have a lot of time and energy to devote to traditional preschool curriculum or busy work. I also don’t like having lots of “stuff” in my home, so I try to use what I have on hand.
INEXPENSIVE While I believe education is an area where you often get out what you pay for, I don’t believe that holds for young children. Preschool objectives can be accomplished without purchasing a single thing. I try to keep this goal in mind so I don’t fall prey to advertising and buy things that aren’t necessary. I’d rather spend our funds on good books!
MALLEABLE I don’t care for curriculum where I feel “locked in.” Some days life happens and preschool just doesn’t! I need materials that are flexible to fit this busy season in life.
PURPOSEFUL One of my pet-peeves is arts and crafts that are done for no purpose. If I am taking time to work with my preschooler I want to know that what we’re doing will help us achieve our goals.
LITERARY I feel my children would be well prepared for kindergarten if all I did was read to them throughout their preschool years. Our preschool routine involves lots of reading aloud from wonderful living books. We also take time to memorize poetry to fill our children’s hearts with beautiful words.
EXCITING I want my children to enjoy working with me on school. Setting up a non-negotiable school time and using rich materials helps me achieve this goal.
So how does this play out in our home? I have a simple checklist of things I know I want to accomplish with my preschoolers on a daily basis.
SIMPLE Preschool Daily Checklist
- Writing practice (work on writing numbers, letters, or another fine motor skill)
- Work on learning letters and letter sounds
- Work on learning numbers and counting
- Work on memorizing a poem
- Participate in family devotions / morning basket (here is our family devotion time that centers around our feast table)
- Listen to reading during read aloud hour
- Educational quiet time
Accomplishing my goals and checklist involves very little preparation and teaching time. (If you are the type who likes to plan ahead, you can find printable weekly planning pages here.)
My preschoolers know we “do school” when my nine-year old is working on his independent school work. Having an established school time means there is no negotiation or arguing ( a mistake I made with my first was not having a nonnegotiable school time). Preschool takes no more than 45 minutes (often less). It is a special time devoted to my little preschoolers and they enjoy having Mom all to themselves. It isn’t so much that I think they MUST have daily school at this age as much as I want to develop the habit of obedience and create continuity in our family schedule.
A Sample Week of our SIMPLE Preschool
(While our preschool activities vary greatly depending on what my children know, the following is what a typical week may look like.)
Monday
- Introduce letter of the week (trace on sandpaper letters, fill a basket with things that start with that letter and count them, write the letter on a paper and have child trace with a marker and tape to basket, hang letter on wall)
- Work on poem
Tuesday
- Review letter (look at letter wall and point to letters learned, trace sandpaper card, review phonics flashcards)
- Math worksheet (from Rod and Staff workbook)
- Work on poem
Wednesday
- Letter (review letter and sound, look through basket again, trace letter in salt, phonics workbook page)
- Practice counting to 25
- Scissors practice
- Work on poem
Thursday
- Read an alphabet book
- Fine Motor worksheet
- Put sandpaper numbers in order
- Work on poem
Friday
- Educational Movie
That’s it! Super simple and effective. I’ve seen my little ones blossom with this simple daily rhythm. My now 5 year old has transitioned easily into beginning Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (suggested by Mother of Divine Grace) and my 3 year old (who tagged along last year at the age of 2) has accomplished many of my goals for preschool already.
Next up: Preschool at Home Your Way (with printable weekly checklists and material suggestions).
You’ll also love Quiet Time Activities for Your Preschoolers.
What have you found works the best for your children in your homeschool preschool? What are the things you want to accomplish with your little ones before kindergarten?
