I have always taught my children at home with learning activities when they were infants, toddlers and preschoolers. After looking around for a preschool in the San Diego area, we decided that preschool at home was going to be best for my daughter and for our family as a whole.
My oldest son was in public school at that time. His schedule locked us into a regular routine.
Having twins on top of the older two, as well as some concerns over attention span, guided me to make the decision to simplify our life as much as we could. That is why after thinking about sending my daughter to preschool, we ultimately chose home.
If you are trying to decide whether to send your child to preschool or not, check out these tips before you pay for preschool.
The resources you will find on this page are the activities day-by-day that we used as our preschool at home curriculum.
I taught preschool before becoming a mom. I looked back at my preschool assessment form and my kindergarten assessment form to guide my lessons, but mostly I followed my daughter’s lead on what she needed to learn. She was reading before entering kindergarten, so I’d say these activities worked well!
I don’t think adult-guided teaching is a bad thing. It can mesh well with child-directed learning. The two can exist together. After all, I know what my daughter needs to learn. I know what her interests are, so I just combine the two and we get a beautiful child-centered curriculum that cost me nothing but (basically) construction paper and markers.
You will need the FREE How to Teach a Preschool Activity guide free for subscribers. It will give you an outline for successfully teaching a preschool activity.
Preschool at Home Schedule
Every day of preschool we started with calendar time and a few songs and poems. Preschool songs can be fun seasonal songs or simple songs that teach big concepts such as the ABC song.
We only worked on focused preschool activities about 2-3 days per week. My daughter was 4 ½ when we started preschool at home. She started Kindergarten knowing how to read.
I loved that preschool at home was flexible. There was no driving to drop off and then back to pick up. If we had a playdate or appointment in the morning, we could do our preschool time in the afternoon. We also had the ability to cut the activity time short, or extend it based on my child’s interest and my time.
Let’s be honest, this is Preschool, it is not SATs, it will not make-or-break your child’s future learning. There is information that shows the universal preschool idea does not succeed in helping children become great students, so moms and dads, you are the key.
Your time with your child is the key to building a solid platform from which your child can take on any learning or personal challenge that comes there way in life.
Preschool at Home Curriculum
Every Day:
Calendar and Shared Reading/Song time
Activity of the Day (Listed under Preschool at Home Day-by-Day activities below.)
Read books together. (Check out books from the library that are seasonal. These will teach a lot of science and social studies concepts. Many of the day-by-day activities have suggested books linked in each article for you to use as a guide too.)
Preschool at Home Day-by-Day
These activities can be done as the Activity of the Day. Try for one activity per day after your calendar/song time and before the journal time. If your child grasps the concept well move on to the next day’s activity if you like. Use the Preschool Activity Teaching Guide to help lead you through a complete activity.
Day 1: Reviewing the Alphabet
Day 2: Alphabetical Order Activity
Day 3- 29: Exploring a Letter of the Day and Letter Lesson Plans
Day 30: Number Recognition: Learning Numbers
Day 31: Counting with Pumpkin Seeds,
Day 32: Counting with Feathers
Day 33: Counting with Flowers and Butterflies
Day 34: Learning to Count
Day 35: Learning Numbers with Games
Day 36: Learning to Spell Your Name
Day 37: Spell Your Name Hopscotch (If weather prevents outdoor time for this one, substitute the indoor hopscotch game. Then, do the name hopscotch on a good weather day.)
Day 38: Snowball Toss Indoors for Hand-Eye Coordination.
Day 39: Sorting and Classifying
Day 40: DIY Alphabet Busy Bag
Day 41: Alphabet Game on the Fridge
Day 42: Writing the Alphabet Practice
Day 43: Electrical Tape Pattern Practice
Day 44: DIY Bean Bag Toss Game
Even more ideas for preschool at home curriculum:
40+ Preschool at Home Activities
Teaching Preschool When You are Not a Crafty Mom
