Your little one just turned 3, and you are ready to start homeschooling a preschooler! This is an excellent opportunity to homeschool a preschooler and you will quickly learn how much their brains are like sponges! Homeschooling a preschooler can seem like a lot of work at first, but it becomes pretty easy once you get into a rhythm and routine!
Tips for homeschooling a preschooler
It can be hard getting started. Here are five tips to help you on your journey of homeschooling your preschooler. It is a great experience and can set them up for educational success in the future!
Plan your time wisely
When you are in preschool homeschool mode, you want to use every minute effectively. But remember, your little learner is only a 3 or 4 year old, and you should not expect more than 20-minute blocks of time out of them. Look at the resources you have or the material you’d like to cover and decide which can be taught through worksheets and one-on-one teaching and which can be practiced or taught through play.
You want to use your 20 minutes to the best of your ability to cover the skills your learner will need to go to kindergarten. Practicing skills like letters, numbers, letter formation, etc., is something you’ll want to put into those 20 minutes. Fine motor skills like cutting or coloring could be added to an art time or a craft/sensory table.
Engaging activities
Even though you may only have 20 minutes of focused attention, that doesn’t mean you can not add learning to other activities you have planned throughout the day. Try to plan preschool activities to help your child learn and have fun simultaneously.
Field trips are often a great way to incorporate fun and learning. Heading to the museum, doing a scavenger hunt of different objects. Going to the park looking at the different colors of flowers before heading to the playground are just a couple of examples.
If you are looking for activities, you can do from home, try adding science experiments to your day—mix different colored water to learn about colors and what happens when specific colors mix. Grab a butterfly kit from School Specialty and hatch butterflies in the springtime. You can add so many activities to your day at home that will help teach your preschooler without lesson plans. Homeschooling a preschooler should be fun for you both and a great time to bond and learn all about your child.
Allow for playtime
Let your preschooler do what preschoolers do best–play! Preschoolers learn a lot through play, whether at a kitchen set up or playing a game. Some of our best skills have been discovered through play.
You do not want your little one to feel that homeschooling means they are sitting at their kitchen table all day, and this will cause resentment and a power struggle between you and your child.
Allow your little one to play, and think of toys or games you can incorporate into that time to help with their learning. Some toys help children develop by teaching them shapes, letters and colors. There are so many different options available.
Homeschool schedule
Having a set homeschool schedule or routine will also make homeschooling a preschooler easier. This schedule does not need to be intense or something that happens from sunrise to sunset. It can be blocked out periods and have a very easy structure to it.
This way, your child is getting into the rhythm of homeschooling at an early age and will understand how it works as they grow older. If you are interested in learning more about homeschool schedules, check out this blog post.
Preschool curriculums
It is always a good idea to have a preschool curriculum when you start homeschooling. This way, you are not staying up late and stressing about what you need to cover before the year is over.
There are many fantastic resources, and The Relaxed Homeschool has many preschool curriculum resources in our shop. You’ll find complete preschool curriculums, including reading, math, science, and other topics. As well as themed-based mini units which are available monthly or around a specific season or holidays such as winter.
You’ve got this!
This is a lot of information to wrap your brain around when you decide if you are interested in homeschooling a preschooler or there is so much to think about.
Always remember you can make the choice that is best for your preschooler at any time. If you decide to start homeschooling and it doesn’t work out, you are not a failure.
If you send your preschooler to a traditional school and decide to pull them to homeschool, you are not a failure. Always remember you’ve got this!
