Back in March, my daughter was all set to start preschool. But then COVID happened so that was pushed back. While we were quarantined I tried doing schoolwork with her but was struggling to put together lessons and activities to do every day. I felt like we were all over the place, it was like a 4 day weekend every week! So during the summer, we took a break from homeschooling and decided we’d enroll the kids in preschool again in the Fall.
Fast forward to now, all schools are starting off the school year distance/virtual learning. The preschool we chose is open for in-person classes but since it’s is an elective we decided to keep the kids home for the school year. So I took it upon myself to attempt homeschooling my preschoolers. (Wish me luck!) I started researching Montessori teaching, preschool curriculums, saving activity ideas on Pinterest, and downloading free worksheets from other homeschool mamas.
I really wanted to do this because my daughter is so eager to learn and I feel guilty she is missing out. She's loving the responsibility of her "homework" and taking care of her backpack school supplies. But most of all she really gets a kick out of when I get into the “Teacher Mama” mode and takes it very seriously when we’re in class.
I decided to break up the day into different types of learning such as traditional, creative, electronic, and quiet rather than subjects like Math or Science. I kept in mind that my little ones are still young and might not sit for long periods of time and all I should try is to keep them engaged with fun learning activities.
I’m not a teacher and I’m sure there are better ways to homeschool! My end goal is to have more structure in our day, keep my kids engaged with fun learning activities, and to prepare them for when they do go to school.
We will start off every school day by updating the calendar board, changing the date, charting the weather, and reviewing the Letter, Number, Color & Shape of the week.
Traditional Learning
These are worksheets from the curriculums I’ve downloaded. This is when they will learn the basics on paper; learning to write and trace.
Full Year Preschool Curriculum that I’ll be using. | Here |
My favorite place to get worksheets | The Moffat Girls |
Creative Learning
This is when we’ll do arts & crafts, musical activities, or an online dance class.
Fun Learning
Right after lunch is fun learning. The kids will have time to play outside, an activity that encourages movement and exercise, do a messy activity or science experiment.
Quiet Learning
During this quiet time, I will read the kids’ books and also put my son down for a nap. If my daughter doesn’t want to nap, I want to at least have her relax and do a quiet and independent activity.
Electronic Learning
The last hour of school will be the time for them to use their kindle or a laptop. The kids use the Amazon Fire and that has a lot of educational apps catered to their age. I have also signed them up for ABC Mouse