Our Must Haves for Homeschool Preschool
One of the things that we do with my three year old is “homeschool preschool” but I should warn you, it’s not as fancy as it sounds. As a three year old I feel like life is way more about play than school. They will soon be sitting in a classroom for the next 12+ plus years so there’s no point in rushing things.
However we try to have 1-2 days a week where we sit and work on things outside of regular play. Even though often times we are playing with alphabet puzzles or counting our snacks, sometimes we have a structured “school” time.
I’ve been asked a few times about what we do and you guys, it’s so simple. We work anywhere from 20-30 mins just a couple days a week and there’s no major structure to it. To be honest I’d like more structure and really tried to plan out our weeks, but I soon learned that with a three year old there were some days were somethings just didn’t happen. If for some reason she didn’t want to do “school” I didn’t push her to. I wanted learning to be fun and organic.
We have stuck to a timeline of a letter a week and numbers mixed in there. We’ve done seasonal activities, story time that correspond with the season, counting activities and crafts. If she’s not working in some of the workbooks I pick up, we print things from Mr Printables or Pinterest and we paint almost every day! Even days where we don’t do a structured school time, she sits to paint. This is enough for me. Less is more at this age and it’s all about play, imagination and art for me!
We are beginning to work with letter formation and writing her name and hope to have some of that mastered soon. If you’re working with a three year old cut yourself (and them) some slack. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is just three and that she is not my other child who had several things mastered a bit earlier. Each child is different and will learn at their own pace. Use fun tools such as the local library and story time as learning experiences as well! Make sure to check out my post on Seasonal Book Bins for some book inspiration.
Below you can find some of our favorite things that we use for homeschool preschool. Most of these are available at Target or Amazon!
Melissa and Doug Daily Calendar: We actually stopped using this because it was just too much for my three year old at first, but I plan to try to use it again soon. However my first child LOVED this thing and if you’re really planning to do a hard core, structured homeschool setting then I definitely recommend this.
The Big Preschool Book from Wal-Mart is always a must have for me. We pick up other books at Target and Dollar stores, but I just love the layout and ease of this book. The activities are appropriate for what we need and that’s what makes it the best.
Number matching from Melissa and Doug was something that was gifted to us one Christmas. Now as we work on numbers and counting, this little gem is one of my favorite learning tools!
Pattern blocks are so fun! My children work on this at various times of the day and it always makes me feel like they’re doing something very productive even if we’re not doing school time. My three year old loves this and has learned how to have a steady hand and some patience!
Counting cubes are such an old school staple and while we haven’t used ours a ton, they are a great thing to have stashed away for a rainy day or for a fun counting and sorting activity.
Wipe away books are one of the best things since slice bread! We love working in these and she enjoys it because anything with a marker is fun for her! These are also great for car rides, waiting rooms, and more.
Watercolor paint is something that we use nearly every day. Grab some from any store and let them paint their own pictures, or print out activity sheets to go with your lesson for them to paint.
Letter matching from Melissa and Doug is a fun tool to have as well! If your child loves puzzles, then this is a fun activity to add! These are self correcting so only the correct pieces match together which makes this a little easier for independent learning time.
What are some tools that you have enjoyed using with your little ones whether it’s for school time or play time? Any favorite learning toys? Share below in the comments how you work with your little ones!
