How to Homeschool Preschool: Box Curriculum Alternatives

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This year, I wrapped up my first year homeschooling preschool using a boxed curriculum.

“They” say you’re not supposed to do that. That preschool isn’t supposed to be a lot of structured learning, more just play, reading, and exploration. Which, I totally agree with.

But if you’re a Type A like me who likes structure and having a plan, and you have very little time to make that plan yourself, a boxed curriculum might be a great option for you.

And I don’t necessarily think that boxed curriculum is mutually exclusive with reading, play, and exploration. The curriculum we used certainly provided us with much of that!

BUT I have received some questions asking what I think of a more “eclectic” style for homeschooling preschool. In other words, is it ok not to purchase a boxed curriculum and simply mix and match different resources?

Of course!

In fact, this was the first year I actually used a curriculum for homeschooling preschool, and my main reasons were a) time and b) I really love this curriculum and the resources the company curates. It was (in my opinion) better than what I could pull together on my own.

But when my girls were preschool age, I did use a variety of resources for them. Our situation is probably going to look different from yours, but I’ll share what we did use during their preschool year in case it’s helpful and encouraging to you!

A little background…

Before we homeschooled, I was a full-time high school teacher, and my kids attended a daycare/preschool.  I didn’t think homeschooling was ever in the cards for us – but God had other plans – and to be honest, when we decided to homeschool my son for Kindergarten I truly considered keeping my daughters in preschool because I wasn’t sure I could handle it. 

I mean, I could handle teaching high school math, but homeschool preschool? No way!

Ultimately, praise the Lord, I decided to bring them home with me too.  God just kept working on my heart, putting the right people in my path to encourage me, and although I was scared I wouldn’t know what to do with these kids all day, I realized that I just missed them and I was missing so much TIME. 

I was getting a mere couple of HOURS of time with my kids each day, which became more and more crazy to me. 

Every day I would drop them off to go to work and just had this tug-of-war GUILT because I MISSED them, but never thought I could be a stay-at-home-mom. . .

. . .let alone a homeschooling mom.

My first year homeschooling preschool

The first year we homeschooled was when my oldest son was beginning Kindergarten.  I had chosen to use the My Father’s World Kindergarten Curriculum with him, along with a few other things mixed in, and I honestly felt a little in over my head with two preschoolers tagging along.  

I decided I would take my son’s kindergarten year a bit more “seriously”. . .I’d get a curriculum for him, focus on him, and then simply pick a few things here and there for my girls to work on. I’d let them tag along with us when they could, let them play a lot, and figured. . .how badly could I screw it up?

(Spoiler alert: I didn’t.  They are doing just fine now, even though I barely had a plan for preschool).

So what DID I do for preschool back then?

Our daily rhythm

Let me give you an idea of what our schedule was like that year. 

We didn’t follow a STRICT schedule, but there was a rhythm to our days that was honestly so nice when my kids were little and we didn’t have as much going on as we do now.

Here’s what we did:

Morning Time

After breakfast and getting ready for the day, we would all do a little circle time together.  Sometimes I would use the Bible curriculum recommended to me from my son’s Kindergarten curriculum, and sometimes we would use a different devotional or Bible lesson. This was one of my favorites that we used during this time.

During that morning time, we would also work on a letter for the week.  This was actually part of my son’s Kindergarten curriculum, and we would learn a new letter, its sound, and a Biblical concept we’d work on that week.  

Calendar Time

After our little morning time, we’d move on to our calendar journals.  I printed these from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and my kids really liked working on them each day.  I downloaded a different one for my preschoolers and one for my kindergartner. 

I put the calendar sheets in page protectors so they could use dry erase markers on some of the pages, and we worked on tracing letters, letter tracing worksheets, identifying numbers, writing their name, things like that. 

I also bought a calendar from Amazon that we would use that I hung up in the kitchen, and the kids really liked changing the numbers and weather on it, and it helped them learn about the days of the week as well. 

Independent Play Time

After our calendar time, I would work on anything else in my son’s Kindergarten curriculum with him, or work on his reading and spelling curriculum.  Sometimes the girls would follow along with the activities, but if not, I would let them play for a bit.  

Letters & Literacy Skills

Then, my son would take a break, and I would work with my girls on these handy little books from Explode the Code.  These books are great, there are actually 3 in this Go for the Code series (A, B, and C) before kids would move on to Explode the Code, and they are geared for Pre-K through 1st grade. 

They help kids with letter formation and early literacy skills as they trace, match, copy, and work on fine motor skills and following directions.  There is a teacher guide to go along with them, and I definitely recommend checking them out to use with your preschooler.  

Math Time

Finally, after all of THAT, we would usually take a lunch break, and then we were ready to tackle math. 

I didn’t actually start any math workbooks with my preschoolers until about halfway through the year. . .we were doing a little bit of math each day with our calendar work, but it wasn’t until about February of our school year that I thought they were ready for something more “formal”.  Here are the workbooks I used with my preschoolers.

Reading Curriculum

Then about a month after THAT, I started my girls on All About Reading.  They were just ready, so we began level 1 probably around March.  So, at that point, we were still doing our letter of the week, our devotional time, calendar work, All About Reading, and simple addition and subtraction books. 

And that’s it!  

Homeschool your preschoolers alongside older kids

Now, although I did use a few different resources, I really liked having that “spine” of the kindergarten curriculum to follow, even if it wasn’t really for my preschoolers.  It had a lot of activities we did together that I just couldn’t have come up with on my own. 

That’s why I personally do really like some of the preschool curriculum for homeschoolers, because everything is thought out and planned out for you, and I’m not just that great at that part (plus I don’t have a lot of time these days to spend on planning and prep).  

That’s not saying that you HAVE to do a bunch of different crazy activities when you homeschool preschool.  I think you should keep it informal, keep it fun, don’t spend too much time a day on “school”, and play a lot.  Your children will learn so much as they play and explore things that are new and different to them. They will learn through their interactions with you, other adults, and other kids as you find fun things to do around your town.

5 Tips for homeschooling preschool

So, as you are planning out your preschool curriculum and you absolutely don’t want to go the box curriculum route, here are 5 things I would suggest:

#1 – Read a lot to your preschooler.  Picture books, fiction, non-fiction, the Bible.  This will help with pre-reading skills a lot! 

Make frequent visits to the library.  Grab some letter flashcards and work on learning a letter and a sound each week, come up with a weekly theme and grab some books to go along with your theme.

If you want your child to start learning how to read, and they’re ready, get them letter blocks (we loved this magnetic letter set!), teach them the alphabet song, and maybe get a curriculum like All About Reading if you want to give it a try.   

#2 – Start a daily calendar routine with your preschooler, talking about the number of the day and learning the months and days of the week. Teach them to identify numbers and shapes. Count things with them, sort objects into piles, add and take away toys, and sing number songs.  You DON’T need a curriculum to do that!

If you want to pick up some fun math workbooks, and they are ready, go for it.  I wanted to and my girls were ready and willing after seeing what my son got to do in Kindergarten, so we did it.  But I know they would have been fine if we had waited, too.  You get so much freedom to decide how you want to do this in your homeschool. 

#3 – Take your preschooler to gardens, the zoo, or children’s museums, teaching them all about God’s beautiful creation.  Teach them new things while you visit those places.  Homeschooling preschool doesn’t have to be formal – that fact that your kids are learning and building a relationship with you are the important things.

Talk to them about the things you do throughout the day.  Let them help in the kitchen, match socks when folding laundry, teach them how to choose clothes based on the weather.  Let them learn by observing you and being with you.

#4 – Begin to work on fine motor skills by cutting and pasting, coloring, creating sensory bins, making and playing with playdoh. . .there are a lot of free resources you can find online for these, or you can make your own or get them cheaply. One resource I love is this playdough fine motor activities pdf.

I have some great shapes playdoh mats in my shop you can grab, and I also have a lot of alphabet activities you can use with your preschooler you might want to check out.  These shape playdough mats are also a great option!

#5 – Finally, get outside with your kids and work on those large motor skills with them.  Let them run, jump, climb, kick and play, take them to parks, swim lessons, create an obstacle course in your yard, whatever.  These are great skills for your kids to work on in addition to all of the other things you are teaching them.

FREE Preschool Planner with Skills Checklist

One of the big tips for homeschooling on a budget is often to not purchase a curriculum package, and create your own plan and lessons. I think this is definitely a do-able option for preschool!

If you’re ready to put together a plan for homeschooling preschool, I have just the printable to help you!

Click the banner below to download my free Preschool Planner, which will help you brainstorm, outline, and plan weekly themes and fun homeschool activities for your preschooler!

Included are checklists to guide you in the following areas, listing skills to work on with your child as you prepare for kindergarten:

• fine & gross motor skills
• reasoning skills
• social & emotional skills
• language & reading skills
• math skills
• science skills
• creative play & music skills
• social studies skills

You CAN homeschool preschool

You CAN homeschool preschool – with a curriculum, without a curriculum, or with a a pre-packaged box curriculum.  If you are here reading this post, I know that it means you care a LOT about making sure you are doing the right things for your preschooler, so I know that you will. 

By engaging your children, playing with them, answering questions, and exposing them to new things, you are teaching them and preparing them for the next state of their education.

Let me know what you think in the comments: what are your best tips for homeschooling preschool without a box curriculum? Please share!

Related Posts

• Homeschooling a Preschooler: Here’s How to Get Started
• Preschool Surprise Bins + What I Love to Include
• Effortlessly Homeschool Pre-K with My Father’s World Preschool Curriculum

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