0:00
I've shared a lot about the preschool curriculum that we're using next year
0:03
and I've had a few questions asking what I think about a more eclectic style for homeschooling
0:07
preschool. So not using a box curriculum, just kind of mixing and matching different resources
0:13
In this video, I'll share my thoughts on this and the different curriculums and resources
0:18
that I used when we homeschool preschool with my twin girls a few years ago. Plus stick around
0:23
until the end and I'll share a discount code with you so you can pick up some resources from my blog
0:27
to use with your preschoolers. Welcome to my channel, Blessed Homeschool. I'm Sarah and I'm
0:42
so happy you're here. Please consider subscribing and sticking around. I love sharing resources
0:47
tips, and encouragement with other homeschool moms. So homeschooling preschool. This year
0:52
I am going to be using a curriculum with my preschooler for a few different reasons. We just
0:57
wrapped up my father's world all aboard the animal train and are moving right along with voyage of
1:02
discovery next year, which I'm really excited about. If you're interested, go check out my
1:06
videos where I share about these two preschool options. But when my twin girls were preschoolers
1:11
I did not use a special preschool curriculum with them. The first year we homeschooled was when my
1:16
oldest son was beginning kindergarten. I had chosen to use my father's world kindergarten
1:21
curriculum with him along with a few other things mixed in. And I honestly felt a little in over my
1:26
head with two preschoolers tagging along. So backing up a bit, I used to teach full time and
1:31
my kids used to attend a daycare slash preschool. Homeschooling was never in the cards for us
1:37
but God had other plans. And to be honest, guys, when we decided to homeschool my son for
1:41
kindergarten, I truly considered keeping my daughters in preschool because I wasn't sure
1:47
that I could handle it. I mean, I could handle teaching high school math, but preschool, what
1:52
a thought, right? Ultimately, praise the Lord, I decided to bring them home with me too. God just
1:57
kept working on my heart, putting the right people in my path and encouraging me. And although I was
2:02
scared that I wouldn't know what to do with these kids all day, I realized that I just missed them
2:08
And I was missing so much time. I was getting a mere couple of hours of time with my kids each
2:13
day, which became more and more crazy to me. Every day I would drop them off to go to work
2:17
and just have this, this tug of war guilt because I missed them. But I never thought
2:22
that I could be a stay at home mom, let alone a homeschooling mom
2:29
So we are now going into our seventh year though, and I can do it and you can do it too. So I had
2:36
decided I would take my son's kindergarten year a bit more seriously and I'd get a curriculum for
2:42
him. And then I would simply pick a few things here and there for my girls to work on, let them
2:46
tag along with us when they could let them play a lot. And I figured how badly could I screw it up
2:51
Spoiler alert. I didn't, they're doing just fine now, even though I didn't use a box curriculum
2:56
for preschool. So what did we do for preschool back then? Okay. Here's an idea of what our
3:02
schedule was like. We didn't follow a strict schedule, but I did have a rhythm to our days
3:07
It was honestly so nice when my kids were little and we didn't have as much going on as we do
3:12
now. After breakfast and getting ready for the day, we would all do a little circle time in the
3:16
living room of my kindergartner and my preschoolers. We would actually use the kindergarten curriculum
3:21
Bible recommendation for this. So this typically was a devotional or a Bible lesson or something
3:27
like that. If you weren't using a curriculum, you could create your own morning basket or choose a
3:33
devotional to use just to get your day started together. So also during that morning time
3:37
we would work on a letter for the week. This was actually part of the kindergarten curriculum too
3:42
And we would learn a new letter, it's sound and a biblical concept that we would work on that week
3:48
After our morning time, we'd move on to our calendar journals. I will leave the link in
3:53
the description for the blog. I got these sheets from my kids really liked working on them each
3:57
day. I downloaded a different one for my preschoolers and one for my kindergartner
4:02
and I put them in page protectors. They could use dry erase markers on some of the pages
4:06
And we worked on tracing letters, identifying numbers, writing their name, things like that
4:13
I also bought a calendar from Amazon that we would use that I hung up in the kitchen, and the kids
4:18
really liked changing the numbers and the weather on it each day. And it helped them learning about
4:23
the days of the week as well. I'll drop a link in the description for this also in case you could
4:28
use something like this. After our calendar time, I would work on anything else in my son's
4:32
kindergarten curriculum with him or work on his reading and spelling. Sometimes the girls would
4:37
follow along with the activities, but if not, I would just let them play for a little bit
4:41
Then my son would take a break and I would work with my girls on these handy little books from
4:47
Explode the Code. These books are great. There are actually three in this Go for the Code series
4:53
A, B, and C, before the kids would move on to Explode the Code. And they're geared for pre-K
4:59
through first grade. They help kids with letter formation and early literacy skills as they trace
5:05
match, copy, and work on fine motor skills and following directions. There is a teacher guide
5:11
to go along with this, but I definitely recommend checking it out to use as one of the resources with
5:16
your preschooler. All right, after all of that, we would usually take a lunch break and then we were
5:21
ready to tackle math. I didn't actually start any math workbooks with my preschoolers until about
5:26
halfway through the year. We were doing that calendar work each day and it wasn't until about
5:32
February or so of our school year that I thought they were ready for something more formal. I tried
5:36
to find the workbooks that I used for this that I bought for them, but for the life of me, I can't
5:41
find them. So I'm going to leave a link for you so you can check those out as well and see what I
5:46
used. Then about a month after that, so maybe around March, so we're well into our school year
5:50
I started my girls on all about reading. They were just ready. So we began level one probably
5:56
around, like I said, around March. So at that point, we were still doing our letter of the week
6:02
our devotional time, calendar work, all about reading, and then our simple addition and
6:07
subtraction math books, and that's it. Now, although I did use a few different resources
6:12
I really liked having that spine of the kindergarten curriculum to follow that we
6:17
were using with my son, even if it wasn't really for my preschoolers. It had a lot of activities
6:22
that we did together that I just probably couldn't have come up with on my own. That's why I personally
6:28
do really like some of the box curriculums because everything is thought out and planned out for you
6:33
and I'm not that great these days, um, planning things like that out. Plus I don't have a lot
6:40
of time to spend on planning and preps. That's one of the reasons that I like them. That's not
6:44
saying that you have to do a bunch of crazy different activities when you homeschool preschool
6:49
If you want to, I think you should keep it informal, keep it fun. Don't spend too much time
6:53
a day on school and play a lot. Your children will learn so much as they play and explore things that
6:59
are new and different to them. They will learn through their interactions with you, other adults
7:05
and other kids as you find fun things to do around your town. So as you're planning out your
7:10
preschool curriculum, and if you absolutely don't want to go the box curriculum route
7:14
here are five things that I would suggest. Number one, read a lot to your preschooler
7:20
picture books, fiction, nonfiction, the Bible. This will help them with pre-reading skills a lot
7:26
Make frequent visits to the library, grab some letter flashcards, work on learning a letter and
7:31
a sound each week, come up with a weekly theme and grab some books to go along with that theme
7:36
Do you want your child to start learning to read and they're ready? Get some letter blocks
7:40
teach them the alphabet song, maybe get a curriculum like all about reading. If you want
7:44
to give it a try. I didn't start all about reading with my son until he was almost six
7:49
My girls were ready a little bit earlier when they were almost five. That's when we began that
7:54
curriculum. Okay. Tip number two, start a daily calendar routine with your preschooler talking
7:59
about the number of the day, learning the months and the days of the week, teach them to identify
8:04
numbers and shapes, count things with them, sort objects into piles, add and take away toys
8:10
sing number songs. You don't need a fancy curriculum to teach math to your preschooler
8:16
If you want to pick up some fun math books and they're ready, go for it. I wanted to, and my girls were ready and willing to learn after seeing what my son got to do in kindergarten. So
8:24
we did it, but I know they would have been fine if we had waited too. You get so much freedom
8:29
to decide how you want to do this in your homeschool. Number three, take your preschooler
8:34
to gardens, to a zoo, to children's museums, take them outside, teaching them all about God's
8:40
beautiful creation. Teach them new things while you visit those places. Homeschooling preschool
8:45
doesn't have to be formal. The fact that your kids are learning and building a relationship
8:49
with you are the important things. Talk to them about the things that you do throughout the day
8:53
Let them help in the kitchen, match socks while folding laundry, teach them how to choose their
8:58
own clothes based on the weather. Let them learn by observing you and being with you. Number four
9:04
begin to work on fine motor skills like cutting and pasting, coloring, create or purchase sensory
9:10
bins, make and play with Play-Doh. There are a lot of free resources you can find online for these
9:16
or you can make your own or get them pretty cheaply. I have some great shapes, Play-Doh mats
9:21
on my blog that I'll link to in the description below that you can grab. And I also have a lot
9:25
of alphabet activities that you can use with your preschooler that you might want to check out
9:29
And number five, finally, get outside with your kids and work on those large motor skills with
9:33
them. Let them run, jump, climb, kick, play, take them to parks, swim lessons, create an obstacle
9:40
course in your yard, whatever. These are great skills for your kids to work on. In addition to
9:44
all the other things that you are teaching them during their preschool years, you can homeschool
9:50
with a curriculum without a curriculum or with a prepackaged box curriculum. If you're here
9:56
watching this video, I know that it means that you care a lot about making sure you're doing
10:01
the right things for your preschooler. So I know that you will by engaging your children
10:05
playing with them, answering questions and exposing them to new things. You're teaching
10:09
them and preparing them for the next state of their education. Thank you so much for watching
10:14
I hope this video is helpful to you. And I do want to share a discount code with you to use on
10:18
any printable in my shop that you might like to use with your preschooler. Use preschool five to
10:22
take $5 off any item at blessedhomeschool.com. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button
10:28
and leave any questions in the comments. We'll see you next time
