A preschool homeschool schedule seems to be a common question these days as we gear up for the fall and a return to our culture’s “school time”. When I first decided on a homeschooling journey for our family, I became intrigued and often wanted to know more about what veteran homeschooling moms had done for preschool with their little ones. When I inquired about “what does your homeschool preschool look like?” or “how do you plan your homeschool schedule?”, I left feeling rather disappointed.
Being served over simplified answers like “don’t worry about it, just play” and “you’ll eventually figure it out”, left me craving more. There had to be more, right? I understood wholeheartedly the root of the answer. Essentially, veteran moms know that over complicating homeschooling is a recipe for disaster. So, could it be that their answers were over simplified to protect me from homeschooling burnout. A real thing, I know.
What I discovered was, it was my question that needed some tweaking. As I set out on the journey to learn more about homeschool, as in how to learn with my little one without overcomplicating it, I learned my question wasn’t actually my question.
How to Make the Early Years Meaningful
What I was actually looking for was an answer on how to make the early years, often referred to as preschool years, meaningful. I was searching for the best way to keep things simple, while also creating a habit and routine. I was seeking a way to make those early years useful without overcomplicating them.
If you’re here, reading this blog post, I am assuming you are too. It’s not that we are searching for a grand curriculum of complicated math questions to drill at our 4 year olds, we are simply looking for meaning and routine.
How I Found Rhythm in Our Homeschool Preschool
I am so glad I didn’t just settle and allow my discouragement to keep me from discovering how to do preschool at home. Since searching for the answers, I have developed a beautiful rhythm and habit in our home that includes a time for learning and habit forming. These early years are laying the foundation for our future as a homeschooling family.
Morning Time for Preschool at Home
In our home we have found so much joy in morning time together. Morning time is a time each morning that we sit at the dining room table and complete various tasks together. Each morning looks different, but the basis is connection through reading, creativity or play, and habit forming or routine. Our preschool homeschool schedule is centered around mornings.
Our Preschool Morning Basket
We use the mornings to connect on and learn God’s Word. Typically this is done simply by reading The Jesus Storybook Bible that is kept in our morning basket. We are also routinely reciting and memorizing a Bible Verse that I keep in our Morning Menu. The Morning Menu is simply a way to keep pages we routinely use clean and free from sticky breakfast fingers. You can visit this blog post here where I share more about what is in our preschool morning basket.
Easy Crafts for Preschool
Preschool at home allows for a lot of flexibility and creativity. Some mornings we work on a craft or activity together. I am a BIG fan of little to no prep crafts. You know, those crafts that you just set up and they do not require much work? Yeah, those are my favorites. Often times this can look like a roll of large paper rolled out on the table to paint. This is also a great time to work on those seasonal crafty-crafts, like decorations for 4th of July or Christmas gifts for family. It is not every day that we have a craft to do together, but I do search for easy ideas on Pinterest often.
Habit Forming for Preschool
A main focus for early learning is a the education of habits and routine. Often times this isn’t seen as a common part of preschool education, but I find it to be a very important subject on its own. I focus on the habit of following a routine, like Morning Time. In our morning time routine, my son eats breakfasts and after breakfast we have a routine to follow. That routine is, take your plate to the sink and get dressed for the day. I also believe that incorporating the habit of morning time (breakfast, Bible, and reading) will lay the foundation for our homeschool routine down the road.
Preschool at Home
Preschool at home looks different for many families. For our family, taking the time each morning to routinely connect has worked really well. I love morning time and the gifts that it brings out family. Our schedule isn’t jam packed with sensory bins (I quickly got tired of sweeping rice and beans) and we don’t have a formal curriculum. Our schedule is flexible given the need to make time for homeschool group commitments and coop. The real focus of our Homeschool Preschool Schedule is to learn about God, Jesus, and absorb as much together time as we possibly can before starting our day.
If you loved this post, you will love my last post sharing our favorite homeschool preschool supplies. I have compiled a complete list of useful and practical supplies to use in your homeschool preschool. You can check that post out by clicking the picture above or clicking here.
