Our Favorite Preschool Homeschool Resources

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A common question I get asked is, when did you start homeschooling? For us, it was preschool because she showed an interest in learning and I wasn’t a play-on-the-floor mom. But there weren’t workbooks and schedules to follow when we started. I just offered activities and followed her lead. Those early years of homeschool preschool still influence our homeschooling today. They helped me discover what kind of teacher I was and also what kind of student my oldest was.

I attended public school and always did well in the classroom.  Being good at taking tests, my scores earned me the label gifted.  I never felt like I learned anything as much as it was taught and wasn’t challenged like I could have been.  There were times in high school when I wished that I was homeschooled: I would have been happy to work independently and at my own pace and get the work done.  After college, I became intrigued with the idea of homeschooling.  I liked the idea of being able to provide a customized education for my kids.  So when they showed an interest in learning we got started with preschool!

Tot School, Preschool

I started my research to see how to get started with preschool homeschool resources once I became a parent.  I came across the idea of Tot School, a relaxed preschool at home.  Carissa who writes at 1+1+1=1 had a daughter the same age as mine and for her, it was her third kid so she had some time to perfect this toddler/preschool learning at home.  I was in love. The idea of Tot School is to choose 2-3 activities to present to your child.   Following their lead to play with them purposefully for a short time.  With the birth of my second kid, Tot School came in handy.  It was a structured way to give Big Sister some one-on-one time.  We would color together and name our crayons or use the shape sorter together.

Quickly, I could see she was ready for something more and I set my first homeschool goal.

Do a Letter of the Week, starting with Aa, and get to Zz. 

That was my goal.  It seems simple on the surface but it also seemed huge to commit to.  26 weeks of purposeful activities seemed like a huge amount.  I enjoyed the planning and loved the resources I found from Homeschool Creations, and Confessions of a Homeschooler in addition to Carissa at 1+1+1=1.  I made lists and found books to go with my weekly theme we could read together.  Usually, I would print some letter pages to color and have some preschool packs with hands-on activities. In the end, it took us a year and a half to get to Zz. We moved twice during that time.  Little brother was joining us for our learning time by the time we got to Zz.  Big sister wanted more challenging activities and even wanted to read.

I like the beginning reading activities from Homeschool 4 Him. The activities are engaging and the read-together books let my child feel like confident sooner. I like the easy outline of the lessons to give me a guide to teach the sounds and letters in a way that makes sense.

What I learned from preschool at home

We learned several important things during our first A-Z year, which contributed to our success.  First, I learned how I like to plan and what kind of activities I wanted to do as a teacher.  I also learned what activities my daughter responded to best and how she wanted to learn. The confidence I gained was valuable as we tackled teaching more complex topics because I showed myself I could stick with it and I discovered I enjoyed it.  I hadn’t yet discovered I had out-of-the-box kids yet, that didn’t come for a couple more years.

For Pre-Kindergarten we used a program called Five In A Row which pairs a variety of picture books with suggested activities across the various subject content areas.  We read Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say and used it to jump off and learn about Japan, the family tree, and travel.  We also learned beginning handwriting, reading, and math.

Kindergarten and beyond

Kindergarten was when I discovered I had an out-of-the-box kid.  She started reading the American Girl books at bedtime to herself and even took them to school to read, where she attended for a semester.  She was homeschooled again in the second half of the year.  I couldn’t find a Kindergarten math program that fit her.  In hindsight I know now it’s because she wasn’t doing kindergarten math, she was starting first grade!

The rest of our homeschool journey is history as she never went back to a traditional classroom and we started teaching her where she was and left the grade level behind.

Do you have a preschooler or early learner eager to start their own homeschool journey? Maybe they are showing some interest and you want to encourage their love of learning now? Then this giveaway is for you!

Check out this AMAZING Prize package!

	An Early Learners Introduction to the 50 States from In All You Do Early Learners Introduction to the 50 States is a fun and simple way to introduce your little ones to the United States. In these simple pages, they will color the state name, state shape, state bird, state flower and state flag. They will also be able to trace and copy facts and do a simple word search puzzle about each state. This is perfect for preschool and kindergartners, possibly even first grade.
	10 Songs All Preschoolers Should Know online course from Music in Our Homeschool The “10 Songs All Preschoolers Should Know” online course provides you with weeks, or even months, of ideas to do musical activities with your early childhood students. The course includes song videos with lyric sheets, 26 alphabet sheets with musical instruments or topics to learn about, and 28 pages to color music notes and symbols and practice cutting them out.
	Follow Your Child’s Lead: Preschool at Home from Inside Our Normal This 30 minute workshop will help you develop your own preschool teaching style and set yourself up for success for future homeschool years. Learn how simple daily habits add up to learning and fun when you homeschool the preschool years. Includes video workshop, handout and bonus preschool planning kit.
	Wonder-Filled Days in Nature- April (Physical Copy) from Wonder-Filled Days Receive the April edition of Wonder-Filled Days in Nature delivered to your mailbox. Includes a physical copy of the nature calendar, tracker, stickers, fine art, poetry, and journal pages. Find out how much fun you can have exploring nature with your children!

 

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This giveaway wouldn’t be possible without our amazing sponsors! We encourage you to visit their site and take a look around at all their wonderful products perfect for homeschoolers! Thanks to these amazing bloggers and brands that love supporting the homeschool community, we’re giving away more than $75 in Early Learning prizes!  

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