Here is an example of an ordinary day doing preschool at home as a stay at home mom with a large family.
While the baby drinks his bottle and the big kids do their morning routines, my 4 year old and I sit at the table together for a block of intentional homeschooling. My preschooler is the one who craves my attention most at this point in time. I do my best to meet all my children’s various needs as best I can. This requires balance and frequent reassessing of who needs what most.
I find that whatever I prioritize in my day first is sure to get done. If I spend time with my preschooler soon after she wakes up, our day goes a lot more smoothly. She soaks up the quality time and mental stimulation from educational activities and then she is happy to play independently or with a sibling.
15 Minutes of Structured Pre-K Learning
Phonics
Sometimes we begin our day simply reading books and snuggling, but on this day we began with phonics. My daughter has been showing an interest in reading so I am making it a priority to gently teach her letter sounds a couple of days a week. If she wasn’t interested in learning to read a 4 (like my son wasn’t at her age) then I would not push it.
First, we go through our ABC sticker book. We review the letters we have worked on so far. I remind her of their phonetic sounds and she repeats after me. Then, we do our letter of the day. Today, it was “j.”
My preschooler finds the corresponding stickers for juice, jam, and jeans in the pack of the book. We peel them off together and then she sticks them in the correct place. We continually make the “j” sound together and she tells me what the pictures say.
All of that takes less than five minutes.
Math
Next, we do some math, sorting, and color identification. I grab the tub of colorful blocks that my mother in law gifted me years ago and ask my preschooler to find two blues and three reds. She carefully lines them up and then counts. We discuss how 2 + 3 = 5.
We do a couple more problems like this and then together, we count out loud to 20. Sometimes we stop our pre-k here and my daughter simply plays with the blocks. She lines them up, builds towers, and sorts them as she pleases. But on this particular day, she was happy to do a little more learning with mama.
Letters
Next, we practice writing her name. I write the letters and she traces them with her finger. Then, she tries her hand at writing the first letter of her name with a chunky marker. While writing, we discuss the phonetic sounds of the letters in her name.
This is the end of our structured academic learning time for the day, but it is not the end of my daughter’s education. Throughout the day she learns through free play. She picks up rich vocabulary through books I read aloud to her and her siblings. She exercises her body and mind. She grows in her ability to problem solve and communicate efficiently through interactions with siblings.
Kids are naturally curious in the early years. Nature is there playground and there is so much to discover!
The Beauty of Preschool At Home
There were so many important educational moments that happened in our day that don’t fit in a specific box. My little one was learning when…
- She drew me pretty pictures
- She played peek-a-boo with her baby brother
- She counted how many ducks were in the book we read
- She used child-safe scissors to cut a piece of paper into small squares (just for fun)
- She had a “do-over” and chose a kinder tone instead of a tantrum
- She forgave her sibling and was forgiven in return for mutual wrong doings
- She figured out how fast she could run in a game of tag with her outside
- She asked me a deep theological question while stringing beads into a bracelet
- She had to eat her carrot even though she would have preferred chocolate chips
- She had to be patient while I took care of another need
- She practiced reciting my phone number to me
- She sat nearby and listened to her older siblings’ homeschool lessons
- She explored in the backyard, jumped on the trampoline, and built a fort out of sticks
Breakfast and Books
On this day, the kids eat honey nut cheerios that their grandfather recently bought them while I rotate through a stack of books. My preschooler listens while I read the big kids’ science curriculum. We learn about the five senses and focus in on hearing. She gets to see a diagram of an inner ear.
Next, we practice the chunk of scripture we have been memorizing as a family. It is 5 verses long. I read it first and then the big kids recite it by heart. My preschooler proudly says the first verse on her own.
After recitations, I read a chapter of the book of the bible we are currently working through. Then, I read a couple of beautiful children’s poems. Sometimes I pass the poetry book to my oldest child and ask her to read a few if the baby is ready to get out of his high chair. Today, he contentedly snacks instead of squawking. I take advantage of the momentary calm and read chapter 8 of the novel we are currently on. It’s called Nim’s Island.
Surprisingly, my preschooler has been engaged this entire time. She works her way through her second bowl of cereal, sits by my side, and listens intently even though big sister has wandered off to listen from the couch.
Somedays my four year old wanders off too and begins to play independently. That is fine with me, but today she stays.
Not everyday looks the same when you are homeschooling, but I do make sure my little one gets plenty of time for unstructured play and reading on any given day. I know that these two things are the ingredients of quality pre-k program. Children learn through play and great books.
Play Time
The morning goes by in a happy blur. My preschooler changes her outfit multiple times until she settles on one that is just right. Somedays she sports a princess costume and other times she wears a fresh pair of pajamas. After settling on play clothes and tennis shoes, my preschooler is ready to bundle up and go outside. The next hour is spent jumping on the trampoline, swinging in the hammock, and making an obstacle course out of spare boards my husband had lying around the yard. It doesn’t take very much for a preschooler to get creative and come up with their own fun. Time and space to play and restricted screen time will promote imaginative play.
Read Aloud Time
This is my favorite part of the day. My preschooler sits cozy in my lap and we read a couple of picture books. Today it’s “Bee-Bim Bop!” and “A Deer In The Wood.” She has grown so much in her attention span and book engagement in the last year. We are a low-tech family and most days, my preschooler does not get any screen time. As with my older kids, I have seen what a huge impact limited screen time makes in a child’s ability to listen patiently and enjoy a book. My four year old enjoys both long and short picture books. She typically pleads with me to read “just one more” if she sees me show up with only one book.
The post below is full of fabulous picture books and activities your young child is sure to enjoy:
Fine Motor Activities
“Can I do beads?” my four year old asks. I set her up at the table with our bin of beads and string. She makes a bracelet while I chase our toddler around. She is happily occupied for about 15 minutes. Then, she asks me to “do beads” with her. I take a moment to make her a ring with a blue star in the middle, before tidying up the house.
When my oldest was 3, I noticed another little girl in her preschool class with impeccable handwriting. I couldn’t believe it. It was around that time that I learned how fine motor activities can strengthen a child’s hand muscles and help with handwriting later on. We began incorporating play dough, kinetic sand trays, and jewelry making into our days. I saw these activities make a bigger difference in my daughter’s ability to write letters than all the tracing books in the world.
Now, many kids later, I have carried this practice into my mothering of preschoolers. I don’t push early handwriting. I focus on making sure my little ones are exercising their hand muscles through simple fine motor activities such as putting beads on string to make necklaces.
Grab my free printable preschool at home printables below!
I only recently began teaching my four year old how to spell and write her name. We don’t work on this every day, but I incorporate it gently throughout the week. Recently, she was making bracelets with her big sister and she came running to show me a bead with a certain letter on it.
“It’s my name! It’s my name!” she declared with glee.
Sure enough, the bead did have the first letter in her name on it. It was a joy to see how she lit up over this discovery.
Kids are learning all the time!
Quiet Time
Shortly after lunch, my preschooler has a quiet time. She has outgrown naps for the most part but she does still occasionally fall asleep. If she doesn’t need a nap, she listens to an audiobook and does a quiet activity such as coloring or playing with dolls.
Read Again
Books are sprinkled all throughout my preschooler’s day. I find it absolutely delightful to read to four year old’s. They are typically capable of listening for longer periods of time than they were just a year before, they usually can’t quite read independently yet, and they are still mesmerized by a good story. Limiting screen time is my number one trick for helping kids fall in love with books. If flashy devices are always an option, kids will gravitate toward those. We choose to live without TV. Instead, we’ve invested in a large collection of used, but great condition children’s books. Our home is lined with bookshelves. You can find my 4 year old perusing books on her own or being read to by a parent or sibling at any given time throughout her day.
Preschool At Home Play Based Learning
If it was a rainy day, my preschooler might sit at the table with a kinetic sand sensory bin full of miniature mermaids and fish. This would occupy her for at least 20 minutes. Or, she might build and indoor fort in the living room with her big brother, like she did the other day. They had a blast collecting blankets, pillows, and heavy objects. She dragged chairs around and placed thick books on the blankets’ edges to hold them down just so.
On this particular day, the weather was great. My preschooler wanted to do more outdoor exploration and she was given plenty of time to do so. She likes to climb a tree with a knotted rope that my husband strategically set up for the kids, build forts out of sticks, dig with shovels, pick flowers, jump on the trampoline, water the grass, and make up inventive games with her siblings.
Helping Hands
My four year old loves to help out in any way she can. If she sees me preparing a meal, her first question is “can I help you?” as she pulls her hair up and straps on an apron. She also frequently asks to clean the windows, Swiffer the floor, or fold wash cloths alongside me while I sort through the laundry. When it is chore time for the rest of the family, my preschooler wants to be a part of it.
On this particular day, she got to sprinkle seasonings on our meat for dinner, pour rice and water in our rice cooker, and push the buttons to get it going.
Family Time
We aim to protect our evenings by not committing to many things outside of our home. We make space for hospitality and church functions, but other than that, we love just being a family at home. My preschooler learns a lot around the dinner table when we discuss the day, share food, taste new flavors, clean up our meal, and listen to my husband read aloud.
Sometimes the kids play outside more, my husband grills, or we have a fire put to roast smores. Outdoor play is so critical for child development. We make it a priority to get our little people more comfortable with outside play than screen time in these pivotal preschool years.
Well, there you have it. An ordinary day homeschooling preschool from a stay at home mom with a relatively large family for this day and age. Share in the comments below what your favorite part of your family’s day is.
Leave a Reply