Homeschool Resources for Preschool & TK
THIS POST WAS ORIGNALLY WRITTEN IN JULY of 2020 and has been recently updated (January of 2022).
If you are new to homeschool, considering homeschool or just wondering what DOES one do with a 3 or 4 year old kiddo for homeschool, I’ve written this post for you!
It’s July of 2020 and feels like month 3,970 of COVID life and I’ve chatted with many traditional school parents who are transitioning to homeschool families by Fall. Here in California it’s looking like most campuses will be closed and distance learning will be the method for Fall. I hear lots of concern over the wee ones being in zoom/digital learning environments and know from experience, if your kids are anything like mine, at 4/5 years old the kiddo is NOT having any of it. My sister is a traditional school teacher, who teaches TK, and while this is a magical age- it can seem especially challenging right now, since so much of the learning is done through social interaction.
Here in CA, even Kinder is optional, so while there is plenty of learning, exploring and FUNdamentals you can practice at this age, you also have a lot of freedom- which, I know, can be daunting.
Here are my top tips and resources for “homeschool” at a preschool/TK level:
Don’t sweat “curriculum”.
There will be plenty of curriculum as your kids get older, trust me, more then you can ever use! When a kid is 2, 3, 4, even 5- they need exactly ZERO curriculum in their lives. There’s a local preschool here that is very “formal-education-based” and they would have kids doing addition quizzes when they were 4 years old. If that sounds like fun, I’m not the homeschool resource you’re looking for. Sure, there are plenty of things you can do WITH your little one to foster curiosity and start building a strong foundation for literacy, number fluency and most importantly the desire to learn- but flash cards and quizzes are a hard pass for me at this age. I also can’t imagine either of my kids willingly sitting and engaging on an hour-long zoom at age 4- and my daughter, though she is headed into first grade, is 5 now and 30 minutes is her zoom max. If your child is preschool or TK age, reading with them DAILY and engaging with them in one or more of the ways below is all you need to do! Take walks, spend time outside, make observations together, ask your kid lots of questions- then investigate and find answers together!
READ-Read to them SEVERAL times a day, this is the most important thing you can do at this age, without question. If they have a solid foundation of letter sounds and even some sight words you can start reading with them as well- I recommend implementing strategies like guided reading and books with very few, short words that can help them build their skills. (BOB books, other letter sounds books, counting books, theme books (good manners, playing together, etc). I’ve also listed Epic Books below under my digital recommendations for this age, and the Scholastic website has some good stuff too!
Schedules Work: I’m a scheduler, so my kids are VERY used to having a schedule, knowing it and stickin to it. This doesn’t mean we are booked minute to minute- like today while I’m writing and they’re playing in the yard and watching a movie! I’m intentional about carving out big blocks of “free time” or “outdoor adventures” or “beach or hike”, so don’t let the word schedule make you think it’s too much for your kids to handle! While we don’t have the same schedule every day, it is VERY similar from week to week - this helps them foster expectations and center in the right mindset for the right activities. I also find it tremendously helpful to go over the schedule every morning- then at bedtime we talk about what to expect the next day! If possible, incorporate at least one daily “circle time” or “rug time” with your kiddo- this works well when you have more then one kid of various ages, like I do. We do a “morning meeting” each day where we use a white board and colored markers and some magnets. You can see ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers for morning meeting/morning message templates too! Basically we say good morning, everyone gets a chance to share some gratitude, we read a book, sing a song, stretch and go over things like the date, the season/weather, etc. I also find having snack or lunch around the same time each day (and for me, packing lunches the night before!!) will really help keep the flow of the day more lovely!
Motor Skill Development - Both of my kids attended a play-based co-op preschool that put really thoughtful focus on developing fine and gross motor skills through play and creativity. This is absolutely something worth working into your daily schedule with your preschooler/TK’er. Use games, play and outdoor time to weave in stacking items, pouring water into a cup, skipping, running, balancing on one foot then the other, stringing beads, holding a writing utensil properly). Also prioritize activities that strengthen writing muscles like cutting with scissors and using a spray bottle- yup a spray bottle! We filled it with water and let my son play with it in the bath tub or use it to help water the garden.
Letter sounds and number fluecny/Practice- Being able to identify the sounds letters make is where reading begins! There are loads of great alphabet games, songs, videos etc that you can find to help your kids with their letters. You can find some printables and activity ideas on my Preschool & TK Resources Pinterest Board too! We also did a “letter of the day” - if you focus on a single letter each day, Monday-Friday, you’ll get through the alphabet in about 6 weeks. Repetition is key, so another way to drive that home with out doubling the work would be to do the alphabet- letter a day style- for 6 weeks, then shift gears for a week or two, then do it again! Repetition leads to retention! While I certainly wouldn’t recommend giving a 4 year old a quiz- you can asses their knowledge any time by printing out letters- first the capital then the lower case and seeing which they can identify and which they can’t so you know what to work on. Make sure you put huge emphasis on praising them for what they CAN do, always. Several great resources for building the foundations of literacy are zoophonics (ask in your local homeschool group or curriculum swap group to see if anyone has a set they aren’t using anymore!!) and a book I didn’t use with my oldest but did with my youngest and found it super helpful! Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Lessons. Both of my kids LOVED the BOB books and we did use those in order- the Letter series first.
Same goes for numbers- create space for lots of counting and grouping things. Grouping numbers is a great way to introduce skip counting (by 2, 5, 10), you can also make two piles with different amounts of marbles or dry beans or whatever you’re using and have them identify which group has less which group has more etc. We do this with all kinds of stuff: fruit, sea shells, tooth picks, stuff we make from play dough, etc.
Pretend Play-Imaginative play is SO important at this age! It’s how kids create relationships with the world around them. I highly recommend checking out your local “buy nothing” swap group for some items (using necessary precautions of contact-less pick up etc). I discovered a blog YEARS ago when I was a brand new mama called “The Play At Home Mom”- and I have been using it as a resource ever since. She does “invitations” to engage in pretend/discovery play and they are magnificent! You can also use what you have on hand- have a play kitchen? Some empty cereal boxes and egg cartons? (save those empty food packages!)…Before YOU go to bed, set up an “invitation” to play restaurant or grocery store! Set the things up in an organized inviting way! Ever notice how preschools have stations all set when the kids arrive? It’s INVITING!!! Does your kid have dolls? Grab some ace bandages, band-aids a play thermometer etc and set up a doll hospital! The possibilities are ENDLESS.
Art!! ART!! ART!! Oh man, I can’t say it enough- this age is all about exploration….art, reading and engaging with others. That last part is a rough one at the moment, so the more we can connect through art and reading, the better! My kids have always attended co-op or hybrid programs that gave them a day or two in a magical place with a super legit “maker’s space”. We now have one here at home and it’s great because it teaches the importance of recycling/upcycling and provides tons of hours of entertainment. You’d be surprised how cool cut up cardboard rectangles, a bottle of glue and 16 “squeezie pouch” lids are!! We pretty much re-purpose every box, plastic fruit container, toilet paper roll, egg carton and lid over here! There are also about 9,000,000x infinity preschool/tk art projects you can find on Pinterest of course, but I love having them make stuff like these Junk Critters to watch their imaginations run wild! I always keep a grip of school glue, some googly eyes, kid scissors, construction paper and pipe cleaners or pom poms on hand here so they can get nuts any time! At this age scissor practice is a crucial pre-writing skill that you will want them to practice daily so projects like this DIY PAPER CROWN (or it could be monster teeth or something else super cool!)
Journals Ok, for the most part preschool/TK age kids aren’t really writing yet- but did have them “sign in” every morning and practice writing their names! However, long before a kid can write, they can be introduced to keeping a journal and STORY TELLING through “sticker stories” or “art stories”. This evolves into handwriting practice eventually too, which is great. So if your kiddo isn’t really writing at all yet, that’s a-ok! Like I mentioned above, start with having them write their name once a day- type it so they can see it and have them write it next to or below the typed version- we did this vs tracing it so they are really practicing! There’s also the shortest, catchiest song ever for when your kids are writing “where do your letters start? at the top, at the top!” (to the tune of “if you’re happy and you know it”). For the 4-5 year olds (TKers) You can totally incorporate handwriting practice in your weekly schedule too. The handwriting curriculum we’ve used from Kinder and onward through second is Learning With Out Tears. They have workbooks and also an app (starting with the app for a 4 or 5 year old is perfect!). For pre-writers set up a time where they can have a plain piece of paper to create a story using stickers or drawing or painting. You can also print photos or have your child cut them out of magazines and have them tell a story about the photo! Then sit with them and have them TELL you the story they have created, while YOU write it down EXACTLY in their words on another sheet you can attach to their art! Keep these together to create a “journal” and I promise it will also be one of your favorite moments from these years. Stories told ONLY the way your kid can tell them. I can still hear my nearly 9 year old son’s wee preschool voice when I read his sticker stories today!!
Themes big and small Yes, themes take time and energy to plan ahead, but kids at this age LOVE them. There are two ways to bring some “theme” fun to your home learning experience- big and small. First, small- this can be done in a day, less really, and I mentioned it above in the alphabet idea, but that’s a bit different then an actual “theme” this can be done along side “letter of the day” activities. It can be “dinosaur day” or “space day” , or you can do themes related to the months/seasons. All you have to do to level it up to a “big” theme is stretch it out over multiple days and make it a theme week!
Here are a few suggestions of themes- I would recommend finding art projects, songs, books, short videos and pretend play to the mix. Hit up your neighborhood BUY NOTHING group on social media for supplies- then return there and pass them along when you’re done! (do so responsibly, wash your hands, and don’t lick anything). I would also make sure you give your kid a chance to share their favorite parts, when we’ve done a theme week like this, we end with an opportunity to share- they can share their favorite art or book or fun fact they learned! This can just be them sharing for you in the living room or maybe celebrate the end of a theme with a friends and family zoom! (space, bugs, life cycles, my family, nutrition etc). Getting your kids used to the idea of presenting information to others in a warm, safe space is a great foundation for the future!
Theme ideas:
This is an excellent resource on Monthly Themes for Preschoolers
Other ideas include:
…and just in case, here are 100 Theme Week Ideas to keep you busy until we can all hang out again!
Last but not least, here are my wee thoughts on digital resources for Preschool/TK:
If you feel called to incorporate digital resources, we had a good experience with ABC MOUSE, EPIC BOOKS, Outschool (we loved classes with Teacher Kat) and Starfall (the paid app is totally worth it). There is a popular online resource called Time4Learning that is great, and offers a TK option- but I have heard it’s laptop/desktop only, no tablet and asking a 4 year old to navigate a laptop seems intense to me, it would not have worked over here, therefore it isn’t something I recommend for this age range.