All across the country, we’ve seen a huge spike in interest around homeschooling. If you’re a parent considering forgoing sending your kids to regular preschool, you’re probably looking for some good information on how to homeschool preschool kids.
Let’s just put it out there — homeschooling preschool kids isn’t always an easy task.
But homeschooling can be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do as a parent.
The preschooling period tests your abilities in a way that so many times you want to give up. But preschooling your children is important because it lets them prepare for the upcoming challenges in school life.
Plus, homeschooling a preschooler can help you know more about your child’s learning abilities so you can get them on the right path as they continue their educational journey.
In this article, we’ll be discussing all the prominent aspects of pre-schooling along with some important tips.
10 Productive Tips On How to Homeschool Preschool Kids at Home
In the guide below, we’ll go over proven strategies and methods showing you how to homeschool a preschooler!
This guide will provide you with some simple yet effective ideas to homeschool your kid. Trying out these methods will certainly cultivate productive outcomes.
1. Use educational apps to make learning a game
HOMER - The Essential Early Learning Program and App for Kids 2-8
HOMER is a personalized learning app designed to help kids fall in love with learning. There are over 1,000 learning activities across all subjects, and the content is tailored to your child's age and interests.
A child’s learning and mathematical competencies directly influence their performance in school. Different application software can serve you a lot when it comes to understanding basic math and science.
In the era where digitalization has provided us with the best learning methods. Educational game apps like HOMER can help in preschooling a kid before entering kindergarten.
HOMER makes learning fun for kids by allowing them to start learning crucial skills like reading and math while having fun playing games that keep them engaged and wanting more. You can try HOMER free for 30 days. Our HOMER pricing guide has more info on subscription plans.
The use of educational apps also provides the parents with the support they need and allows them to explore new teaching techniques. You can test all the online homeschooling apps available and check which one turns out the best for you.
2. Foster social-emotional skills
The emotional stability a parent can provide to a child is much more empowering than anything else.
Check in with your child about how they are feeling and what things might be disturbing for them. During challenging times, young children can easily pick up the bad energy and usually worry more than adults. Disruptions to regular routines and the feelings of being unheard might leave your child feeling lonely and under-confident.
Make sure you never show the daily life stress in front of them. Therefore, the children must feel free to tell you anything.
You need to practice playing with them. For instance, you can play with some dough together which will be a great activity for them and therapeutic for you as well. Or ask them to join the kitchen in any baking activity. Show your child that they are worth your time and attention.
When the world feels threatening, nurturing your child with dolls and stuffed animals is a reasonable way to reform their emotions and practice caring behaviors.
Water the plants with your child and tell them about how it affects the growth. You can also provide them with a pet along with its essentials. Teach them how to take care of it. In this way, you can set up a caregiving environment. So they don’t turn into colds but a much more caring adults. Don’t forget to appreciate them once they accomplish these caregiving tasks.
Furthermore, book reading and storytelling is also effective method to establish an emotional connection with children. Since it helps children deal with fears and worries.
3. Focus on Visual Discrimination
Visual discrimination lets your child differentiate between different colors and images, helping them to recognize details. This skill is significant in reading and writing. Categorizing, organizing, and making them differentiate can assist in identifying several objects.
Streamlining the learning through visuals can turn out to be effective in teaching preschool mathematics. Here are some ways by which you can build visual discrimination in your preschooler.
- Matching the colors
- Introducing different shapes
- Finding differences in two pictures
- Showing pictures of animals
- Organizing different things according to varying sizes
Visual memory games are also very useful in building this skill. For example, show your child a picture and have a detailed discussion regarding it.
Ask questions from the picture. Through this method, you can use the technique of “Active Recalling”, which is a proven technique to improve memory and learning skills. Ask them to recall the minor details of the picture. Show a collection of different objects. Later on, hide one of them and ask about the missing one.
Play games like what’s this? what’s that? Allow them to guess. This activity will be much fun for them but make sure you play less frequently as it might cause them to get frustrated.
After all, you can’t expect a child to be consistent like an adult. Apart from that you can make use of conventional games like Peek a boo or hide and seek for sharpening your visual skills.
4. Get them to know more about Language and Arts
The habit of book reading can do wonders for your child in learning a native language. It also aids in improving vocabulary and building early literacy skills.
When you read a book in front of them tell them the meaning of different words and ask them about it later. In this way, they will be able to recall the words when they hear them again. To build recognition skills, reading and pointing out the letters can help them.
Also, never underestimate the importance of art-related activities like painting, sketching, etc. Arts and extracurricular activities aid your child to be more imaginative and creative. For example, show your child a painting and have a detailed discussion regarding it.
Then ask them to draw that picture or do anything creative with it. Encourage them to do whatever comes to their naive mind.
5. Try Auditory Discrimination
When you are preschooling a kid before admitting them to kindergarten. Auditory discrimination plays a huge role as it enhances the distinguishing ability of your child between different sounds. Such as asking them about making sounds of birds and animals will be a fun plus learning activity for them. These activities will also assist them in understanding phonics in their upcoming school classes.
Here’s a list of some effective auditory activities you can perform at home.
- Pronounce some simple words and inquire if they sound the same.
- Read poetry.
- Play rhyming games.
- Have your child identify sounds without opening their eyes.
- Take your child outdoors and make them identify natural sounds.
Building a sound grip in this area will not only assist with language skills but also with your child’s overall listening skills.
Another useful way to naturally build auditory skills is singing their favorite poem aloud before nap and bedtimes.
6. Enhancing the Motor Development
Investing time in playtimes can give your child boosted motor development. Choose activities that involve motor skills like running, jumping, and other sports.
So, next time you go outdoors with your child, play spy games with them.
Plan a dance party and organize different entertainments for children. For example, a treasure hunt game in which you can hide some gifts within your home or out yard. Ask them to collect things like stones and coins.
Go on a beach at weekends, explore the aquatic environment and implore them to collect shells of different shapes and colors. These small tasks are good for motor development and allow them to practice doing tasks for their pleasure.
7. Set a school-like routine
Many homeschooling parents are so concerned and dedicated to training their children and want the transition of homeschool to an actual school to be quick and effortless.
You can create a school-like environment at home and help your child organize his day just like in school. Although, It’s just old parenting and preschooling with the use of some smart ideas.
Another advantage this method provides you is the less consumption of the money. You can save your money because you probably don’t need to purchase the preschool homeschool curriculum.
However, you can get some worksheets and lesson plans.
- Practice waking them up at the same time daily as it will form an early morning routine before their admission. Make simple brushing and washing the face a fun activity for them.
- Arrange different games for them to play during the whole day to keep them active and energized.
- Incorporate regular breaks into the schedule, which make sure they don’t get tired.
- Have dinner together as a family.
8. Make Learning Fun By Teaching Different Shapes And Colors
Being a parent, the tutoring and preschooling journey starts from basic things like color names, different shapes of objects, and teaching the child about some basic ethics. This will help the child to grow mentally and physically active at an early age.
The good news is you can make learning fun for kids while covering all of these things.
You can use basic things at home to help your child become more sporty and energetic. Play exciting games like grab a stone and paint them with different colors and also ask them to identify that color.
And as we mentioned above, preschool learning apps can also make it fun for kids.
If you want to add more value to preschool life then you can also teach them body parts names, animal names, and about different parts of plants.
There is a long list you can do for instance and draw different kinds of structures and shapes, help them to identify them, play a dough game and make different types of structures with them.
Thus, engaging them in games might increase their interest in studies and make their mind sharper.
9. Create good writing skills
Before sending your child to school, It’s crucial that they can write some basic words and recognize lower and upper case letters.
For the bare minimum, you should at least teach them to write the letters in their name. Following are some methods that can help in improving good writing skills.
- Practice writing in a sand tray. Keep on erasing and writing the different letters. We recommend you add a light under your table for more fun.
- Get the best and most colorful workbooks to make them attracted to writing.
- Make them practice tracing different letters with a pencil.
10. Try to Build Character in the Homeschooling Phase
An academic readiness path not just offers a vital foundation for future academics, but also gives eternal rewards for character building.
A child’s habits reflect its parenting. Therefore, making them feel that you have faith will turn them into more understanding and considerate adults.
Here are some effective ideas:
- Work with your child to do small acts of kindness for others.
- Introduce them to the service for humanity.
- Show them examples of your role models and mentors.
By using the above-mentioned techniques you can infuse some true feelings of love and empathy in them.
A Checklist About What Your Child Should Know Before Entering School
Following key points are important for your child before they get into Kindergarten.
- Recognizing and distinguishing between the sounds of alphabets.
- Practice oral counting with them up to 20 and make them do simple addition and subtraction up to five.
- Pronounce and write their name properly along with recognizing the alphabets in it.
- Knowing how to write with pencils. Holding the crayons and color pencils in the right way.
- Differentiating between similar things. Arranging them according to sizes.
- Learning how to hold a book the right way and tracking the words from left to right.
- The child must be able to identify different shapes like circular, ovular and triangular. Also, colors, body part names, and animal identification must be on their fingertips.
- The habit of sitting at one place for at least 20 minutes so they don’t roam around the class.
- Retell a story told to them in their own words.
- Memorize their home address along with their phone number.
What’s Your Role As A Parent In Preschooling At Home?
No one can understand a preschooler more than their parents!
Parents play a huge role in preschooling a kid as it’s the child’s comfort zone to be around their parents. In the pandemic, most of the parents spent hours teaching their children. The schools used online learning methods which were of no use for most of the students.
Here we present you some useful tips that might help in preschooling your kid at home.
Creating a School-Like Environment
Most parents expect their child to adjust to the school environment within a few days but there’s only one effective way to get this wish fulfilled. Start with arranging a learning desk for them so when they sit over it. They are more likely to get themselves mentally prepared to learn.
Introducing Them to Basic Things
- Introduce them to the names of things that are used in daily life. Make them memorize the names of fruits and vegetables. This enhances their recognizing abilities and helps in improving their vocabulary.
- Keep interacting with their teachers before you get them admitted into kindergarten. Homeschooling will be much easier when you can get ideas from the teachers.
- Introducing new projects like coloring, building, sorting, or sensory play are tremendous opportunities for your child to encounter your entire attention, which reinforces the sense that they matter.
- Commenting, reflecting upon, and complimenting your child’s work gives them a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.
- Provide them the space to indulge in play activities that activates their imaginative things and creative side. Equip your child with all the art stuff and building materials.
- Value their new ideas even if they don’t make sense to you.
It’s Okay to Make Mistakes!
Don’t put additional pressure on your child to learn things in just a few days. Being a parent, you must understand that every child is a different learner and the grasping powers might vary from child to child.
When you learn to be patient while they are making the same mistakes again and again. It makes them empowered and less burdened.
How To Build Independence In Preschoolers
Helping children develop skills and a sense of self-reliance
Since birth, children have had a thirst to become free. Therefore, providing your child with sufficient space and independence to explore themselves is important.
Being a parent gives you the authority to support them to become independent and believe in themselves. After All, this sense of being independent does wonders when it comes to boosting your one’s self-esteem and self-confidence.
Allow Kids to Explore
Allowing children to explore new things, games and places introduces them to a sense of accomplishment.
In this way, they learn to be independent and rely less on you for tiny things. Plus, exploring causes an increase in their quench of learning.
Let Your Child Choose
When you allow your children to follow their choices. They get a feeling of being valued and independent. They are overjoyed when they choose daily life things on their own.
Set A Proper Predictable Routine
Setting predictable routines is a crucial factor in instilling freedom. When children get a day planned they are more likely to perform the tasks. Setting time for simple things like washing their face, playing with their favorite toy makes them much more disciplined. Also, with these habits, you can make them learn the value of time.
Ask for Their Help
Children are kind-hearted and helpful so when you enable them to help, it provides a sense of authority in them. With this tactic, you can inculcate higher confidence in them.
For example, asking them to help you put the dishes on them or asking their help in folding clothes are simple yet effective techniques to make them feel entrusted.
Encourage Them to Do What They Want
You can encourage your child to indulge themselves in activities like building puzzles, playing with different art crafts, and other creative projects.
Give them paint colors and the space to freely do what they desire. Also, keep on complimenting them as it provides them a sense of accomplishment and keeps them motivated.
Allow your child to think out of the box when it comes to different activities like painting, sketching, coloring, and some other fun activities. We advise you to make learning more fun and less burdensome. With the above-mentioned methods, you can achieve progressive results within a short period.
Have any more thoughts on how to homeschool preschool kids? Share your insights by commenting below.