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How To Homeschool
a Preschooler
Haifa spooning popcorn kernals into a cup at 20 months old.
The following activities can be used with children from birth until three years old. You must be the judge of when it is developmentally appropriate to introduce these activities. If the child does not show interest, never push it, put it aside for a couple of months and then try again.
The
children's sink with soap, a face cloth, sponges for cleaning
the floor, tables, or chairs and a drying cloth. A dustpan for
sweeping is next to the sink and a mirror is above the sink.
Two types
of curriculum I recommend for this age group:
The Montessori Method: Teaching children how to do things
for themselves. Arranging the home and the child's belongings in an age
and height appropriate way. Teaching the virtues of cleanliness, orderliness,
beauty, and discipline develops the spiritual nature of the child and
encourages a desire for excellence.
Teaching Montessori
in the Home:
The Pre-School Years
By Elizabeth G. Hainstock and Lee Havis
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Teaching Montessori
in the Home:
The School Years
By Elizabeth G. Hainstock and Lee Havis
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
The Gentle Revolution: The flashcard method created
by the Institutes for the Achievement
of Human Potential.
How to Teach Your Baby to Read
By Glenn Doman
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
How
to Teach Your Baby Math
By Glenn Doman
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
What I did:
Shelves in our play area set up with Montessori activities. From left to right: colours, alphabet, shapes, hammering, toy cash register, spooning macaroni from one bowl to another, tallest to shortest, shape puzzles, musical instruments, screw lid on and off with snack inside, rough and smooth board, cutting, different lengths of straws to put in the holes of a toothbrush holder, primary colours matching tablets, beading, colouring. The contents of these shelves change slightly every week or two.
From birth to 3 years old, I do not do any formal schooling. I place educational toys on low shelves and use several Montessori techniques to teach my child how to become independent. I place flashcards in baskets or boxes on the shelves and will teach them to the child but do not continue any lessons if the child is not interested or asks to stop. I read A LOT of books. When you create a learning environment full of opportunities to learn new skills through play, the child will naturally be drawn to mastering these objects in the environment. I begin introducing a more formal school schedule at age 3. This is what I call my Kindergarten class.
Haifa pouring water into a cup at 20 months old.
Playdough
Always have a tupperware container full of homemade play dough (store bought is too crumbly and makes more of a mess). Don't use any store bought play dough accessories - this prevents creativity. A wooden rolling pin, a wooden popsicle stick and a pair of children's scissors are all you need (but even those aren't necessary). Have the child make animal shapes, or just shapes in general (sphere, cylinder, cube), make a snowman, a pie, play pretend shop, cooking dinner, farm or other outdoor scene. This is extremely creative imaginative play moulding in three dimensions.
Homemade Playdough Recipe:
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. cream of tartar
food colouring (optional)
colourful glitter (optional)
Boil 1 cup of water. Add ½ cup of salt and bring back to a boil. Remove from heat and dump in 1 cup of flour, 1 tbsp. each of oil, cream of tartar (a preservative) and food colouring. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, knead until it's smooth. Add about 1 tsp, of glitter for extra fun.
(Food colouring and glitter are VERY optional. Kids have just as much fun with non-coloured all-natural play dough. Especially when they are really young and more likely to eat it - keep it natural. As they get older, slowly add the colour and glitter to create a renewed excitement about play dough.)
Drawing
Always have a stack of plain white paper and a stack of coloured construction paper, crayons, pencil crayons, child-safe scissors, a glue stick, and transparent tape on hand. We've always kept it on a low shelf where the kids can help themselves. If you're worried about them drawing on walls, you can keep it higher and bring it out daily during a supervised period of time (even while you're cooking nearby). Even when they are drawing scribbles or cutting paper into a big mess of bits, they are developing the dexterity and fine motor skills for handwriting later on. Their brain is observing the cause and effect relationship of their hand with a crayon moving across a piece of paper. Let them do their own thing. No colouring books. This is very important for their development.
Vocabulary/Reading:
From Birth:
-make large flashcards with words written on them, for specific details
about how to make such flashcards and how to present them effectively,
read:
How
to Teach Your Baby to Read
By Glenn Doman
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
-sing the alphabet
song so your child learns the names of the letters of the alphabet
-make or buy flashcards of letters made out of sandpaper for your child
to practice tracing with their finger in preparation for learning how
to write the letter in the correct way
-print alphabet colouring pages from www.first-school.ws
-read them lots of books every day, establish a routine to read at
least one book at bedtime, go to the library once a week.
Here are some of our favourite preschool books:
You should always buy a few books and have them on a low shelf in the child's bedroom or where they play. They should be able to access the books themselves whenever they feel like it. Maybe even have a book or two lying in the corner of their crib. You don't need a lot of books. Kids love repetition. But it's good to know which books are better than others or which books kids seem to come back to more often than others.
We were once given a set of about twelve tiny little board books with nursery rhymes in each of them. I don't know where you might buy them but all my children have had as their very first most favourite book the "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" one. "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is another favourite.
Ten
Little Lady Bugs
By Melanie Gerth
This book counts backwards.
The ladybugs are bumpy semi-circles.
Good touch and feel early math book.
My daughter's favourite as a toddler.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Eric Carle
Board Book. Favourite of all my children.
My son bought this book with his own
allowance he loved it so much. A classic.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Brown Bear, Brown
Bear, What Do You See?
By Eric Carle
Board Book. My daughter's favourite book.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By David
Kirk
Board Book. Bright colourful images.
My son's favourite as a baby.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Goodnight Moon
By Margaret Wise Brown
Board Book. Bright colours.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Peggy Rathmann
Animals from a zoo follow the zookeeper
home to bed.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By DK
A good variety of textures and fun
animals.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Matthew Van Fleet
A fun touch and feel book. Though the
swishing pigs tail has been ripped off (as
babies do).
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Robert McCloskey
A story about Mom and daughter, and Mama
bear and baby bear all picking blueberries
on different sides of a mountain until the kids
start following the wrong mother. Excellent to
read with a bowl of blueberries! My daughter's favourite.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Don Freeman
A story about a teddybear who wants
to be loved and taken home from a store.
The sequel is good too.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Blair Lent
A story about a boy with a very long name
falling down a well. Kids love hearing you
say the long name fast like a tongue-twister.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
The
Complete Adventures of Curious George
By Margaret and H. A. Rey
The wonderfully exciting adventures of a curious
monkey who can't stay out of trouble. You could buy the books individually
or buy this collection of several books. Especially good for boys.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Dr.
Seuss's ABC
By Dr. Seuss
A fun alphabet book. We also have the video.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Dr. Seuss
A rhyming story about not judging something
before you try it. An excellent story
to remind
the children of when they are hesitant to try something new.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Ludwig Bemelmans
The rhyming adventure of an orphan in an orphanage in Paris.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
Franklin is a lovable character. This book teaches the virtue of
perseverance. The whole series is my daughter's favourite.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
This book teaches the virtues of cleanliness
and orderliness.
Every night my daughter
sleeps in
a
pile
of Franklin books.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
Franklin's friends help him overcome his fear
of thunderstorms.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
This book teaches the virtue of truthfulness.
Every night my daughter
sleeps in
a
pile
of Franklin books.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
This book teaches about doing the right thing. Every night my daughter sleeps
in
a
pile
of Franklin books.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
From 1 Year Old:
-read lots of picture dictionaries
-make flashcards from magazine cutout images with word underneath
Colours:
Haifa matching colours at 21 months old.
-make flashcards with
a paint sample and name of colour underneath
-make two of each flash card to use as a matching game
-use building blocks of different colours and sort by colour while child
is watching, name colour as you place it in pile
-Candy Land board game
Shapes:
-make flashcards with
shapes and name of shape
-use a puzzle of shapes
-find books about shapes
-use a shape sorting toy (wood or plastic)
Numbers:
-make flashcards with
large dots and corresponding numeral
-make flashcards with just numerals and count out quantity with pennies
or coloured stones
-read books about 1-10
-count fingers and toes, toys, candies or other food treats (popcorn,
cereal, cookies)
-print preschool number sheets to colour from
www.first-school.ws
-checkout the preschool section on my
How
to Homeschool Math page for many more ideas and a great list of books
about math
Math
flashcards I made with happy face stickers.
We count together as the child places
each stone
on a happy face.
How
to Teach Your Baby Math
By Glenn Doman
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Matching and Sorting:
- bowl or basket
full of matching plastic hair clips to pair, or matching socks to pair.
- basket of big and small plastic fruit, toy vehicles, and plastic
animals (you could also sort into categories: food, vehicles, animals)
- basket full of pairs of different fabrics (velvet, satin, terry cloth
(towel), fleece, denim, corduroy, wool, a plastic pot scrubbing pad
cut into two)
Fine and Gross Motor Skills:
-large wooden puzzles
- different lengths of drinking straws in a basket with a plastic toothbrush
holder. The child puts the straws through the holes.
- beading with large beads, a large plastic children's needle, and
yarn (with end already tied in a knot with a bead)
-children's wooden or fabric sewing kit
- cut 1" x 4" strips of coloured construction paper, give
to child with blunt age-appropriate scissors, cut pieces into a plastic
container and then throw in garbage
-spooning: two bowls and a spoon on a tray, one bowl full of popcorn
kernels. Practice spooning from one bowl to the other. Change the
size and colour of bowls every week or two to maintain interest.
Use lentils, beans, cereal or rice for variety.
-pouring: two plastic cups or creamers or teapots on a tray (waterproof
with a lip) with a small cloth, one filled with water 3/4 full. Practice
pouring from
one container to the next. Teach wiping up any spills between each
pour.
- plastic storage box with bean bags or stuffed animals and different
size balls and a piece of yarn or rope, use the rope to make a line
on the floor, place the plastic storage box a certain distance from
the line (start one to two feet away), throw different objects into
the box
-use a small soft ball to practice catching, throwing and kicking.
Music
Music is another language for children to learn, just like our spoken language. They have a special ability to observe, differentiate, and absorb it at this young age. But it should be good quality music. It should be a part of their environment on a daily basis. Have it playing softly in the background at appropriate times during the day. Play more lively children's music in the morning or during active play (dancing to it, or while playing ball). Play quiet classical music when they should be winding down or while they are doing more quiet activities. Music is great to listen to while playing with playdough, drawing or building with blocks. Encourage them to move their bodies freely and express the music through creative body movement.
I recommend:
The Mozart Effect: Music for Children
World Playground by Putumayo
Latin Playground by Putumayo
African Playground by Putumayo
Teaching Peace by Red Grammer
Anything by Kindermusic, enroll your child if you can afford it or just by the CDs if you can.
For more ideas about homeschooling a preschooler, please visit
my Montessori Preschool page.
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