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To all my new homeschool mamas, don’t ever think you’re alone in the “starting homeschool struggles”.. whether the struggles are portrayed or not when you scroll feeds or chat with other mamas, I promise you, they are present in everyone’s journey.. those struggles are the only things that help us grow.. it’s the only way we know how to adjust, it’s the only way to guide us down the path of what’s working and what’s not. Embrace those struggles and build from them.
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You’ll have to navigate the comments to read them in order ????????♀️ long post!
For preschool, I think the only things I would recommend investing in are the following:
Supplies:
1. Construction paper (to make a plethora of hand cut crafts)
2. Glue (to put those crafts together)
3. Scissors (to help guide your little with cutting practice)
4. Pinterest (to help get ideas for hands on fun!)
Construction Paper Letter Crafts
Construction Paper Crafts
5. YouTube (to help your little one learn through song)
6. Any kind of math manipulative (so they can learn to count with them.. it can be literally anything, I will link the manipulatives I used below)
7. Dry erase board/sheet and dry erase markers and an eraser (my girls did all their letter practice on a white board, it’s easier for you to guide and teach them, and it is more fun for them!) I will link the board I used when they were younger.
8. Lots of picture books for read aloud.. you can’t read too much! Ever! Utilize the library! I will link some of our favorites below.
9. Games.. I will link some of our favorites in my stories for the younger years, I will link our favorites below.
10. Oh! Googley eyes for craft time! ????
What to “teach”: whether this is right or wrong, I have no idea, but it’s what I personally focused on.
1. Letters: recognition, sounds, writing upper and lowercase.
2. Numbers: recognition, how to write them and how to count up to 10/20
3. Using manipulatives to count.
4. Shapes
5. How to sit still for a given, short amount of time.. this helped my girls transition easily to “desk work” come kindergarten.
What my girls learned through YouTube songs: (I will link the videos below)
1. Colors of the rainbow
2. Days of the week
3. Planets
4. Months of the year
5. Seasons
Random tips/encouragement:
1. Don’t do too much at once: your littles will learn, there’s no need to rush. Start super small and build up to longer time spans.
2. Have fun: don’t stress yourself out about what they “aren’t learning” focus on teaching through play and fun, crafts, books and small moments of repetition.
3. Have patience with your little ones and yourself.. if you invest the smallest amount of time to “teach”, it will all accumulate over time and your little one will learn.
4. Don’t compare your little one to their siblings or other kids you see via social media or in your life.
5. Don’t try to sit for an hour when they are small.. short spurts of fun learning here and there throughout the day will add up to big results..
6. don’t spend too much money on supplies or curriculum! They are so tiny and all learning should be fun! You don’t know “how they learn” yet, so take mental notes about which approaches work and which don’t, it will help you decide on what path to take later.
7. Don’t stress, don’t rush.. I noticed that I rushed so much for my oldest.. I constantly felt I was behind.. but in reality, we were doing better than I gave us credit for.. don’t make that mistake. Focus on what they DO KNOW and not what they’re “SUPPOSED TO KNOW”..
8. let them play quietly while you read.. they’re listening.. I tried to make the kids just sit and watch me read.. sometimes they loved to snuggle on my lap, but sometimes they wanted to listen and play. And that’s ok.
9. Your crafts and journey do not have to look fit for a magazine! Our preschool years literally consisted of construction paper crafts.. they were not glamorous os gorgeous, but they were SO MUCH FUN for my girls to put together! Don’t get caught up in beauty, focus more on ease and know that kids can have fun doing things like playing with a cardboard box while their beautiful new toy sits in the corner ????
10. Take days off if either you or your child is frustrated, not feeling it, or moody! Preschool will last 365 days.. a handful of necessary breaks won’t hurt you.
11. Read encouraging books! I posted some amazing ones for homeschool encouragement. I wish I would’ve read these in the beginning! I will link my favorites for Homeschool Encouragement that pertains to schooling these years below in the order that I enjoyed them, but if you want to see the complete list of the ones I have in my mommy book stack click here.
I will end by saying be confident in all you decide, you are your child’s best teacher. Invest love and time and you will have a beautiful journey. I promise! Homeschooling is a blessing, how amazing is it that we can watch our babies grow? You got this ????
Mommy books I recommend for homeschool encouragement.
I would highly recommend The Well Trained Mind, as it was and is my Spine for schooling my girls. I feel it could really help you
Free Worksheet Website: I have accumulated a list of places you can go an download worksheets! I will leave that below for the later years, but just so you have something to view and have on hand in case you need them.
K5 Learning
Teachers Pay Teachers: Tip, when you search on this website, you can click the “free” box on the left to filter the free worksheets.
Turtle Diary
Super Teacher Worksheets
Clarendon Learning
YouTube Videos I used
Planet song:
months of the year song:
Continents song:
rainbow song: