Preschool Homeschooling Made Easy and Fun
I remember being so excited to begin homeschooling. My little one was just 3 years old, and I knew I wanted to homeschool him. I was so inspired, and he was so eager to learn. So, why not start? I decided to ask around to get other homeschoolers’ opinions. Some people were very supportive! They loved homeschooling their little ones, and they thought Preschool Homeschooling gave them a great start! However, others were not supportive and were quick to say preschool was just too early to start homeschooling. They advised me to wait until my son was 5, 6, or 7 years old. That seemed like such a long time to wait to me!
My little one was an early riser, a short napper, and a very busy boy! The days loomed long in front of me, and I was expecting baby #2. From start to finish, my little guy raced through his day, and as I tried to keep him entertained (or just to keep up with him), I was exhausted. I remember asking the naysayers what they DID with their preschoolers all day if they didn’t begin homeschooling. They said they read aloud books, played games, sang the alphabet, pointed out letters, and made arts and crafts. On nice days, they’d have picnics and talk about God’s great outdoors. They tossed balls, went on walks, played in parks, ate snacks, and did fingerplays.
‘How fun!’ I thought! But wouldn’t that be exactly what I’d be doing if I homeschooled my preschooler? I mean, I wouldn’t be homeschooling him ALL DAY. That’s when I realized we were picturing two totally different things when we each thought of “preschool homeschooling”. My version of preschool homeschooling matched their version of not preschool homeschooling! Aha!!! It was just a matter of finding the RIGHT Preschool Homeschooling curriculum… one that made preschool seem like playing… and one that didn’t take long to do!
Little Hands to Heaven
Let me introduce the preschool homeschool curriculum I absolutely loved and adored using to teach my own three sons… Heart of Dakota’s Little Hands to Heaven! There was never a dull moment! In fact, one of our sons loved our preschool so much, he literally brought me my Little Hands to Heaven guide each morning and told me he was ready to start! Another son of mine used to call his “preschool” his “playschool.” Our Preschool Homeschool was fun, easy-to-do, and it only took 30 minutes a day!
Open-and-go daily plans included a wonderful mix of oral, auditory, visual, and hands-on activities. Daily lessons incorporated a variety of learning styles, which I loved as my sons are all different from one another! We had plenty of “playtime” and “cuddle-up-time” together. Yet, as fun as our preschool homeschool curriculum was, it was equally as thorough academically.
Letter recognition, letter formation, letter sounds and motions, and early math skills were taught in such a way that my kiddos had a solid start to homeschooling. In fact, our sons all had an easy transition to phonics and math instruction in kindergarten, thanks to the way these skills were taught! Bible activities, devotional topics, and fingerplays kept God’s Word front and center. Art projects, dramatic play, active exploration, and corresponding music brought out the creative side of my children and allowed for necessary movement as they learned.
Unit Study-Based Curriculum
I truly loved the unit study approach incorporated into Little Hands to Heaven! Little ones notoriously have trouble with retention. The cohesiveness and focus a unit study-based curriculum provides for little ones helped my sons so much with retention! This Preschool Homeschool has 33 units based on children’s favorite stories from the Bible. Each chronological unit study has a theme centered around Bible characters, and the coordinating activities draw children into the story by bringing the characters and events to life.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading aloud The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. My sons poured over the pictures in that Bible, and they loved it so much that the cover eventually came off! I ended up buying a second one.
They loved the devotional, Big Thoughts for Little People, equally as much. I thought the devotions were amazing! I also loved they matched so many things – the weekly history theme, the letter of the week, the Godly character quality, the music. So many great connections in this unit study-based curriculum!
A Time Conscious Preschool
If you’re like most homeschool parents, you are probably quite busy! I know I certainly was! Well, this preschool homeschool curriculum requires little to no prep or planning. It truly is open-and-go! Supplies are things preschool parents readily have on hand in their homes. Paper, glue, flour, sugar, crayons – basic things!
Additionally, I had all the resources I needed for the whole year when I purchased my preschool package. No packing up my kids for trips to the library or the store to search out missing resources. It was already there for me ready to go! It was extremely economically priced, and I used it again and again – three times for my three kiddos!
Finally, I appreciated the simple boxed format of plans that allowed flexibility in time! As each box of plans takes about 5 minutes of time, I could either spread them out throughout the day or do them in one 30-minute sitting all in a row. It was so simple! Step-by-step directions, a careful balance of skills, and helpful key ideas brought everything together nicely.
Though we had an incredibly busy life, Little Hands to Heaven pretty much always got done each day. And often, it was the very best part of the day! My sons loved their preschool homeschool curriculum as much as I did. In fact, they loved it so much we continued on with Heart of Dakota all the way through twelfth grade graduation! My prayer for you is that you experience the same solid start and joy we did! That’s a blessing that’s meant to be shared!
In Christ,
Julie
