Preschool Homeschooling Schedule {free printable!}

I am thrilled to be bringing you our Preschool Homeschooling Schedule!  We loosely follow this plan to guide our weeks and days and to help keep us on track.  This free downloadable printable will hopefully help you both get organized, and get relaxed, knowing that children learn through play, and most important is to read and play with our children!

I wanted to have some suggestions for each category on our free printable preschool schedule.  The categories include: Read, Play, Music, Active/Outside/Nature, Alphabet, Math, Sensory, Practical Life, Art, Interest/Field Trip.  I hope that further explanation of these categories will help homeschooling preschool seem less intimidating.  A schedule is not required AT ALL to homeschool your little ones, however, it’s helpful for some to visualize the days.

The first four categories should be the primary focus of any preschool, and done every day: reading, playing, music, and staying active/going outside.  Children learn through play.  So I make sure I play with them and set up invitations to play and learn as much as I am able.  Children will learn as they grow, but this important time does not need to be rushed — no long penmanship or arithmetic is needed sitting at the table {though this may interest some, and then by all means!}

Read:

We have set times in the day that we read together.  I like to stick to the morning, noon, night routine. We read on the couch first thing in the morning, then again late morning, early afternoon, and at bed time.  During these times, I usually let each child pick one book — sometimes from our home collection and sometimes from our library bag, to make sure there is some variety in the books!  I also have a chapter book that I am reading aloud with my four year old.  I keep this book handy for times that I am alone with my son.

I like to have the chance to read individually with each of my children — to make them feel special and have that one-on-one time.  It doesn’t always happen, but I try to be intentional about giving each child this special bonding time.

You can read about our Bible reading plans here and our Bible resources we love here or see some of our recitation ideas here.

Play:

I let the children play.  They play independently and together and with me.  I don’t have a real rhyme or reason to this, and I’d like to get better with it.

In the mornings John craves alone time to play with his dinosaurs, army men, or bugs on spaceships.  He takes this time to imagine and create.  I often stand by his door — he closes it — to listen to the world he has created.  His 2 1/2 year old sister often wants to tag along with her big brother, but I have tried to facilitate her towards quiet play too.  I’ll set out a small provocation for her: a small parts exploration or sensory fun or crayons/markers and big paper for her while I’m doing morning chores so she is used to not always being “entertained” by me or her brother.

And they often play together, though my son can get very aggressive, so I have to keep an eye on them, but sometimes they get in the groove, particularly at quiet time and it’s amazing.

And I try to sit down and play with them too.  Giving them those 10 or 15 minutes, uninterrupted really shows how important they are to me, and it means the world to them!

Music:

Bringing music into the home can be as simple as playing music in the background while children play or singing a morning and evening song.  It is important to expose children to all different genres of music.  We play classical, opera, jazz, country, children’s music, even Metallica.  The kids love to listen and dance.

Music is a powerful tool for helping children stay on task as well.  If I have music playing in the background during quiet time or play time, I find that there are less arguments.

We also love to sing songs or chants in the morning as part of our Preschool Circle Time.  We have a special trick to make this time effective and peaceful.  

It is also easy to make your own instruments with children or do varied activities.  Check out Musical Instrument Crafts from Red Ted Art and Musical Activities for Children from And Next Comes L.  {You can see our collection of Preschool Songs and Chants in our Preschool Notebook.}

Active / Outside / Nature:

Of course, children should be given opportunities to be active every day.  For every 20 minutes they are asked to sit, they should be given 20 minutes to run around.  At this young age {under five or six}, I don’t believe children should be “forced” to sit, apart from appropriate manners at the dinner table or church or at appointments, of course.

During the spring, summer, and fall, our days are mostly outside.  But during these cold winter months we have been loving Brain Breaks.  These simple activities provide easy “gym” or physical education ideas that get children moving during these cold months.  We do get the kids outside if it’s above 0 degrees!  but somedays, we are stir crazy, and it’s impossible! We also have a small trampoline {aff} in our living room right now!

And nature — this is related to outside, of course, but it is also beneficial and beautiful to bring the outdoors in.  Rocks at the nature table to count.  Placing acorns or beans on letter cards.  Sorting shells or sticks or pinecones.  I am always trying to rotate our nature items so my children find beauty and comfort in God’s creation.

Alphabet Learning:

This time can be either spontaneous or planned.  An example of natural learning would be reading letters on a cereal box, and then extending that into writing or making letters with gems.

Some examples of alphabet learning provocations could be our making or using a Montessori Alphabet Boxes or writing letters in a small sand box.

There are an abundant amount of ideas for literacy learning in my Early Literacy Stages eBook!

Mathematics:

Number sense and math learning can also come naturally or with a well-intentioned or planned lesson.  Just last week, my son found a measuring tape and began spontaneously measuring his legos, shoes, the table, and even the ceiling!  This was a wonderful time of math learning.

Examples of math provocations could be a Reggio math table or learning with cuisenaire rods.

Sensory Exploration:

Sensory play does not have to be uber messy or incredibly complicated.  It could be as simple as making an easy play dough, doing water play, or setting a sheet down with a bin full of beans and utensils.

Or you could mix things up by making a fizzy dinosaur rescue or creating a small world.

Practical Life Skills:

You can set your child up with a simple activity that will help them learn an every day skill.  These enhance fine motor skills and build confidence for young children and their desire to complete tasks independently.  We have collected over 40+ Practical Life Ideas here.

Art:

Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, it is fun to step outside the box and give your child opportunities to create and color and explore.  My daughter loves coloring far more than my son ever did and I keep crayons and markers and little pieces of paper beautifully displayed for her to create at will.

We also set ourselves at our table and paint with watercolors or tempera paint at least once a week.  We often don’t have a “craft goal” in mind, but come up with them most brilliant pieces and stories that make my heart flutter.

You can see our full list of art and school materials here.

Interest Based – Library/Field Trip:

During play time, while observing your child, you will certainly notice that they gravitate towards particular interests!  This is wonderful, and we should edify these interests with further learning experiences.  Such as nature walks, YouTube videos, library trips, zoo trips, a visit to a petting zoo or vegetable farm.  All of these experiences can enhance your child’s learning and help them to create an art or recycled project!

You can see our bug table and our sword project.

One activity at a time

Wow, well that seems like a lot to cover.  But these things come one activity at a time.  Truly, you can do one activity a week, than move to one activity a day, then maybe two.  It is most important that our children are reading and playing at this young and exciting stage in their educational development!

I’ve made two slightly different schedules — I couldn’t figure out which one I liked most, so I’m making both available….

What’s more is that later this week, we will have an incredible project available to you.  Myself and nine other educational bloggers have created a MONTH’s worth of preschool activities for you!!  Tune in later this week to check it out and download your four week preschool schedule!!

{By downloading, you are agreeing to my Terms of Use.}

Download the Preschool Homeschool Horizontal Schedule here.

Download the Preschool Homeschool Vertical Schedule here.

More Preschool ideas: