Preschool at Home: What do I do?

This post is the last one in my series on preschool. You can check out the rest of the articles below.

• Is Preschool the Best Option for My Child?
• Important Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Preschool Curriculum
• Help! What should I teach my preschooler?

So you  have decided to keep your child at home with you for preschool. That’s great! But what does preschool at home look like? What do you actually do? Here ares some suggestions.

Things to focus on.

The most important thing to focus on in the early years is your child’s character. It takes work and consistency to help your child learn to control their behavior but it is worth it in the long run!

Keeping your child at home for preschool means more time to invest in this important task! Try to focus on these three areas:

• Obedience
• Loving God
• Serving others

When it comes to obedience, the best thing you can do for your child is to be consistent and calm in your discipline and correction. Don’t let life get so busy that you don’t have time to invest in the gentle correction and training your preschooler needs.

Teach your child about God during the preschool years as well. Take the time to answer their many questions about who God is and why the world works the way it does. Demonstrate your excitement for the Lord each day so that your child begins to develop a desire to know more about God and how to love Him.

Make time to serve others as a family and individually. Your child can learn to serve others by helping a sibling, assisting you with chores, making meals and cards for neighbors, the elderly or community helpers. Help your child to understand that serving others brings more joy than serving ourselves.

Things to do.

Preschool at home can provide many opportunities for your child to learn through daily life. Here are some ideas:

• Follow a routine. Children love routine and feel secure when they know what to expect. Create a simple order of events for your weekdays that includes activities and meals.
• Make physical activity a daily activity. Children need to be moving their bodies on a regular basis. Physical activity helps them develop muscle coordination and even prepares their brains for higher learning. It’s important that preschoolers have lots of opportunities to move their bodies.

• Learn through play. You’d be amazed at how much children learn through exploration and play. It might look like play to us but it is work for them. Allow your child time to use their imagination!
• Learn through crafts. Most children enjoy arts and crafts. Schedule in a time each day to pull out the art supplies and let your child use their imagination to create unique artwork. While it’s okay to have pre-planned art projects, make sure your child has times where they can create whatever they want.
• Learn through field trips. Get out and explore the world with your child! There are so many things to experience and learn just from taking a trip to the grocery store or visiting the library. Some great places to take field trips include parks, museums, police and fire stations, the post office, the bank, restaurants that are willing to give tours, zoos and farms.
• Read aloud to your child. I can’t stress enough the importance of reading to a child. It builds their imagination, develops language skills, teaches them about the world and creates memories between you and your child. Get a library card and make good use of your library while your doing preschool at home!

Things to learn.

Every child is unique and may or may not be ready to learn new skills and ideas at the same pace as their peers. That’s okay! Let you child learn and develop at their own pace. Here is a list of skills and concepts that most preschoolers are able to learn before starting kindergarten.

For more great ideas and encouragement on having preschool at home check out the book, “What do I do with my child before kindergarten?” by Debbie Feely. {affiliate link}