Simple Preschool Starter Guide
The earlier I start preschool...
The earlier my child will have a head start
🚫 WRONG 🚫
We don't want you thinking your child needs to know the alphabet and start reading and writing in preschool. Not in the slightest! Any preschool curriculum should enhance your child's development not force it.
Giving your child a head start on life has nothing to do with reading and counting, it has everything to do with being present and encouraging your preschooler to explore the world around themself.
Preschoolers flourish when learning practical life skills, caring for plants and animals, helping others, gaining independence, and trying new things. Which is what I centered the Habitat Scoolhouse Preschool Curriculum on.
Back Story
I created the preschool curriculum in 2018 for my daughter when she was two and a half. She craved learning about the world around her. She loves nature and animals. The focus was entirely on creating something that enhanced her desire to learn, it was never on making sure she could count to ten and recite the alphabet. Did she also learn that? Yes, definitely, but for her own benefit and purpose. She loved being able to count her stuffed animals, ask for exactly 5 crackers at snack time, she got so excited when she recognized a letter on a sign at the grocery store.
Knowledge and learning through the preschool curriculum enhanced her ability to interact with and enjoy the world around her - to her benefit.
Ever since my daughter was little I have been making little worksheets and crafts for her to do to help her learn and grow (before I created the Preschool Curriculum). Then my daughter participated in a study on toddler development and (not to brag but.. okay, I'm totally bragging) she scored the highest intelectually out of ALL the children in the Greater Vancouver area. I am such a proud Mama! And It had nothing to do with me forcing her to know the alphabet or her numbers, it was entierly due to me being present with her and encouraging her to explore the world around herself. After posting the results of her study on my Instagram account, a number of Mom's contacted me asking what I do with her on a daily basis to teach her. The simplest answer I replied with was "I homeschool her!"
There are thousands of families all over the world who use the Habitat Schoolhouse Preschool Curriculum! 💕
Follow @habitatschoolhouse on Instagram to join in!
It can be hard finding the best way to teach your child. Starting preschool can seem like such a big task but I'm here to reassure you it is much simpler than you think and is so rewarding! Here are a few steps to get you started.
Find a Curriculum
It's important to find a lesson plan that works for you especially if you are just starting out. Finding something that can give you direction will ease the transition into preschool. Habitat Schoolhouse is our favourite preschool curriculum. Our family loves nature and animals and this curriculum is based on the natural world around us. It also encourages a love of learning and curiosity. You can read more about the Preschool Curriculum we use by clicking here.
Figuring out what to teach your child is as simple as, asking your self "What do you want your child to be able to do?"
For my family:
Educationally: my child would benefit from knowing their letters, numbers, shapes and colours. This grows their knowledge and ability to interact with the world.
Communicatively: my child would benefit from continually growing their vocabulary. This gives them confidence and self expression.
Socially: I want them to be able to play and interact with other children and adults.
Emotionally my child would benefit if able to express and understand feelings.
Practically, my child would benefit from being able to use the washroom properly, brush their teeth, the list goes on.
The Habitat Schoolhouse curriculum encompases all of these!
On top of things you think are healthy for your child to learn there are some standards that children would benefit in learning before starting Kindergarten (this applies to children ages 4 and 5 who will be starting kindergarten, not younger children). Before starting Kindergarten your child would benefit from being able to count to twenty, learning the ability listen to and follow simple direction, be able to recognize and complete patterns, has been introduced to the alphabet, ect. A complete list of things your child would benefit from knowing before kindergarten can be found here.
Gather Supplies
You won't need to go out and spend a ton of money on fancy materials. You will likely have most of what you need in your home already. Things like crayons, scissors, blocks, puzzles, play dough, paints, stickers, etc. You want your child to be able to be creative and develop their fine motor skills so a lot of hands on activities and crafts are great.
Some simple and educational lesson examples using supplies you already have:
Sorting & Fine Motor Skill Development:
Something as simple as making a pile out of spoons from the kitchen and a couple pairs of sock can be a great learning activity for your child. Have your toddler sort the pile you created into two different piles, one of socks and one of spoons. Something as simple as identifying and classifying objects is a great activity for toddlers. Not only are they using motor functions to physically move the objects but they also need to develop the ability to sort them based on similarities and differences which is beneficial to their cognitive development. This is just something I came up with on the spot with household items you already have.
If you aren't someone who can come up with activities for your child, start with The Habitat Schoolhouse Preschool Curriculum that has activities and lessons pre-planned for you is a fantastic idea. It includes hundres of activities just like this one that help your child develop age-appropriate skills.
Start a Routine
Kids thrive off of familiarity and routine. It's a good idea to get into the habit of doing a few learning activities every day. If you aren't a scheduled person then doing at least 30 minutes to an hour of teaching per week is a great place to start and is pleanty for this age group.
I do lessons and activities everyday with my preschooler to practice familiarity and establish a routine. BUT we don't do things at a specific time every day. As a toddler parent, I'm sure you can understand that plans can be changed, pushed and forgotten at a moments notice. So, rather than stressing to do our reading at exactly 9am every day, we do things in an order throughout the day. Whether our day starts at 8 am or 10 am we have an order in which we do things no matter how little or how much time they take.
Our Easy Preschool Routine
Breakfast / Free Play
Read a book
A Block - Activities From Our Preschool Curriculum
Independent Activities
Lunch
Quiet Time
B Block - Activities From Our Preschool Curriculum
Outside Time / Free Play
The best part about using a curriculum is that it has age appropriate activities and play already planned for me. Regardless of what we do after Quiet Time I know that it will be some kind of activity, so why not use a pre-planned activity suggestion. It truly makes my life easier than coming up with something on my own.
Breakfast / Free Play
Typically I wake up before my toddler and have a cup of coffee and scroll my Instagram and Facebook. She wakes shortly after 8 and has breakfast. She will often finish eating before I’m done eating so she has some free play before we start our “scheduled activities and lessons”.
Read a Book
We start with reading a book that our preschool curriculum suggests that pairs perfectly with the day's lessons. If we are learning about the letter B we will read a book like ‘Blueberries for Sal’ which has the letter B focus.
A Block - Activities From Our Preschool Curriculum
Then our activity will involve something to do with berries, the colour blue, or bears. See how our reading seamlessly moves into a fun activity! Each of the lessons in the preschool curriculum we use has a reading list to choose from.
Independent Activities
After we finish an activity from our preschool curriculum she chooses an activity to do on her own. She often chooses to colour, paint or do a puzzle.
Lunch
While she is doing her independent activity I will make lunch then we eat together.
Quiet Time
After eating it is nap time. She has started phasing out naps but I still put her in her crib with a book or two for some quiet time. Sometimes I get lucky and she will fall asleep reading to herself.
Read more about our scheduled quiet. We also do this with our older children (ages 9 and 10) and it works WONDERS on their mental health. Read more..
B Block - Activities From Our Preschool Curriculum
After her nap / quiet time we finish up an activity or two from her preschool curriculum.
Outside Time / Free Play
Then we head outside for free time and to explore the outdoors! The Habitat Schoolhouse Preschool Curriculum we us has field trip suggestion every Friday which my daughter really looks forward to. We visit the aquarium, head to the library, go for a walk, or just get out to a local park where she likes to go down the slide a hundred times.
You Can't Go Wrong
I hope this has encouraged you to start preschool with your own child. It is so rewarding to see them learn and grow. I want you to know there is no right way or wrong way to do preschool. You can't mess it up. As long as they've learned something at the end of the day you've done your job. As a parent you are constantly helping shape and mold them so why not start with preschool. Who knows, maybe you'll love teaching them preschoo, love it, l and then decide to teach them Kindergarten next year too!
More information on the preschool curriculum we use can be found HERE. I am currently looking for moms who are interested in trying out a weeks worth of lessons for free. Please email me info@charlottelaila.com to get your free lesson!
