Playing School - Preschool Style, 6 things to Get Ready for Homeschool

My She-she is five years old this October, missing the cut-off for Kindergarten by only a few days.  I could have tested her to see if we could force her into Kindergarten, but we have big changes, a new baby and possible move.  I knew I wanted her learning and growing, but I didn't want to put her in a preschool only to have it change within a few weeks or months.

Last year I "home-schooled" her, which is to say that I got several cute books, printed out a few hundred alphabet printouts and did a few projects I found on Pinterest, like this Tree. 

She-she wanted more.  She craved it.  Begged for it.  Constantly asked if we were going to do preschool projects again.  

So this year, despite a brand new baby coming in Sept. I am planning out an in depth, very detailed, 5-10+ things to do a day away from computer time, TV, and general play.  I really am going to "Play School" with my daughter!  

For the past few weeks I have delved into the realm of Pinterest, TpT, and countless blogs reading about teaching as much as I can.  The good news is I have a bit of experience, I was a substitute teacher with the Meridian School District, a toddler teacher in a day care, and nursery provider through church.  More good news is there are thousands of resources.  So what's the bad news?  There are SO MANY resources!  I am spending hours at my computer (which being on bed-rest these last few weeks has been a good way to pass the time) trying to find the best way to teach, play, and have us look forward to school each and every day.

So in my final week of "prep" for the start of this school year I figured I'd share with you guys how I'm going about doing it so if you have a young child (3-5 year olds) and want to get them involved and ready for school you won't have to spend the 200+ hours I'm currently rolling into this.  You can, of course, adapt this to you however you would like, I hope you enjoy the research I've done!  

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First, print off a calendar/day planner for yourself, I found this one (2015) and this one (2014) from HandmadeHome.net to fit my needs spectacularly.  I will say that the monthly calendars, the weekly calendars, and the reading chart were the only ones I needed for school.  I am scheduling Sept - May and 41 weeks, I printed off 9 reading charts with the goal of 20 books a month to be read to She-she, not counting her own library books, and the chapter book we read at night as a family.

Second, decide what your goals are.  Last year Ashleigh pretty much mastered 90% of the alphabet, she's still a little iffy with her W's and V's.  So I'm hoping to get her involved with some sight words, and bump up her numbers (she's only adding 1s and 2s, easily) and increase her color play.  I also discovered my school district likes to have kindergartners know the days of the week and months of the year, she has no clue on those, so we'll be practicing those daily. 

Third, outline your week/year.  I'm a full-time stay at home mom, but I know that Monday's and Wednesdays my husband will be out playing soft ball in the evenings, and we'll likely want to go so I don't want to do a lot of running and physical play those days (remember I'll be recovering from birth and have a new baby!).  I know her dad also has Friday's off from work, so field trips on Fridays would be ideal because then he could come along.  If you know you're flying to Disneyland the first few weeks of Dec. don't plan school!

Fourth, and this is the part that gets hugely personal, start planning what you'll teach.  I know we're going to do generally do a series of "Wow's." (that's what I'm calling them.) They will include a Word, Color, Number, Letter, Animal, and Food.  That will consist of roughly 30 of my 41 weeks, 26 letters of the alphabet, with 4 as review weeks (particularly for numbers and letters).  The other 11 will be holiday weeks, we're Christian so we celebrate Christmas and most "standards" like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, etc.  I will also be including a unit on the four seasons, the body, what I want to be when I grow up, the five senses, and maybe a few others depending on my mood.  

Fifth, set up a shopping / check list to get basics.  There is nothing worse than deciding to do a major project with your child and mixing everything together only do discover you ran out of corn starch!  And put them all in a big box together. Here's my list:  (Most can be picked up from the Dollar Store or you'll already have laying around your house.)

Felt / Fabric Scraps

White Liquid Glue (2 bottles +)

Beans or Beads (For counting, gluing, etc.) 

Liquid Starch (For Goo) 

Glitter

Ink Pads

Paints

Shaving Cream

Sticky Stick (That stuff that's like gum to stick paper to your walls)

Googly Eyes

Pipe Cleaners

Paper Plates

Clear Cups

Stickers

Balloons

"Holed" Cereal (Cheerios, Fruit Loops etc.) 

Buttons

Yarn / Thread

Corn Starch

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Crayons

Markers

Construction Paper

Glue Sticks

Safety Scissors

Salt

This list, minus the food I want (for snack time and play with your food time) is pretty much what I plan on using all year, most all crafts I've found can be satisfied with these things.

Sixth, set up a Pinterest board for preschool.  This is the greatest thing you can do for your planning, there's so many great ideas.