10 Tips for the New Home Preschool Mom
I know some of you might be feeling a little overwhelmed right now—especially if it’s your first year teaching preschool at home. But don’t worry, I’m here to help! I hope this post gives you some encouragement and makes things feel a bit more manageable. I’ve been teaching preschool at home for five years with my three boys, and I absolutely love this age! To make things easier, I’ve put together my top 10 tips for teaching preschool at home. Let’s dive in!
Set a Schedule
I recommend setting up a schedule for the day. This does not mean you have to follow a rigid schedule, but set up a flow to your day so your preschooler will know how the day will go. But start slow! Begin with short, simple lessons and gradually build up as you and your child get into a routine.
9:00 – Circle Time (weather, songs, calendar)
9:15 – Read Aloud
9:30 – Literacy Activity
10:00 – Snack & Break
10:30 – Sensory Play
11:00 – Math Activity
11:30 – Lunch and Play Time
1:00 – Quiet Rest Time
And the rest of the day is not very structured and there’s lots of play time!
Focus on Play
Play is a huge part of learning at this age. Encourage hands-on activities like building with blocks, pretend play, and outdoor exploration—they help develop important skills without feeling like formal “schoolwork.”
Read Every Day
Reading aloud is one of the most important things you can do at this stage. Build a love for books by reading daily, and don’t be afraid to read the same stories over and over—kids love repetition!
Follow Their Interests
Pay attention to what your child is curious about and incorporate that into your lessons. If they love frogs, for example, find books, games, or art activities around that theme to keep them engaged. They will love learning when you follow their interests.
Incorporate Movement
Little ones have energy to burn, so mix learning with movement. You can do counting games with jumping, practice letters while hopping, or go for a nature walk to talk about the world around them.
Sing & Make Music
I haven’t met a preschooler that doesn’t like music. Sing lots of songs when you’re starting the preschool day, transitioning to new activities, celebrating holidays, or really any time!
Keep Lessons Short
Preschoolers have short attention spans, so keep lessons brief—around 10-15 minutes for focused activities. You’ll be surprised how much they learn in those short bursts!
Hands-On Activities
I’m a big advocate for hands-on learning activities. Preschoolers don’t need worksheets, they need hands-on learning tasks. They learn best this way!
Learn From Others
There’s no need to re-invent the wheel. Learn tips and tricks from other preschool moms. I’d love for you to join my preschool moms facebook group to connect with other homeschool moms!
Don’t Worry!
Don’t sweat about all the little details about home preschool. I don’t believe you can mess up preschool. As long as you’re reading, playing, and doing hands-on learning activities you will be good!
Have a wonderful first year of homeschooling!
If you’re looking for tools to effectively teach preschool at home, check out my curriculum, Home Preschool Made Easy. I even offer a course that teaches you everything you need to know about home preschool! Check it out here.
Your home school tips were quite helpful to read, thanks for sharing it.
So true hands on activities is so important. Unfortunately most kids I see these days just stuck on YouTube
Awesome tips… i like to reed and know this… Thanks a lot…
Awesome advice! I never thought of Co-ops for preschool. I will be checking into it for sure! Thanks!
Hi Angela!
Getting some kind of structure in the day is one of the most important things not just for little kids, but for adults too. I find that if I go and create a short to-do list before going to bed, the next day will be a lot better for me. If I just get up and try to do many things that just pop up, nothing gets accomplished.
I also like to leave a lot of leisure time in my day. My son is 7 years old, and when we go out, or do some kind of learning activity together, I always structure the day so that we have a lot of free time. This takes away from the classroom environment, and also leaves more time for exploration.
Going back to my previous point, I also find that leaving free time during my day enhances my productivity, and makes me a more centered person. I find it to be a great way to raise my kids with routines that I feel will help them in their adult lives.
Great Advice! I’m excited to start my preschool homeschool journey
Hi Angela Thayer,
Very nice and helpful blog for new mom’s.
Pre-schooling is very important for a kids future. The habit of going to school and as well the most important basics one gets at their pre-schools only. Setting a schedule for your pre-school is the most important thing you have to do for start. A good and easy schedule is helpful at the start-ups.
The tips described here by you are helpful and useful for being practical, it is also well described. You should always keep in mind that you have to only make a habit of studying by teaching them basics. Don’t panic as definitely you are the best pre-school teacher for your child.
Thanks for sharing these tips and ideas, keep posting like this always.
Have a nice weekend.
~ Harshwardhan
Harshwardhan Singh recently posted…7 Essential Pregnancy Tips for the First Time Mothers
I have owned my in home daycare for twenty seven years and work with children mostly ages 2-5. I liked your setup and advice but I disagree with you about worksheets. They are essential to early learning and should in my opUnion never replace play time. The demands are great for kindergarteners and our culture discourages work books coloring books etc but in reality they teach discipline focus and help our children excel — rethink that — God bless — lots of experience and a teaching degree
That is a good point! I should probably rewrite that. I don’t believe all worksheets are bad. They are good for practicing handwriting and learning to focus. I just like to do hands-on activities most of the time.
Worksheets aren’t essential to early learning, kids can and will learn information without them. It doesn’t mean the odd worksheet is detrimental, but the experts agree that young children learn through play.
Looks great!
My 4 girls are grown and have started their own families.
I didn’t get a chance to totally home school them, however
many hours were spent with reading and music, puzzles etc.
All their teachers were amazed at how well they read and asked
me how I managed to get them interested.
I READ! READ! READ! to them.
Gma D ?
This is so helpful!! Where did you find everything on the wall?
Thanks! I found most everything at Target. The banner on the wall was made by a friend. The posters, wall art, spinners, pocket chart, weather calendar are all from the Target dollar section. We love Target!
Great tips. We will be doing preschool at home with both of my boys this year and are very excited.
That’s awesome, Jodie! I hope you have a wonderful year!