Preparing to Teach Preschool at Home
I can’t believe it is already August! That means summer is almost over and school is just around the corner! I went to Target the other day and as I walked by the school supply section, I noticed all the excited and noisy kids hustling and bustling around to find their school supplies. I also noticed the worn-out looking parents trying to keep up with their kids. It made me smile as I remembered being that age and being SO excited to pick out school supplies and get them all ready for school (even if it was still a few weeks away!). And when I was a teacher, I took advantage of the great prices and stocked up for my classroom.
Now, as a mom of a preschooler and toddler, I still love it when they bring out the school supplies because I stock up for our home! Today, I thought I would share with you some supplies I think are needed for teaching preschool at home as well as my thoughts on preparing to teach preschool at home.
(This post contains affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience.)
Preschool Supplies:
- crayons
- glue sticks
- glue bottle
- kid scissors
- construction paper
- tempera paint
- watercolor paint
- kid paintbrushes
- googly eyes
- Do A Dot Markers
- pony beads
- pipe cleaners
- pom poms
- play-doh
(homemade or from store) - small clothespins
(I suggest the small wooden ones found in the Wal-mart craft section) - hole punch
- magnets
- kid tweezers
- counters (such as marbles, glass pebbles, or counting bears)
- foam sheets
- felt sheets
- yarn or shoelace (for lacing)
- cookie sheet (for magnetic work)
- clear pencil cases (to store cut-outs from printables)
- 3-ring binder (for making an alphabet book)
- plastic sleeves
(to store work in the binder or use with dry erase markers) - sandpaper letters
- laminator
- plastic bins
- fine motor tool set
)
I know this list may seem long. You definitely do not NEED to buy everything, but this is what we have and what works well for us. Now the next question is how do I store all this stuff?? Here is a peek at what our preschool corner looks like…
The organizational cube and fabric drawers I use are from Target. I keep our picture books in the top three cubes. It’s the perfect height for my little ones to take and put away books. The fabric drawers work well for organizing our materials and keeping everything looking neat. Here’s a look at what’s inside each drawer.
1. This container holds our alphabet sound box, Bananagrams, and a matching game.
2. I keep all our current lesson materials in here. It makes it easy for me to organize and access materials while we are doing lessons.
3. We do art projects almost every day, so this container help us keep everything organized and all together.
4. I keep tools for sensory bins here. There are funnels, cups, tongs, tweezers and more.
5. This container holds our homemade playdough and accessories.
6. In this bin are counting bears, magnetic pom poms, pony beads, and magnetic letters and numbers.
The two biggest advantages to setting my preschool corner up like this is that it’s easy to keep everything organized and my kids know where everything is. They are able to get materials out by themselves and know where to put them back.
I also have a small desk for my oldest child. It sits next to my desk and it’s the perfect size for my 3 year old! I wish I could share where this is from, but I found it at Goodwill for only $10!
I organize all our sensory bin materials in our basement. I keep our current sensory bin upstairs, but all the other ones are stored in gallon-sized Ziploc bags on a shelf in the basement. It is really not too pretty to look at, but here is a pic…
I keep our printables in an accordion file that I found at Office Max. It is perfect for keeping all loose paper organized!!!
I also have a preschool planning sheet that you can find on this post. It helps us stay focused and organized!
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.
Just wondering how you keep the kids out of the bins when not in use? Also, do you have scheduling ideas? In really interested in unschooling but with organization… Not sure if that’s possible😬
I keep the bins up high when we’re not using them. This post will help you out: https://teachingmama.org/weekly-preschool-planner-free-printable/
Wishing you all the best!
This looks great. I have my preschooler at home with me this year too. I’m trying to reorganize all of our supplies so I know what to stock up on for the sales. This is a great list! Your display is prettier than mine, I must say! 😉
Jackie Higgins recently posted…5 preschool activities for busy kids and Mom’s Library
Thank you! You are so kind! 🙂
Hi Angela,
I’m so happy to found out your blog and specially the way you shown how you organize everything to homeschool. It was always a big doubt for me.
Thanks for sharing a bit of your life here. It’s helping me a lot to improve many things here with my boys (J is turning 5 and T turning 1 next week).
May God bless you on your way!
Take care, Karen
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I am so happy you are here! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I love how you’ve organized your preschool at home! Pinned and featuring at Family Fun Friday!
Monica
http://happyandblessedhome.com/category/family-fun/
Monica recently posted…WIN an iPad Mini – Homeschool Giveaway!
You’ve inspired me to keep trucking with the setting up of a preschool area. I found a great deal on Craigslist for my twins’ desk (it was a twin desk how could I refuse). That will free up their old workspace for their brother who starts preschool. I was so proud of myself for controlling my teacher impulses to buy everything in the Target School supply section but this blog isn’t helping!!! LOL. Great ideas on organization.
Tricia recently posted…Raising Readers Without Breaking the Bank (ages 0-2)
Wow, so organized! I’m feeling inspired to go get our room in shape!
Sarah recently posted…Friday’s Art Smarts: Texture Blocks
Haha thanks! I do love to be organized, and it may just be an “oldest child” trait. But there are areas in our home that still need some good organizing!
What a gorgeous little desk! I have such thrifting envy! Lovely post, thank you for sharing what works for you 🙂
Rachel recently posted…Exploring Light, Shadow and Reflection
Thanks! I was so happy to buy this little desk!
I love the way you organized with those fabric boxes. I also love how you have your sensory bin materials organized. I sense I whole organization re-haul of all my school materials coming on. Thanks for your ideas. 😉
Kirstylee recently posted…Green Tot Trays
Thanks! Haha, I understand about re-organization! Oh and we LOVE fabric boxes!
Looks amazing! Great job!! I’m hoping to start getting organized today!
Thanks, Erica! Hope you have a great start to your school year!
I love waking up to see what you have posted for the day! This is great. We are actually headed to target today for supplies and my wish this year is a laminator. I am going to be making a similar preschool schedule for the week but a little different. Definitely need a nice alphabet file folder though!
Sarah recently posted…Dinosaur Hatch, Match & More
Thanks, Sarah. You are so sweet! You are so creative yourself! Hope you got some good school supplies!