Homeschooling Preschool- Looking Back

I know I’ve been awful about writing posts updating on our homeschooling preschool experience! Honestly, I haven’t been really sure what to write about.  

I jumped into our first year of homeschooling with high expectations and plenty of preparation.  You can read about it in these posts where I made a plan, organized our space,  figured out what supplies we needed, and finally got started. 

Planning was so helpful, but as the year progressed, I realized that my style of homeschooling preschool was far different from what I thought it would be.  See, the only friends I have who have homeschooled their preschoolers were huge Montessori followers.  The Montessori method is awesome- it truly is- but I found that I just wasn’t up for that amount of prep work, what with having just had a baby, plus trying to keep a 2 year old occupied.  So I figured I would share with you what homeschooling preschool did end up looking like for us.

The only curriculum we used this year was Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It is a different approach to teaching reading, but it seems to really work, and it’s been so fun watching as Miss Magoo really started to get the concept of reading!  She’s now 4 1/2, and she’s reading!  She loves it so much that she reads everything everywhere we go!  Sometimes words trip her up a little, but she’s trying so hard and understanding so much.  Seeing her pride and excitement fills me with pride and excitement as well!

So, we only used one curriculum.  I bet you’re wondering what else we did, then?

Homeschooling preschool, for us, involved a lot of crafts and hands-on activities.  My kids love crafts.  We did a lot of crafts this year, including making paper garland wreaths for Valentine’s Day, Veggie Valentines, simple Christmas Ornaments, Thanksgiving Turkey Place Holders, and so much more!

The kids also love science experiments. Because of this, we did quite a few fun, hands-on experiments.  Some of our favorites were Homemade Snow (with the added option of making it erupt) and Edible Peanut Butter Playdough.

Miss Magoo loves to sit with a workbook, coloring book, or plain paper and color, write, and make cards for everyone.  So I let her.  I have tons of scrapbooking stuff that I’m not using, so I let her use it.  Sure it’s expensive for kid crafts, but it’s already been purchased, so it’s great! And it provides Miss Magoo with hours of creative learning.

One of the biggest things I love about homeschooling is the freedom it gives us to do whatever we want.  We can take our learning anywhere, including hiking and visiting an old town site! I love that the kids are learning, but that they’re also a part of our every day lives.  I think there’s a lot to be learned in just observing what everyday life looks like.  This isn’t a bash on public or private schools, but I find that the children’s days are so crammed full of things to do that very few kids know how to spend much unscheduled, unstructured time.  I love that my kids have the chance to just run around, play make-believe, and just be kids.  I love that as they get older, they will be able to learn life-skills by taking part in them.

So, if you’re just getting started on the homeschooling journey by homeschooling preschool, my challenge for you is to figure out what works for your family.  How are you wired?  How are your children wired?  How can you best teach your child.  Try to remember that one of the main reasons for homeschooling is to teach to your child, so don’t get caught up in comparing their learning style, place of learning, or attitude towards learning with that of a friend or neighbor.  Figure out what works best for you, and run with it!

I’d love to hear about your journey in homeschooling- I read and answer every comment!

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