5 Tips For Homeschooling Your PreSchooler

I received Leapfrog products for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

I have four beautiful kiddos and I have homeschooled all of them for preschool. The primary reason I have homeschooled my own kids for the preschool age is that I truly enjoy watching them learn. I love being there as they discover new knowledge and obtain new skills! There is nothing like watching your kids write their name for the first time or count to 10 all by themselves!

There are so many important skills kids need to learn before Kindergarten. Yes many of those are basic cognitive skills like writing, counting, identifying letters and more; a good amount of those skills that children should go into Kindergarten with include both social, fine and large motor skills. Here is a list of 10 Tools I have used and found helpful when homeschooling my kiddos.

1. Playdates

I know it sounds simple. But there is so much to be said for kids playing and interacting together. With just a little casual play kids learn, cooperation, communication, pretend play and so much more! I definitely say don’t under estimate the power of playdates!

2. Leapfrog Toys

I have lived and sworn by Leapfrog for as long as I have been a mom! Leapfrog has always made the most amazing educational toys. In fact, I would go as far as to say Leapfrog toys are timeless. They seriously last forever! We have Leapfrog learning toys from when my oldest was a baby 11 years ago, that my 3 year old uses now!

There are a few new Leapfrog learning toys that have recently become available that we use regularly that I would like to recommend to you. The first toy is the LeapFrog Word Whammer. This toy is definitely a little more for the advanced preschooler and older. It is great for teaching reading and spelling. All four of my kids ages 3-11 years old love this toy! Another awesome Leapfrog resource is the new LeapFrog LeapPad Platinum Learning Tablet and the Imagicard Learning Games. The LeapPad Platinum is a fun, interactive tablet for kids preschool aged and up! The Imagicards you use to play on the LeapPad, bring a whole new dimension to playing and learning. There are so many great ways to “play” while learning, using LeapPad. They have games that for math, reading, writing, spelling, science, history and more!

3. Be Creative

There are so many fun, easy things you can do with your preschooler at home to help them learn. For example take some yarn and beads, and make a necklace together. Use an old water bottle and have your child practice counting while filling it with beans. Practice cutting by drawing zig zag lines on a piece of paper and help your preschooler cut them out. The best part is you really don’t need to “buy” that much for your preschool lessons, simply use things around your house. Turn everyday activities and items into a learning experience.

4. Never Stop

Preschooling you child from home does not mean you have to have a specific schedule and plan everyday. It simply means you are taking the time, energy and effort to help your child learn those basic foundations they will need to start school. While driving in the car, sing the ABC’s. While walking to the park count the cars parked on the side of the road, practicing which is “left” and “right” while taking each step. There are so many things you can do all day long, the learning doesn’t ever have to have a beginning and end – it’s on going!

5. ABCmouse.com

I love ABCmouse.com! It is so easy to use, and is really a great learning tool for preschool and young school aged kids. We have used ABCmouse off and on throughout the years and all of my kids have loved it. The best part is they feel like they are playing, when in reality they are learning important lessons!

The most important thing to remember is to enjoy your kids through this process. Don’t stress it out. If you don’t have time to do worksheets, flash cards and other types of structured learning, it’s ok. There is plenty of time for structured learning once they start school. Right the most important things they can learn, can be simple and come from just spending time together throughout the day!

If you are looking for some great structured activity time here are 3 resources I have enjoyed using through the years…

1. Big Preschool Workbook – this book was a lifesaver. My kids absolutely LOVED lesson time, and the Big Preschool Workbook has so many different type of lessons like tracing, writing, coloring, counting, and so much more!

2. Leapfrog FREE printables – right on Leapfrog’s website they have several fantastic printable worksheets perfect for preschools and they are totally FREE!!!

3. LeapFrog Beginning Reading Skills Workbook for Preschool with 60 Pages and 60 Reward Stickers – the best part about this book is that it comes with fun stickers to reward your child with and is only $2.99 on Amazon!