3 Proven Ways to Help Your Preschooler Homeschool

If the thought of homeschooling preschoolers conjures up images of workbooks, tears, frustration, and hours of teaching, then you need a new approach to instill a love of learning in your little one. Preschoolers are not designed to sit at a table with a pencil and a workbook for any period of time. They need to explore, move, and utilize multiple forms of media. During the preschool years, your child’s brain is like a sponge, capable of absorbing large amounts of information, but the lessons must be fun and engaging to accomplish learning. Here are some tips to create a learning environment that gets your preschooler excited to learn:

Help Your Preschooler Homeschool

1. Implement Multi-Sensory Learning – We are all born with a dominant mode of learning in which we best acquire knowledge. The three main learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Multi-sensory learning engages more than one sense at a time. By implementing this approach in the early years, children are able to learn information via their primary mode of learning, while simultaneously exercising and strengthening their weaker modes of learning. Experts say that students better retain what they learn while using multiple senses compared to just one. In order to implement this approach, vary the media you use and be creative. Kids get bored with coloring with crayons and workbooks that require cutting on the dotted line. Instead, make crafts with paper plates, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, paint, glue, sand, etc. Variety is important in keeping preschoolers engaged. Go on treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, and play games that relate to learning!
2. Read Aloud Quality Literature – One of the most important things you can do with preschoolers is read aloud to them. Exposer to literature at a young age has significant cognitive benefits. When selecting books, be sure to choose those with length appropriate for your child’s attention span. To keep your child engaged while reading, change your voice and have fun with it! Finally, some children need to move while learning, so don’t assume if they are wiggly that they are not paying attention. Comprehension increases for some children when they have something to do with their hands while listening, such as building with Legos or coloring.
3. Age Appropriate – Make sure what you are expecting your child to do is age appropriate. Most 3 year olds are not developmentally ready to cut circles and straight lines, so start with simple cutting, such as making a mosaic collage. In this activity, the child will cut paper in random shapes and sizes and glue to paper to form a colorful mosaic. As for handwriting, 3 year olds and most 4 year olds are not ready to hold a pencil. Instead, have them learn to form their letters in fun, age appropriate ways such as forming their letters out of wiki sticks, or writing them in sand or whipped cream. Finally, you don’t need to spend hours teaching your preschooler. You can teach your little ones successfully in 30 minutes to an hour.

Homeschooling preschool should be a time of bonding with your child. Be sure to enjoy it!

If you like this approach to learning, but do not have the time or energy to do it yourself, check out ready-madepreschool.com. We sell complete preschool kits with all the materials cut, prepped, and ready to use.