How To Teach Your Preschooler At Home

More and more school districts are offering preschool programs for 4-year-olds. It can be very tempting to sign your child up for one of them. However, what are you going to do if your child is not quite ready to be away from home yet? Find out what you are going to need to have your own preschool at home.

Identify Your Curriculum

You need to know what it is you are supposed to be teaching your child.

  1. Say their ABC's and know what sound each letter makes.
  2. Count to 20.
  3. Learn how to write their name.
  4. Hold a book the correct way and follow the words left to right.
  5. Identify the shapes: square, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, star, and diamond.
  6. Identify the colors: red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange, black, white, pink and brown.
  7. Learn how to hold a pencil, crayon and scissors correctly.
  8. Memorize their phone number and street address.

You could also go to the elementary school that your child will be entering and find out if they document what children should know before entering kindergarten and what they are expected to learn by the end of the year. This will give you a metric for where your child should be.

Choose The Routine That Works For You

Children need structure and routine, but  your preschool time does not have to be a 9-3 sort of activity—explore the routine that works best for you. It might be better for you to spread learning out throughout the day in a natural way.

For example, you will teach your children the proper way to hold and read books when you read to her on your own. You can put your finger under the words to show that they go from left to right.

Having a time set aside for arts and crafts will teach your child how to hold pencils, crayons and scissors. Your daughter will gain more motor skills by practicing. She doesn't need to know that she is learning while she is having fun.

Check Out Kits

You can also purchase your own educational books and supplies. There are a lot of options out there, so be picky. Talk to the local preschools to see what they use. Talk to the teachers and principal at the elementary school to find out if they have any recommendations.

If it is possible, look at individual lesson plans. Is everything written out specifically about what to do, or is there more of a general overview with ideas you can use? Neither method is better than the other; it is all about how you teach best and what you are comfortable with. 

If you need additional help, you can always consider a traditional preschool program, like Family Ties Child Center, to help with your child's first five years. 


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