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Preschool Readiness

Is My Child Ready for Preschool? 10 Benchmarks to look for:

Raising little people is hard work. There are also so many questions. If you have a preschooler, you are probably wondering when your child will be ready for preschool. Preschool can be part of your homeschool, or at a local school. The readiness skills are the same. Here are 10 benchmarks your child needs to meet before beginning preschool.

Preschool Readiness Checklist:

Play:

Playing is children’s work! Knowing how to play is an important skill. Can your child play independently? Can he play with other children? Does he initiate his own play? Does your child enjoy group activities and participate on some level?

Speech:

Speech development is very individualized, however, there are some benchmarks to look for. Can your child be understood by others? (especially those outside your home) Does she use language to express ideas, wants, and needs? Can your child use a variety of language that is appropriate to the situation? Does she tell you short stories? Does she use “polite words” like please and thank you? Is your child able to control her volume and tone?

Understanding:

Talking is only half of communication. Understanding and listening to other people is another readiness skill. Does your child understand basic directions? Can he follow a conversation? Does he understand basic concepts? Can he associate words with their appropriate category, for instance, toys, food, clothes, or pets?

Independence:

Especially for preschool outside the home, independence is key. These skills will be useful for homeschool preschool as well, though. Is your child okay with being away from you for short periods of time? Can she do basic self-care on her own? (get dressed, put on shoes, brush hair, use the toilet) Does she enjoy being independent and learning new “big kid” skills? 

Social Skills:

Preschool is a time for social growth. It’s not only about learning how to be in school, but learning how to be in the world. Does your child know and thrive on routine? Can he anticipate the next step of a daily routine? Does she enjoy being with others? Is she eager to make new friends?

Gross Motor Skills:

Gross motor skills allow children to participate in games and sports. They also help develop the brain for future learning. Can your child kick a stationary ball? Can he run and jump? Is he able to stand on one foot? Does your child have good balance? Can he ride a tricycle?

Fine Motor Skills:

Like gross motor skills, these prepare the brain for learning. Fine motor skills are also essential for writing and independence. Can your child hold her pencil with just her fingers, not a full fist?  Can she stack blocks on top of each other? 

Emotional Development:

Preschoolers may be small, but they can have big emotions. The important part is how they handle their emotions. Can your child express his emotions appropriately? Can he contain his tantrums? Is he able to recover from upset quickly and easily? 

Creativity:

Preschool is a great time to get those creative juices flowing. Imaginative play and art & crafts, are important parts of preschool development. Does your child use ordinary objects for creative play? Can she role play, such as playing house or pretending to be a favorite character? Does she know how to use various art supplies–paper, glue, crayons, paint?

Recognition:

Children learn first from their environment. Being able to recognize objects, landmarks, and routines is the first step in academic learning. Does your child recognize local landmarks and locations? Can he break down a task into a sequence of steps? Is he familiar with features of your home or neighborhood? Does he recognize familiar people? Does he know about “community helpers” and recognize what each does?

Do you have any preschoolers in your home? Here is a great set to get you started on home preschool. This set of free copywriting worksheets will help your child learn to write and spell their own name, phone number, address and more. Click Here.

Pre-Writing Activities for Hands-On Learning

Writing is a fundamental skill to learning. Younger preschoolers love to scribble and pretend to write. Pre-writing activities give students the skills and muscle tone they need to write. Writing doesn’t come until later. However, laying the foundation will make learning to write easier. Learning for preschoolers is all about play. Here are five, fun pre-writing activities to start with your student, today.

Playdough Alphabet Mats

Playdough

Playdough is fun and easy to use. Kids love to squish and mold it. Just playing with playdough helps strengthen little hands. It develops fine motor skills and increases muscle tone. Both are very important for writing. Rolling out the playdough into long ropes helps develop pre-writing skills. Then you can make other writing shapes. Make circles, and x’s out of playdough. Roll out a horizontal rope and a vertical rope. Using your finger, trace over the shapes. Use a paintbrush or stick to make decorations on each shape. You can use clean stamps to practice going in a line. Just stamp one after another across a flattened piece of playdough.

Dip & Dot Alphabet Painting Mats

Painting

Who doesn’t love to paint? It’s fun, colorful, and messy. Toddlers love messes. Moms, not so much. Painting is a wonderful pre-writing activity. Making long strokes with a paintbrush develops hand-eye coordination. If you are looking to avoid the mess, try painting with water. You can paint with water on a driveway, brick, or construction paper. The water will change the surface color, however, it is mess-free. Make sure to teach your child how to hold the paintbrush properly. This will help him to learn how to hold a pencil. Paint straight lines, squiggly lines, and loops or circles. Older siblings can join in by practicing letters, spelling words, or shapes.

Sand or Salt Tray

Long before a child can hold a pen, he can use his finger. Drawing with fingers build coordination, fine motor skills, and confidence. Start with a tray covered with sand and salt. Make the sand deep enough to move with your finger. Have the child experiment with moving the sand with just one finger at a time. Practice lines, squiggles, and circles. Once the child is ready, give him a card with a shape, letter, or number to copy into the sand.

Pom-Pom Alphabet Activity Mats

Transferring

A classic Montessori task, transferring is actually an important pre-writing activity. Using tongs or tweezers children transfer objects from one bowl to another. This teaches how to follow a line. It also develops fine motor skills and coordination. Pom poms, beans, marbles, seeds, or acorns are perfect for transferring practice. Really anything can be used. Raid your pantry and get transferring.

Free Alphabet Mat Printables

Stickers

Stickers, they are one of the great joys of childhood. Stickers actually teach pre-writing skills. Moving stickers from the sheet to your page, is an important skill to develop. Once children master putting stickers onto paper, their clothes, or themselves, you can do more complicated activities. Draw a horizontal line and have the child place stickers along the line. You can later progress to shapes and letters. Making lines out of stickers is fun and forgiving. So the child practices tracing the line without getting frustrated.

Try more pre-writing activities using our Fine Motor Task Card Activity Bundle! This helpful bundle includes a variety of different task cards you can use to develop small motor muscles without writing:

  • Fine Motor Task Cards: Symmetry Task Card Activity Pack
  • Fine Motor Task Cards: Alphabet Geo Board Task Cards Activity Pack
  • Fine Motor Task Cards: ABC Brick Activity Pack
  • Fine Motor Task Cards: ABC Play Dough Activity Pack
  • Fine Motor Task Cards: ASL Activity Pack

Click Here for Sample Pages

Pattern Block Templates

Preschool is the time to teach young students about patterns and sequencing. Often students learn patterns such as ABAB, AABB, or even ABCABC. We have some fun butterfly counters that are perfect for introducing young children to patterns.

Pattern Block Mega Activity Pack
Over 700 pages of resources at your fingertips with this amazing Pattern Block Activity Pack. This set includes 230+ unique picture designs with 3 levels of difficulty each.

Pattern blocks are also another tool that preschool teachers might use to show more intricate patterns and designs. If you are unfamiliar with pattern blocks, basically they are a set of plastic learning manipulatives that come in 6 different shapes: hexagon, trapezoid, square, triangle, parallelogram and rhombus, each with a different color. They are fantastic preschool math manipulatives and wonderful for all sorts of hands-on learning!

When learning about repeating patterns, preschool students can use these easy pattern block mats. They are full color so students will be able to see exactly which pattern block goes in which location. This makes them super easy to solve for even the youngest of learners. Note: If your students need more of a challenge, we do have some more advanced Pattern Block printables available as well.

Once the pattern is complete, encourage students to count up how many of each colored block they used for their pattern. Students can write the number below. These pattern block mats can be cut horizontally if you want to prin them on cardstock and laminate for durability. Then, students can use a dry eraser marker for the count & report section.

Free Pattern Block Printables:

Pattern Block Template 1

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

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Pattern Block Template 2

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 3

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 5

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 6

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 7

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 8

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 9

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 10

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Template 11

Preschool students can practice their patterns with this free printable pattern block mat. Students match the design, continuing it off the page if desired, then count and write how many of each shape they used.

View Resource

Pattern Block Mega Activity Pack
Over 700 pages of resources at your fingertips with this amazing Pattern Block Activity Pack. This set includes 230+ unique picture designs with 3 levels of difficulty each.

How to Set Achievable Goals for your Preschooler

By the time your curious preschooler reaches the age of 3 or 4, their learning development has grown exponentially! They will hit many milestones, but sometimes it’s not clear what and how many milestones you should expect. Knowing what pre-reading skills to focus on will help you identify how to set achievable goals for your preschooler.

What Your Preschooler Needs to Know:

During the preschool stage, you’ll notice a strong desire for independence, along with a ton of exploration. It’s important to determine typical cognitive goals to ensure they are ready for the next BIG step — Kindergarten!

Preschool Readiness: Color Recognition

One of your preschool goals should be to teach the basic palette of colors. By four, children should be able to identify basic hues like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, and brown. Your child should also be able to name, match and identify these colors. For example, can your preschooler match a brown chair to a similar brown construction paper?

Preschool Readiness: Math Skills

Early childhood education is a perfect time to introduce simple math concepts. It helps build a foundation for their next challenge with each passing new year. Preschoolers can develop a keep sense of math for identifying numbers and communicating a variety of sizes and shapes.

Another goal is to introduce math activities that include names of shapes and manipulate shapes as well as numbers and counting.

Preschool Readiness: Letter Recognition

Recognizing letters is an important key to pre-reading during the preschool phase. Alphabetic recognition prepares preschoolers to begin decoding words associated with their everyday language development. There are many letter recognition activities through hands-on learning.

Some pre-reading skills for preschoolers would include naming each letter, matching the letter name on paper, and identifying upper and lower case letters.

Preschool Readiness: Oral and Phonics

Wondering how to prepare your preschooler for reading? There are a few skills your child should master before beginning to read, besides letter recognition. Knowing what signs to look for will help identify the best time for teaching how to read.

Oral communication is also key to begin reading. Simply reading to your child for 15 to 20 minutes a day and asking questions for comprehension awareness prepares your child for narration. Reading aloud to your child daily makes a huge impact on their communication with others.

Practicing phonics awareness is also an essential step to reading. Taking simple words like ‘cat’ and changing the letter to ‘hat’ gives your child rhyming skills. Nursery rhymes and memorizing poems are wonderful tools for increasing their word playing.  

Preschool Readiness: Fine Motor Skills

Giving your child opportunities to practice writing the alphabet is a great way to strength fine motor skills. Yet, there are also other tools in your tool belt to build these critical muscle movements.

While many daily activities like dressing, eating, and playing require these small but special skills, there are other intentional ways to prep your child.
Always have these tools available: colored pencils for writing, safe scissors for cutting, glue for pasting, games using computer mouse, or playing a musical instrument. All of these activities contribute to fine motor skills including muscle strength and coordination.

We hope this preschool checklist will give all preschool moms and teachers a simple guide on what to expect for your preschooler. Don’t be surprised how fast they learn in some areas, while others are more difficult.

Remember, all children learn at their own pace. It’s our job as parents to make sure that the learning process is fun and exciting for them throughout their preschool journey!

Preschool Mom has a TON of free and frugal resources to help you stay on track with your preschool objectives. Don’t miss out on these preschool readiness resources!

Should I Homeschool my Preschool Child?

As your child enters the preschool stage, panic may start to set in as the question looms, “Should I homeschool my preschooler?” While it’s true that there are benefits to homeschooling your preschooler, there are also legitimate concerns on focusing too much on academics at an early age.

Here are some points to consider when answering the question on whether you should homeschool a preschooler. Every child has unique learning abilities, and that’s the beauty of being a parent — you make the decision that is perfect for your child!

Preschool Homeschooling is already LIVE at Home

Believe it or not, preschool is already happening in your home. Whether they are independently playing with blocks, putting together puzzles, or you are singing the ‘ABC’ song, they are already living in an educational environment. It’ doesn’t have to be a formal or classroom setting.

Homeschooling allows the flexibility to what works best for every situation. Plus, it can be tailored to changing circumstances at any time. Remember, your child is getting a one-on-one learning experience with positive surroundings.

Parents are in control of Education

Whether you want your child to get dirty all day outside or quietly sit while drawing at the table, you are in charge! Preschool kids need to learn to do both. They can explore and discover the possibilities outside, and practice control while sitting quietly in their chair doing hands on activities.

Preschool Homeschooling is Low Cost Education

Since parents are in charge of education, they also determine the homeschool budget. If you would send your child to a private preschool, you’re forking over hundreds of dollars. At home, however, you can buy free and low cost supplies online and at stores. In addition, you can preschool your child for just a few dollars. And, I’ll show you how below.

Preschool Families have a Flexible Schedule

Families who like to travel or have inconsistent schedules, enjoy the flexibility when preschooling their child. One perk is going on vacation during the off peak season — it’s affordable and less crowded. In addition, this gives the family more time together and opportunities for field trips and appointments during the day.

Based on these key points, have you answered the question — should I homeschool my preschooler? Every family must answer this question based on their situation, but here are some questions to ask:

  1. Am I able to carve out less than an hour to focus on teaching preschool activities?
  2. Is following instructions and print out worksheets for my child an issue for me?
  3. Can I provide homeschool materials for my child like paper, crayons, colored pencils, markers, and pencils?
  4. Do I have a clean environment for my child to work at like a desk or a space at the table?

If the answers to all these questions is a resounding ‘yes’, you may have the answer. If any of your answers are no, you may consider what it would take to reach these goals if you are serious about homeschooling.

Hundreds of Free Preschool Themes for Homeschooling

Is my child ready for preschool? Find out if your child can begin with these 5 developmental signs.

For children ready to begin pre-reading skills, parents have the choice to begin with basics. In just a few minutes a day, your child can begin practicing writing their letters and numbers. There are so many available tools online with affordable prices for budget minded families!

Learn Letters & Sounds with our Alphabet Curriculum

Preschool Pre Reading Resources

If you are considering homeschooling your preschooler,some subjects to prepare for are reading, writing, and math. Homeschooling during the preschooling stage is a perfect opportunity to evaluate your child’s readiness for reading. Some children are motivated to read early while others are not. Parents have the choice to delay those children who need more time before beginning. This is completely normal for some students to be ready while others are not.

Wondering where to get started with homeschooling preschool? There are a TON of free and frugal online resources including preschool printables that will save you a ton of money!

With just a little prep using a 5 step process, your child will know all his letters! In this article, I share with you the easy stages involved in starting using letter a week, that’s it!

Develop Fine Motor Skills

Build PreWriting Skills with our Fine Motor Activity Book

Preschool is a good time to develop those fine motor muscles that students will use for writing. It is important to strengthen these small motor muscles in preparation for the amount of writing students will be expected to complete in the coming years,

Preschool Pre Math Resources

Now that we’ve discussed readiness for reading, is your child ready for counting? Try our number a week program that is a no-prep, print and go lesson plan coordinating wonderfully with the letter a week program.

Homeschooling your preschool child takes just a few minutes a day. It’s a great time to assess whether education at home is right for your schedule, lifestyle, and family. With just a little preparation and organizational skills, you’ll be a homeschooling parent before you know it!

Would you like more information about homeschooling? I have a great resource that will help you equip yourself to be a Homeschool Ninja!

How to Choose the Right Preschool Curriculum

As your child reaches school age, it begins a bittersweet journey to more independence! It’s exciting to examine all the learning tools and possibilities for your inquisitive,exploring child. Yet, the choices and decisions to make for your preschool child can be somewhat daunting! Here are 4 tips on how to choose the right preschool curriculum for your child!

Early Childhood Education & Learning Styles

Each child is prone to a particular learning style. The three typical learning styles are: visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning.

Visual learning, or spatial learning style, is a way of process information through images. With this particular learning style, your child should see expectations first before beginning an activity.

This style is actually the easiest to teach since you can use workbooks, books and videos to stimulate their learning skills. However, the downside is they are easily distracted by shiny objects and squabbling siblings! Having a quiet area to work in is ideal.

An auditory learner’s strength lie within their listening skills. They depend mostly on remembering through speaking whether its themselves talking or receiving information through instruction. Auditory educational tools include read alouds, audio books, memorization through songs, and conversations.

A kinesthetic learner easily understands concepts using a multi-sensory approach. They enjoy hands on activities, constantly moving, and new experiences. You may notice they can’t sit still, do not enjoy reading, and have difficulty spelling.

Some of the best resources for kinesthetic learners are manipulatives, drawing materials, computer based programs, and clay. You’ll want to look for anything they can physically touch or use most of their senses.

Teaching Styles and Life Situations

Before deciding on the best choice for preschool curriculum, you must review your current lifestyle. It takes a considerable time commitment to teach your preschooler. There is planning, execution, and maintenance required for homeschooling at any age. You should not expect to run your homeschool along the rigid standards of a standard preschool classroom.

Ask yourself these questions before reviewing potential preschool curriculum:

  1. How much time do I have during the day to teach my child?
  2. Am I a creative person and do I get inspired to create new things or assemble activities?
  3. Would I enjoy organizing and maintaining a schedule using calendars, check lists, and planning field trips?
  4. Am I willing to change teaching methods if they don’t work on my child?

If most of the answers are yes, you may consider reading books about how to design your own curriculum. Or, peruse the web for a plethora of ideas on crafts, hands-on activities, learning centers, and more! In fact, we’ve collected many homeschool preschool ideas for you.

However, on the flip side — if most of the answers are no, you may want to consider buying a prepacked curricula. Thankfully, there are a TON of resources available for busy moms today.

Buying a complete set of curriculum should be on your short list of priorities. This goes especially for moms who have very little preparation time. Many experienced homeschool veteran moms and teachers have already paved the way and have done the work for you!

Preschool Programs: Goals and Standards

Have you thought about goals for your child going into the preschool stage? Do you want to instill a love for learning? Is learning the bible a priority? Will play time be a part of his/her day? How about play dates or structured activities? Whether his/her education is learning how to count, prereading, or letter recognition and writing, write all of your expectations down on paper.

Do you have a budget in mind? Maybe you are on one income, and money is tight. There are several free and frugal resources online. You would be amazed at the premium preschool products available online that fit any budget!

Preschool Child’s Interests

How interested will your child be in learning their preschool milestones? If a child is not excited about the subject they are absorbing, both of you will become frustrated quickly! Avoid any rigid lessons, instead, look for exciting and inviting programs! They should also include several hands-on activities, read alouds, sensory play, and nature adventures.

Unit studies or thematic units are a perfect option for young students. They focus on one topic, but include a variety of subjects like math, science, geography, and more! You can find any subject your child loves online.

As you determine your priorities and expectations with preschool development, consider all of these factors. This will help you choose the right preschool curriculum for your budget, your situation, and your family. Preschool is a fun and wonderful age for exploratory learning! Giving your child the tools they need to prepare is key to their education in the future.  

Preschool Math without a Workbook

Preschool should be about learning in a fun way. That’s why you should use hands-on activities whenever possible when teaching math! Not only is preschool math without a workbook more fun, but hands-on learning is a great way to help your preschooler remember important skills. This post describes just 5 simple activities you can try! Use them, and then see what other ideas you can come up with to replace worksheets whenever possible.

Preschool Math Curriculum
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How to Start a Monthly Theme for Your Preschooler

Homeschooling your preschooler is a fun and interesting journey for everyone involved. You’ll love working alongside your preschooler as they discover new things and learn important skills each month. But how do you know what to teach your preschooler each month? Here are some tips to help you start a monthly theme for your preschooler.

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5 Homeschool Tools for Your Preschool Classroom

Various tools are needed to enrich your children’s learning. These resources can be practical, allowing you to plan your kids’ weekly schedule. They can also be fun, combining play with learning. Popular homeschooling tools can serve a dual purpose as well. They can also be used in a preschool classroom, making them practical for homeschool parents and preschool teachers alike. Here are five homeschool tools for your preschool classroom that you can also use in a preschool classroom….

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Reading Before Writing

Learning to read should be an adventure for kids. It’s so important to foster a love of reading even before they start formal schoolwork. That’s why you should focus on teaching reading BEFORE writing. There are so many ways you can teach your students to read, all without needing them to pick up a pencil for writing.

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