DIY Homeschool Preschool Curriculum

We have officially been homeschooling for about 4 months and we are off to a great start. I shared the resources that I used for the 1st semester of homeschool in a blog post HERE, and I would like to share the resources that I am adding this semester. Have a look below to see how to build your own DIY homeschool preschool curriculum.

The amazing thing about homeschooling, is that you can build and tailor lessons to your child's specific interests and learning level. Ava is doing very well in school, she is most interested in writing, drawing, and reading, so she practices writing daily. I like to stick with the subjects or reading, writing, "math", and science. At this young age, most children don't have a concept of time so we don't discuss history too much but we do learn about the natural world. We also learn and practice character traits like kindness and compassion, and to love and appreciate nature.

She finished the majority of the workbooks that I mentioned in my Homeschool Preschool Curriculum post, so here are the materials that we have added to the lineup.
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I will be incorporating more reading into our curriculum. We read books from our personal library daily, we check out library books weekly. The Explore and Learn books are great for science and geography and have beautiful pictures. I've also started using a set of BOB Books to practice early reading skills, and have added a few poetry books.

Related Post: DIY Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

     

We still attend library story times, museums, playdates, we visit playgrounds whenever weather permits, and Ava participates in gymnastics and yoga. I'd like to say that this curriculum is pretty well rounded and makes learning fun.

Related Post: Homeschool Preschool Curriculum 

Please click the pictures to read more about the materials suggested. I only recommend products that I actually use and like. If you are a homeschooler, are you using a pre-made curriculum or creating one yourself? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Until next time.

April K.
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7 Easy Steps To Get Started With Homeschooling

We recently began preschool homeschool and my daughter has been enjoying every moment! She plays with her friends, go to gymnastics class, and we visit the library often. She is even learning to write has mailed letters to her homeschool friends in Florida.  Even though we are newbie's I get asked how I got started with homeschooling. I wanted to share a few things that I did to prepare myself for our homeschool journey, check out my list below.

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1. Make the decision to homeschool! Discuss plans with your partner/ husband or whoever is involved in raising your child(ren) and decide what is best for your family. Will you homeschool for the preschool and kindergarten years, elementary school years, or all the way through high school? What style of homeschool will you use? Unschooling? Montessori? Online?

2. Check state homeschool laws. The homeschool laws for Georgia are fairly simple and can be found HERE. For any other state, check your local Department of Education website.

3. Purchase any needed materials. Are you using a pre made curriculum? Are you piecing together a curriculum? Do you have art and creativity supplies? The Dollar Tree is great for finding low cost homeschool supplies, such as writing tablets, glue, and even workbooks. I also like to order essentials from Amazon. Will you purchase new or used materials and curricula? Will you purchase items that can be used repeatedly? Some items can be purchased used to save money such as flash cards, games, and books.

4. Plan a daily routine and have a plan for each day. I like to use a teacher's lesson plan book to jot down what I would like to academically accomplish for the day as well as keeping up with completed homeschool days, and learning goals. I use a personal planner to keep track of community activities that I would like for us to attend.  Does your local library have storytime? Lego or art club? What about purchasing museum memberships? Do museums in your area have homeschool days? These are all things that you should look into when planning your homeschool day.

5. Follow your favorite homeschool blogs, homeschool Instagram accounts, and join homeschool Facebook groups. If you search the homeschool hashtag on Instagram, a ton of amazing accounts will come up. Follow as many as you like and some of those accounts even write blogs about their homeschool journeys which are good to follow for inspiration. Facebook is also a great place for homeschoolers as there are many groups based on your homeschool interests, secular, religious, unschooling, local, etc. If you aren't big on Facebook, now may be a good time to look into it, I have met many mom and homeschool friends on Facebook.

6. Join homeschool communities, playgroups,  or co-ops. My daughter just started preschool so we are involved in playgroups mainly. But once your child is old enough to benefit from a co-op or homeschool community, they are worth looking into. You can search Facebook or even Meetup.com  to find local groups to join.

7. Have patience and don't compare your homeschool journey to others. Homeschool should be a fun, bonding experience. There are days that you may feel overwhelmed but those days will pass quickly. Your child will appreciate the time you are taking to make sure they have the best start in life even though they sometime don't show it. Everyone's homeschool journey is different, everyone homeschools for different reasons, so it is important to not compare homeschool journeys. Remember, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

I hope this post was helpful. I am by no means an expert at homeschooling as this is our first year and I only have 1 child. But I wanted to share what works for us. Are you a homeschool family? Do you have any tips you would like to share? Let me know in the comments! Until next time.

April K.

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