How to Create a Simple Homeschool Routine for Your Preschoolers

Hey, you! With everything that’s been going on lately, I just want to take a moment to thank you for being here with me. During this time of need, I’ve seen so many families spending quality time together, neighbors being friendly to each other, and people coming together to help one another. It’s an amazing thing to witness and I’m so thankful to share this time of my life with you! 💖

Alright, so the REAL reason you are here is because you want to learn more about homeschooling your kiddos, right? I got you. 😉 What I’ve gathered on my Instagram is that you are probably in one (or more) of the following situations:

1️⃣ You’re working from home

2️⃣ You’re trying to figure out what the heck to do with your kiddos at home to keep them busy or learning

3️⃣ You’re trying to keep your sanity throughout ALL of this

I can tell you with honesty, I’m right there with you. I, too, feel the craziness and am trying to keep a little one busy and engaged in her learning while working from home.

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So, you want to know what our homeschool schedule/routine is like?

I’m going to start off by saying we don’t exactly follow a schedule. Wait a minute, don’t freak out yet… there’s a good reason for it. 😊 Since I currently run a business from home and have dedicated time to be present with my daughter, we’ve created a routine that has worked wonderfully for us over the past 3.5 years.

Our homeschool routine includes important components for learning and also makes time for play. Play is an integral part of children’s development so I make sure to leave intentional play time in our routine AND it isn’t on a schedule because we like to keep things flexible in our home and not feel time-restricted.

Here’s what our simple homeschool routine for preschoolers looks like:

Sensory Bins

We like to start our preschool time with sensory bins. It’s engaging, gets their creative juices flowing and is great for conversation starters! Essentials for sensory bins are:

✨ Fillers/bases such as rice, beans, pasta, water beads, sand, etc.

✨Thematic toys or items that go together: colors, shapes, construction, seasons, and more

✨Fine motor tools for grasping, sorting, one on one correspondence and building fine motor skills

You can also pair sensory bins with a fun book or activities like the one pictured above. This Spring Sensory Bin counting activity is from my friend Kaitlyn over at The Stay-At-Home Teacher. It contains so many exciting literacy and math activities that are meant to be paired with a sensory bin to make learning fun!

Handwriting Practice

The next activity on our routine is handwriting practice or line tracing. In the picture above, you’ll see that Aria is line tracing on our Lakeshore Learning Learn to Print Practice Books.

This is a quick review or practice on how to properly trace vertical, horizontal, diagonal and curved lines while also working on pencil grasp skills. This activity promotes beginner letter formation skills and gets them to focus on particular tasks and follow directions.

Literacy/Math Activity

The next activity for our homeschool routine is either a literacy or math activity, or BOTH. Usually, we pick one for the sensory bin and do the other after handwriting practice time.

The activity we used in the picture above is also from The Stay-At-Home Teacher’s Spring Preschool Sensory Bins unit and it focuses on literacy and math activities your little ones can do with dot markers, pompoms, mini erasers, and much more!

We like to pair our literacy and math activities in a way that doesn’t make learning overwhelming, is filled with opportunities for praise, and keeps them engaged for some time.

Reading

Question of the day: How many books is too many books?

Answer: There could NEVER be too many books!

Instilling a love of learning and reading in your child is perhaps one of the most noble things you could ever do as a parent.

I LOVE reading with my little and fortunately, she does, too. We take all the time we need for reading books together or independently so she could explore different topics, genres and authors. 😍

Extension Opportunities

While that sums up our homeschool routine, there may be days when your little one is ready for MORE. Use this time wisely and provide opportunities for extension such as:

1. Teaching them certain words in another language

2. Asking comprehension questions to check for understanding and activating prior knowledge

3. Add an art, music, science or sensory component to any activity if they exhibit an interest in the topic

Bonus Tips

Please take into account their attention span. They are still young and maybe not able to stay on task for long. THAT’S OK! Take breaks as needed so that school time doesn’t become a negative experience for them. They have plenty of time to learn the skills they need (including concentration skills) when they get to school or with age + maturity.

Also, use what they like! If you have a resource, for example, that has them coloring pictures with crayons but they prefer using dot markers like my daughter, then USE the dot markers!! Don’t discourage their choices or preferences. They are becoming who they are and growing their personalities. Let them shine! ✨

I hope this post on how to build a simple homeschool routine for your preschoolers helps you feel confident in homeschooling your little one, or at least working from home and keeping your little one busy! 💖

Questions about this routine? Please feel free to email me at chanty@chantymacias.com and comment below if you've tried it at home to let me know how it went for you! 👏