This is the best daily schedule for a 3 or 4 year old at home. So you’re considering homeschooling your preschooler? Yay, go mama! Now what?
Now you need to find the right preschool curriculum, free resources, and the perfect preschool schedule to get you started on preparing your preschooler for Kindergarten.
We have found a ton of benefits of homeschooling at home. Preschoolers are adorable and love to learn. I was intimidated at first, but found an easy sample schedule that works for us, and I wanted to provide it to you for inspiration!
Let’s talk a little bit more about this half-day flexible preschool schedule!
I’m happy to say this is the third installment of my back-to-school series. I’m posting 5 Days of Preschool Prep ideas just for you! There are homeschool preschool printables, a preschool schedule sample, and preschool educational toy ideas for parents. These could work for the stay at home mom doing preschool at home during the day or any working mom wanting to augment on the weekends. Here we go!
Day 1: 8 Homeschool Benefits for Preschoolers
Day 2: 9 Free Preschool Resources for Parents
Day 3: A Sample Preschool Schedule Any Mom Can Follow
Day 4: Our favorite preschool educational toys [and how to use them]
Day 5: 19 Awesome Eco-Friendly Toys for Preschoolers
There are affiliate links in this post. This means if you click on a link I might receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
Homeschool Schedule Sample Any Preschool Mom Can Follow
How to get started with creating your preschool schedule for home
Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are trying to decide the best preschool schedule at home:
- What are your homeschool priorities be?
- How much time can you commit daily to homeschooling?
- How much is too much for my preschooler?
- How much is too little to get them prepared for Kindergarten?
- How do you build in flexibility so that you aren’t overwhelmed and can keep it fun??
- How do you balance homeschooling and everything else?
- How do you homeschool with other little ones at home?
First off, preschool at home with your kids should be fun (check out these cute KiwiCo projects we did last year) for you and your kids. If you all aren’t enjoying preschool then it’s time to change something.
I decided to homeschool my 4 year old son (and my 2 year old daughter indirectly) when we moved to Texas. I had just transitioned from working part-time, and we were looking to save money because #budgeting.
Since I was planning to stay at home with the kids, we decided to save money by not sending my son to preschool (one of the many benefits of homeschooling).
I started researching different preschool schedules, preschool goals, and preschool ideas for home that wouldn’t break the bank. Again, I was trying to save money! I found a bunch of free preschool resources on Pinterest (follow my board below for other ideas).
By the way, if you are interested in homeschooling your kiddo too, I put together this powerpoint with printable preschool goals. It’s super easy to customize, or you can just print it off and go.
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Daily preschool activities ideas
Before I could decide on the schedule, I had to decide what we wanted to DO during preschool. So here’s what I decided.
I wanted a simple schedule, that laid the foundations, and allowed a lot of time for play and interact. I wanted a schedule that was flexible and allowed my preschooler still to move a lot even though we were doing some educational activities.
These are some activities to consider adding to your very own schedule:
Music and Movement
My son and daughter used to go to an in-home day care and they always danced and played with balls in the beginning of the day. Not only did it help them get their energy out, but it also helped them “start” the day. We decided to implement this as part of our schedule!
I play music on Pandora (our favorite station is called Raffi). The kids then spin, do tricks, and dance for 10-15 minutes first thing in the morning. It’s something they enjoy so it’s not a fight to get started.
Circle Time
Since I knew my daughter would want to “participate” in preschool even though she was only 2 at the time, I made sure to include an activity that we could “all do together.” Our circle time was the answer! It includes three activities:
- Write the date on the calendar, review days of the week, and months of the year.
- Answer a challenge question
- Practice memorizing a Bible verse and talk about the Bible verse.
Here’s an example of our calendar and challenge question board. My husband made this sticky note calendar when we first got married. I’m pretty he just used a picture frame we already had and colorful sticky notes. I commandeered a white board from the office.
Sorry for the terrible quality picture. I was in a hurry to take this picture while my 8 week old was being entertained by my 2 year old. I didn’t have time to rewrite all the months on the side and my handwriting is terrible! Haha. My son wrote all the numbers on here. I’m pretty sure he has better handwriting then I do sometimes (and he’s 5 now)!!!
If you want to use the same corkboard signs we used for our goal board. Here’s the Powerpoint template for your editing pleasure! They are super easy to make, but it gives you a starting point. Just enter your email to grab the free template. I hope it helps you get started! Sometimes you just need a little initiator to get you going.
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Goal Oriented Activities – Let the Kid Lead
After circle time, we transition to working on one of three goals for the week. I found some ideas for preschool and kindergarten goals on Pinterest. I actually printed off my own list and added them to a corkboard that we already had (yay recycled items!).
You can grab the goals we used below for free by subscribing, or by signing up for the freebies library!
We have three goals each week. I let my son pick which goal he wants to work on first and then I choose an activity related to the goal.
For example, here are the goals for this week:
- Read and write numbers from 0-30
- Know how to count from 0 – 100 by 10s
- Recognize the beginning sound of a word
We then spend about 10 – 15 minutes on each of the activities. Here are some easy activity ideas based on these goals.
Read and write numbers from 0 – 30:
- We count decorative stones that I found in the house. After he counts them out, he writes down the number to show that he knows it. He LOVES this activity.
- Count blocks and same idea.
- I write numbers on the white board and he tells me what they are.
Know how to count from 0 – 100 by 10s:
- Have 10 dimes to practice counting with
- Use a free numbers worksheet from Pinterest
- Grab the chalk and practice writing the numbers on the driveway
Recognize the beginning sound of a word
- Sometimes I write down words on a paper with the first letter missing, and then he writes down the first letter after I say the word him.
- We practice rhyming words on the whiteboard
- At dinner we play “the letter game.” The kids take turn picking letters and then we think of words that start with that letter/sound.
When he finishes a goal we move it to the other side of the corkboard under, “I can do it!”
Psst… here is that goals template I was talking about! Download it and customize it, or print and be ready to go!
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His Choice
After we finish working on goals, we then end our more “formal” portion of preschool with his choice of activity. We have a few workbooks, counting sticks, and a cash register. My grandmother brought over these workbooks, and he loves doing worksheets out of it!
Here are some Wipe Clean Workbooks that I want to try next time!
Recess
After we are done with the above activities, I send the kids outside for 20-30 minutes of recess. First off, I love this because I get a BREAK. Second, they spend some time outside after all the sitting. And finally, I normally prepare lunch and our craft during this time.
I also love this recess time because I think it’s important for kids to spend a lot of time outside – like 1,000 hours a year if possible!
Craft time
After recess is craft time. Our craft normally takes anywhere from 15 – 30 minutes. We either do a craft from our current KiwiCo Koala Box, which I wrote about here. Or we do an activity like cooking, or maybe we will follow one of these instructions videos from YouTube that I mention in the free resources post from Day 2 of preschool prep.
Lunch
Of course, we need a break for lunch. Nom. Nom. Nom.
Story Time
We go to story time at the library once a week, but while we are there we normally pick up some library books to bring home. I love reading books with my kids, and I try to set aside extra time to read extra books. I let both my son and daughter pick out two books each and then we also read from the Jesus Story Book Bible.
And then finally, NAP. Blessed nap time.
I totally enjoy spending time with my kids, and I like the structured time because I focus on them and they enjoy my attention. But oh, boy, do I love it when nap time comes around. After nap, we are done with preschool for the day!
All that being said, here are my “goal times” for preschool. My goal is to do preschool 4 times per week. Fridays is typically our day off and we enjoy spending more time at the park, play dates, or going to the local preschool age indoor jumping facility.
Next year we will probably only do preschool 3 days per week with my 3 year old.
1/2 Day Homeschool Preschool Schedule Example!
9:15 – 9:30 Music and Movement Time
9:30 – 9:45 Circle Time
9:45 – 10:45 Goals and Students’ choice
10:45 – 11:15 Recess/Prep Craft & Lunch
11:15 – 11:45 Craft Time
11:45 – 12:30 Lunch
12:30 – 1:00 Story Time
1:00 Nap time, end of Preschool
Flexibility
What I love about this preschool schedule is that it is wayyyy flexible. Sometimes we skip circle time. Sometimes we skip music and movement. Sometimes we don’t have time for craft (although I normally try to do this part because my son loves it). Keep it flexible and don’t stress. Anything is better than nothing!
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