Preschool Homeschool Basics: Concepts and Suggested Websites

In a recent article, I wrote about life skills that a preschooler needs to learn. This is a large part of homeschooling a preschooler. Besides these basic life skills, such as motor skills, social and emotional training, and readiness to learn, there are also some basic concepts that you need to teach.

Next, you need to teach your homeschooled preschoolers basic concepts. The children should learn basic sizes such as big and little, long and short, and be able to match like sized items. Teach them to name colors and recognize and match shapes. Teach them directions and positions such as up and down, in and out, front and back, over and under, beside, and next to, fast and slow, as well as top, bottom, and middle. They also need to understand basic time concepts such as day and night, his or her own age, and birthday. Preschoolers should know body parts, names of common animals from the zoo or farms, and remember and pronounce the names of other children. Fisher price has Play & Learn family activities that can help.

There is a tiny bit of math that a preschooled homeschooler needs to know. Basically, they should be able to count to ten, count objects, and understand the concepts more and less. They should also know when a container or glass is empty or full. Edhelper.com has fun preschool math printable you can use.

Last, but not least, your preschooler homeschooler should show reading readiness skills. Preschoolers should be able to remember objects from a picture, know what a letter is, and look at pictures to tell a story, and pretend to read. A child in preschool should be read to daily, look at books and magazines, and have favorite books. They should be familiar with nursery rhymes, know the meaning of simple words, and express themselves. They should be able to repeat back a short sentence, and fill in a missing word. The preschoolers should understand that print carries a message and follow along from left to right in books. They should be able to answer questions after hearing a short story, and tell the meaning of words in a story. Kidzone.com has some reading readiness activities you can use.

You can get your preschooler started with writing by teaching him or her to recognize their own name on paper, and then to write it. Education.com has some preschool writing activities you can use.

To track progress of your homeschooled preschoolers, you can make up a checklist of these skills and observe your child at the beginning of the year, mid year, and at the end of the year. After the initial observation, begin to work on any important skills they have not exhibited so that by the next observation session, they should have a lot more skills checked off. You will find that some of the tasks and skills they have learned naturally, and others, you will have to teach. Here is one such checklist you can use.