Learn how to plan, gather resources, and create your own preschool curriculum that's perfect for your child and fits your schedule!
When it came time to start preschool with my youngest daughter, I wanted to create the curriculum myself. No big deal, right? This is preschool, after all. How hard can it be? Then, I started researching!
How many subjects are too many? How do I organize everything? Where do I get high-quality resources? How do I make a schedule? What is a scope and sequence?! After about an hour on Google, I was ready to just throw my hands up and buy a curriculum.
But I didn’t. I got more coffee, and I persisted. I learned a thing or two along the way. Now, I know that, with a systematic approach, putting together your own preschool curriculum can be a lot easier (if a bit time-consuming) than I thought it was going to be. So, I’m sharing the best tips I have so that you can shortcut all the trial and error and get straight to learning with your little one.
Academic |
Life-Skills |
Extracurricular |
| Math | Social/Emotional Skills | Art |
| Language | Motor Skills | Music |
| Phonics | Character/Habit Training | Foreign language |
| Science | Religious Instruction | Dance |
| Social Studies | Cognitive Skills | Sport |
The same goes for science and social studies. If you’re reading lots of good books to your preschooler and answering their burning questions, there is probably no reason to add these subjects, separately, to your routine. Maybe throw in a fun science-y project now and then and call it good.
Better options? Hands-on materials that you can use to count (math skills), flashcards to practice letter recognition and sounds (phonics), and household items that get your child ready to conquer a stack of worksheets one day (fine motor skills).
Here’s how to know what you need:
Create a scope and sequence for each subject you’ll be teaching. This fancy phrase just means a list of individual skills or learning objectives you want to cover and the order you will cover them in. (For example: letter recognition; then main sounds of consonants; then short sounds of vowels; etc.)
How do you know how to do this? Try one of these techniques:
So, here’s the caveat. Some worksheets can be beneficial if used sparingly and for objectives other than writing. This is why you’re Googling pre-writing skills—because your preschooler is, more than likely, not ready to write for any length of time yet. This is, also, why those workbooks where your child is copying letter after letter are not age-appropriate and will likely lead to frustration.
However, a well-timed connect-the-dots page for number recognition or circle-the-items-that-are-the-same page can help reinforce other concepts and give a little fine motor skills practice.
Here’s your guiding principle: Use worksheets sparingly and never as an attempt to elicit a great deal of writing. If you want a record of what your child is learning and doing in preschool, keep a journal and/or photo diary instead.
One approach is to make a list of objectives or activities you would like to cover during the day and look for opportunities to work them in. If you feel like you need a little more structure than this, try scheduling 10- to 15-minute blocks of time three to four times a day where you focus on a different subject.
Regardless of how structured you are or are not, it is a good idea to develop a reading routine: first thing in the morning over cereal, at naptime, before bedtime, and all of the above! Find a time that works for you to make sharing a book a regular part of your day.
Here is the single most important tip I have for you about scheduling . . . stay flexible!
Know that whatever incredible plan you make at the outset is untested. Your child may have very different ideas about when and how they are ready to engage with learning. Don’t try to swim upstream. Be open to shifting and adjusting when and how you approach the learning process in order to make it work for both you and your child. The result will be more learning and, most importantly, a better experience for you both.
If you would like to learn more, click on the image below to get access to done-for-you holistic preschool curriculum that will guide you through all the aspects of preschooling your child at home.
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