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Homeschool Preschool: What, Why, and How

By 6:53 AM , , , , , , , , , ,



I previously shared here how we plan to start our Preschool Homeschool. 

I realized a lot of things from TLB's Workshop. I say "realized" because we weren't taught step-by-step on how to Homeschool, instead, we were enlighted as to how and why we chose or were about to choose to Homeschool our Preschoolers.

If you're thinking of homeschooling too, The Learning Basket holds a number of workshops per year, so that's a good start. Or you can just do it independently, on your own.

I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I did too when we we're just starting...

What is Homeschooling anyway?
Why do I need to Homeschool my child?
How do I start Homeschooling?

I cannot guarantee you that I can answer all your questions in one post, but I'll try my best...

What is Homeschooling?


Homeschooling is basically teaching your child at home. 

You can start as early as you can. You may not be aware, but you are already homeschooling your child... when you read books together, when you point out body parts, or when you listen to music. I'm sure our parents taught us at home too, since parents are our first teachers after all. It's just recently that the concept has been labelled as "Homeschooling". 

Why do I need to Homeschool my child?

There is no easier way to explain it but through this quote:


"You are your child's first and best teacher" -Mariel, The Learning Basket

I'm sure you've heard the saying that "a child's brain is like a sponge." And it's true! They pick up things easily, especially when mommy or daddy teaches them. Fostering a learning environment at home is a great way for a child to love Learning.

You don't have to have a strict schedule or have a list of lessons... Most of the time, I just play with my kids and try to incorporate lessons as we do or read aloud to them.

Another answer as to why you need to teach your child is because not all lessons are learned in school. Like how to properly brush their teeth or how to put on a button and tie their shoe laces... Yes, lessons aren't entirely about the ABCs and 123s. Also, instilling Good Values and Proper Manners come mainly from parents and not the teachers.

And finally, childhood is fleeting. Your child won't stay little for long. Cherish every moment you have while he is small :)

How do I start Homeschooling?

You can teach your child even when he is still a baby. I'm sure reading books and listening to music has been part of every parents' routine. 

And you can even learn through play...

Here are some simple things you can try at home with your child - at least this is how we started out too:

  1. Read aloud to your child at least 20 minutes a day.
  2. Play with Puzzles or Blocks.
  3. Count everything! His toys, the buttons on his shirt, candies, rocks etc!
  4. Sing along and dance to nursery rhymes.
  5. Pretend Play. One day you're kings and queens ruling a castle, the next day you'll be swashbuckling pirates at sea!
  6. Play with clay or have Cutting and Pasting activities. Toddlers need to strengthen their hands as practice before they learn how to hold a pen firmly.
  7. Color and Paint. Even get messy sometimes with finger paint.
  8. Draw. Hand a pencil and paper to a child and you'll be amazed!
  9. Go outside and play! Yes, play! And then tell him about the world around him, from the blue sky, up to the green grass.
  10. Make him do things by himself. Independence is an important lesson, because you can't do it for him forever!


For my 3-year old, we are following the Letter of the Week Curriculum. But I use it as a guide and improvise with lessons. My toddler likes arts and crafts more so we do those more often. I'm proud to say he has a firm grip with a pencil now and can even draw already. He can work with scissors too.

We dedicate at least 2-4 hours a day of learning activities spread throughout the day. Because even though we try to stick to a routine, it still depends on my 3-year old when he is "in the mood" to do activities. Sometimes, it depends on me too, because I am a Work at Home Mom.

I'll be sharing some of our weekly activities with you in another post :)

As for my 1-year old, we mostly do reading books and playing with blocks and puzzles. She also loves to dance when we listen to music. I'm happy to say that she also knows some baby sign language, aside from "Water" which she learned early on, she now knows "Please", "More", "Thanks You", "Pig", "Horse", "Duck". And she started talking too! Just the basic "Mama", "Dada", and "Papa" among others.

Here are some great Homeschool Resources (updated as of 11.17.15):

Kids Activities BlogHow to Homeschool Preschool and other Activities for Babies and Kids
Letter of the Week - 38 Week Curriculum
The Learning Basket - Books and Parenting Workshops
Teach with Joy - For ages 0-3 and For ages 2-4
Fun at Home with Kids - Crafts and Activities for Children
Fun2write - Printables and Work Sheets
In My World - Preschool Letter of the Week Activities
Preschool Mom - Printables and Work Sheets
Everyday I Learn Through Play - Activities for Infants and Toddlers
The Measured Mom - Tools for Teaching
Babbledabbledo - Engineering and Art for Kids
The Relaxed Homeschool - Homeschool tips and activities
Pre-K Pages - Inspiration for Early Education
Happy Hooligans - Crafts and Activities for toddlers and preschoolers
Montessori on Mars - Montessori techniques and activities
DIY Corporate Mom - Leave-behind play, After-work play and more, for the Working Mom
Teaching Mama - Learning through play activities and free printables
Fun handprint art blog - Arts and Crafts Free Printables
This Reading Mama - Free printables for reading and phonics
Toddler ApprovedCrafts, Toddler Activities, and Free Printables
3 Dinosaurs - Free Printables, Gross Motor, Simple Crafts, and more
Itsy Bitsy Fun - Games, Crafts, and Printables
Easy Peasy and Fun - Activities for kids and free printables

Videos:
ABC Mouse - Phonics, Alphabet, and Stories for children
StoryBots - Educational Videos
Mother Goose Club - Nursery Rhymes and Children's Songs
Super Simple Songs - Children's Songs, Alphabet and Phonics and Educational Videos
Little Baby Bum - Children's Songs and Nursery Rhymes (cute graphics too!)
Kiboomu Kids Songs - Cute graphics, Children's Songs and Educational Videos
Evan's Nanay - Tagalog Videos (like Abakada, Magbilang Tayo, and Folk Stories)

How about you? I'd love to hear your homeschooling experience!

Cheers,
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14 comments

  1. Homeschooling. This is the one thing about motherhood which I am pretty sure I won't be able to do. Patience palang kulang nako. :|

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  2. I am not a very good teacher I think. Me and boys most of the time ends school work with a fight. Maybe because I work full time and often too tired by the time i get home to even bother making studying interesting. Buti nalang my boys are naturally smart and needs very little prodding. Haizz!

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  3. This is really nice article! Thank you very much for sharing!

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  4. Very informative. We did consider home-schooling for my daughter before but we feel that she needs to be with kids her age. Also, I don't think I'll survive teaching her myself. -edel

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  5. We are homeschooling our now 4-year old son, though not enrolled in any providers yet as he's too young. We are loving it as we get to learn anything that interests him!

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  6. Now I'm getting more and more interested about homeschooling our son. I'm sure you are having a great time teaching your kids.

    -http://abovepreciousrubies.blogspot.com/

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  7. It's nice that you can do home school to your children as much as I wanted to do that I am a working mom kaya hindi puwede. But I always allot a time for his studies every night and Saturday

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  8. I like the thought of homeschooling, medyo clingy kasi ako hahaha, and your right, mabilis lang yung panahon na "bata" sila. Thanks for this post.

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  9. Thank you for the list of activities! We do them now but we're starting a more formal homeschooling this June. I'm still choosing among my Christian "curricula." Thanks for the tips!

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  10. I don't know if I can do homeschooling. But that doesn't mean I won't teach them. I'm still going to enroll my kids in school but before that, I've been teaching them already about the basics :) Thanks for the activity tips :)

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  11. I enjoyed home schooling my kids when they were little tots. I taught them how to read and write so the teachers on preschool found them easier to teach. I am very proud that I was their first teacher.

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  12. We're homeschooling our preschooler too. He's 3 turning 4 years old soon. You actually seem to be more organized than we are. Haha! But after attending TLB's seminar too, I learned that I shouldn't really worry too much about it. The world is our kids' teacher after all and they can learn so much already by just exploring life. :)

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  13. I admire moms who homeschool because it's hard to balance everything including teaching your children and planning ahead on what to teach them.

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  14. Nothing but envy and respect for homeschooling mamas! Thanks so much for sharing DIY Corporate Mom on your lovely space!

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