Many families choose to start homeschooling their child around the 3-4 year mark because pre-school is coming up and many of the learning is already taking place in the home. Whether you are intentionally teaching your Pre-K & K child or not, your child is learning and growing.

There are not many major concepts that your pre-school or kindergarten child needs to know so don’t worry, it’s all about creating a loose schedule and establishing a foundation for learning.

The main concepts that your Pre-K & K child should know:

Objectives for your Pre-K & K Child

The main thing we as a family have learned after teaching three young children at the same time is that you have to keep the expectations low and not overwhelm yourself. Set simple goals and allow much of the teaching to be informal until you get past the potty training and learning to speak age.

Biggest recommendation is DO NOT try potty training and teaching a child to read at the same time. It’s exhausting and takes so much time, energy and patience. One thing at a time is key with young children.

Most especially if you have multiple children in the home, this is exceptionally difficult. Choose a time to start potty training. Have that established and then start teaching your child to read. The learning for a 3-4-5 year old does not have to be 8 hours a day, it can be 30 minutes and be just as productive as 8 hours.

The How

• Pace yourself -slowly add in things to your schedule
• What are your expectations?
• Do you want them to do chores like putting away dishes or cleaning up their room?
• Prioritizing potty training first then start teaching reading
• Skip counting informally to help prepare for formal math
• Take a little section of time each day for the child – set aside 15-20 minutes per day for a concept
• Have child help with the everyday tasks

Starting Informally

Potty Training	This is going to take a lot of time and energy
Skip counting by 2’s & 5’s	Verbally counting can help with starting Primer Math
Singing ABC song	Singing it every night to memorize sounds and patterns
“Helping out” around the house	Learning the routine of home and expectations
Reading books out loud to child	Helping establish foundation for learning reading
Hands-on crafts/activities	Understanding how activities connect to learning

Starting Formally

Learning to Read	Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons (15-20 mins per day)
Calendar Time	Learning days of the week and weather, town they live in
Writing Letters	Dry erase binder with clear sleeves and marker practicing letters
Basic Math	Math-u-See Primer math (learning numbers and counting)
Basic Home-Ec	Helping with dishes, clothes, clean up time

Other Quick and Easy Ideas for Pre-K & K Child

Other things you can teach can be as simple or creative as you like depending on your schedule and what you want your child to learn.

• Simple science experiments
• Tactile projects and crafts
• Play-doh
• Helping with a pet
• Helping grocery shop
• Coloring
• Reading
• Singing and dancing to music
• Yoga or learn to catch
• Reading Bible story

Young Kids Learn From You:

All kids are constantly learning from what you do – they observe and mimic behaviors and attitudes. Create a loose schedule for yourself when you have little kids because life happens and dealing with 3-5’s you don’t have endless energy to get through every single thing what you want to do. It’s especially challenging if you have multiples. Be realistic and give yourself some grace.

The most difficult thing is children at this age are not independent so you have to be one on one with them and give them intentional attention. Make a goal, try it out and modify as you go. Little ones are malleable, flexible and energetic. Embrace that energy and be intentional with fun and creative learning and before you know it, you will have an elementary child ready for school.