Last year I shared the home preschool schedule we used at the beginning of the year. While it worked well for us, we will be making some changes for the upcoming year.
This year Lovey is 4 and will be continuing preschool at home. Big Buddy is also 4, but he will be attending a half-day preschool nearby. He will join us at lunchtime. Tinker is 2.5, and Little Buddy is 1.5.
Please know that I use the schedule as a guide. There are certain activities that we make sure to include every day. But we are also flexible based on the kids’ interests each day. Some days the kids are really engaged in an art activity, so we will extend that time. Other days, they may really be enjoying story time, so we will spend more time reading before moving on to something else. Ultimately, my goal is for the kids to love learning, so I yield to their enthusiasm as much as I can.
Last year our school day was spent downstairs in our main living area, but this year we’re moving to our own “classroom” upstairs. Lovey is excited to have a desk of her own “big girl” school activities, and I’m excited about having a dedicated space for all of our materials.
This year our typical school day begins at 9 am. Before then the girls and I will eat breakfast, get dressed, kiss Daddy goodbye, and finish our morning chores.
Schedule Overview
- 9:00 AM Invitations to Play
- 9:30 AM Calendar & Literacy Skills
- 10:00 AM Theme Activities
- 10:30 AM Story Time/Light Snack
- 11:00 AM Outdoors & Pick Up Big Buddy
- 12:30 PM Lunch and Stories
- 1:00 PM Nap/Quiet Time (With Additional Invitations to Play)
- 3:00 PM Snack
- 3:30 PM Outside
Detailed Schedule
9 am: As the kids finish up with breakfast there are invitations set up. I plan different invitations to explore, invitations to play, and invitations to create. Some of the activities are related to themes we are studying. Others are based on the kids’ current interests and the skills we are focusing on. Usually the kids are eager to get involved in the activity that has been set up each day, but if not they can also do free play with other materials throughout the schoolroom.
9:30 am: We start with calendar time and songs related to our theme. All three kids participate in calendar time. The toddlers are singing and dancing along. Lovey enjoys singing along, and she also completes some writing activities in her calendar notebook each day. After calendar ends, I introduce a new play activity to the toddlers. Once they are playing, Lovey and I work on a couple of her focus skills using hands-on activities and games. Most often these are related to math and literacy skills.
10:00 am: We do theme-based activities that integrate art, math, science, and literacy. For this block of time I try to select activities that all of the kids can participate in and enjoy. Activities can be crafts, science projects, cooking activities, pretend play, anything related to our letter of the week or current theme.
10:30 am: The kids eat a light snack while we sit together for story time and do some phonemic awareness activities.
11:00 am: We head outdoors to take a walk or play in the yard. If it’s raining we dance or play indoor games. Before lunch we pick Big Buddy up from preschool.
12:30 pm: Lunch time
1:00 pm: Stories and nap time. Most of the kids still nap regularly, but that may not continue through the year. Lovey does not nap any more. She does rest for a bit and then she can choose from quiet time activities, workbox choices, or computer time. There is also a “big kid” invitation to play set up toward the end of nap time. These are additional invitations to play that are designed more for Lovey and Big Buddy to work on together.
3:00 pm: Snack time
3:30 pm: We play outdoors until the boys’ mom arrives.
This is our basic schedule most days of the week. We have a standing play date and go to library story time once a week, and in the fall our local zoo offers an awesome story time with live animals. This year we are also excited to be joining some friends twice a month for a preschool co-op, so the schedule is flexible.
Kristina @ School Time Snippets
We’ve never followed a schedule or rough guide to get us through the day and I am paying for it ; ) Came over to check out your Preschool Themes so I can make a rough plan for my daughter come Fall and stopped here first. So glad! Thanks for the guide! This looks do-able, although I think my problem is actually organizing everything AHEAD of time! Which I hope that if I start earlier enough (like now! ha!), we’ll be good to go come August/ September! : )
Nadiya
this is the best information I could use thank you so mush, and also do you do any worksheets like practicing the letter a because I did the with my 1st son and he knew all his letters and numbers by the age of 3
Shaunna Evans
We don’t do a lot of alphabet worksheets, but we do practice recognizing and writing letters using games, puzzles, environmental print and books. Sometimes we’ll do a few pages from a printable pack if my kids seem interested, but they aren’t a regular part of our day.
Beth
Love this! The inchworm ABC activity & grow a rock look like so much fun! I’m pinning and buffering to share with my readers!!
Thanks for linking up to TGIF! It is always one of my highlights to see what you share – really =)
Have a great weekend,
Beth
Shaunna
Beth, you are so sweet! Thanks for sharing and always taking the time to stop by and comment.
Heidi
Your website is so helpful and I’m so glad I found it! My son is turning 3 next month and I’ve been thinking I want to start doing a little bit of preschool at home. I was wondering, do you have any kind of master list of items you think moms should have for starting preschool? Thanks!
Shaunna
Thanks, Heidi! That means a lot. I hope this site is a valuable resource, so I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I don’t have a specific set of items that I would recommend. Maybe I’ll add that in as a future post idea. Just thinking about it briefly, I think there are very few things you really “need” to start preschool. So much of early learning can be done with materials and objects you have at home or that you can find in nature. Other than that, some basic crafts supplies, alphabet letters and numbers, and lots of books (or a library card) would be on the top of my list.
Heidi
Thanks! 🙂
Jade
I really like how you call their activities “invitations to play or create”! And your schedule/routine sounds like a nice, relaxed approach to fun learning. I’m sure your kiddo’s have so much fun with all of this! Plus, that grape and pretzel tree looks delicious 😀 x
Shaunna
Thank you so much! We started doing more and more invitations last year, and they were so well received that I was eager to make them a regular component of our schedule this year. We do have a lot of fun, too! 🙂
Sadia
I love your practical advice. I was wondering, what was it that made you choose to send just one of your 4-year-olds to preschool outside the home. Please forgive me if I missed a post where you discussed that. My 7-year-old twins will actually be in the same classroom for 2nd grade, but we’ve had some interesting decisions to make along the way, including whether to keep them in the same grade.
Shaunna
Thanks, Sadia! Actually I have two children, the two girls. I watch the two boys for a friend. The oldest boy will be going to public kindergarten next year, and our state offers free prekindergarten for three hours per day. That is why he is going to preschool for half of the day and then joining us in the afternoon. I decided not to send my oldest daughter to preschool, because at this point we are planning to homeschool. We are spending this year gradually transitioning from a less formal routine into one where there are a few more required activities per day (as will be the case for kindergarten).
As a classroom teacher I remember a lot of parents of twins having to make decisions about placement for their kids. It was always a tough decision. I hope your twins enjoy being in the same classroom this year.
Kali @ For the Love of Spanish
These are awesome ideas…we are working on making a preschool schedule for home too, so this was really helpful to see how you all do it and what sorts of things you do. Thanks for sharing!
Shaunna
Thank you so much, Kali! I always love to see how others organize their days, too. Good luck with your home preschool schedule.
Sarah
This looks like a nice, doable schedule. I’m in the middle of getting things together for my son, who is 3 this year. My daughter is 4 and will be attending a church preschool and joining us in the afternoon. I’m a bit overwhelmed, so I really appreciate seeing how other moms are organizing their time. Thanks for sharing!
Shaunna
So glad to share! I hope you come up with a schedule that you all enjoy. My biggest tip would be to start small. Implement one or two components of your schedule at first then expand as you get and your son get the routine going. Then hopefully the planning and prep work don’t seem like too much. Good luck! 🙂
Suanna
This sounds like a great schedule that allows for flexibility in interest led learning as well as structure though the day to help the kids know what will be coming next.
Shaunna
Oh! I love that you see those aspects in this schedule…that’s what I was aiming for this year!! My kids thrive on a predictable routine, so I want to have that for them. But I also want them to have a lot of freedom in choosing activities and being engaged in those things that interest them the most.
Mary Catherine
What a well thought out, meaningful schedule for the kiddos! Not that I’m surprised, but I love how you integrate so much learning across subject area. Keeping the kids’ interests is such a great way to expand on their curiosity and feed their love of learning. 🙂
Shaunna
Mary Catherine, that means so much coming from you! Thank you! I feel like every year is a learning process for us all, and I think our new schedule this year reflects a lot of what we all learned about our learning and teaching styles last year.