We’ve done a ton of work so far in the Getting Started with Home Preschool Series. You’ve spent a lot of time familiarizing yourself with teaching styles and what you want to teach your preschooler. You’ve also put a lot of thought into how you will run your home preschool time and the flow of your days. Your lesson plan template is ready, and now it’s time to create those first lessons. In this section you’ll gather materials and learn some tips about how to create home preschool lesson plans that align with your goals and what you’ve learned so far in the how to teach home preschool series.

Note: If you’ll be using the  home preschool lesson plans we’ve already developed for you, congratulations–you’re almost done! You’ll just want to select the lesson plan format that works best for you. Then review the lesson plans and make sure they align with the goals for your child. And you can move on to the next lesson.

If you’d rather develop your own lesson plans or tweak ours just a bit, then you can still use the theme planning checklists we provide in our lesson plan sets as a starting point for creating more personalized lesson plans.

How to Create Lesson Plans for Preschool at Home

For this section, you’ll need to gather:

• the goals you are working on with each child
• the lesson plan template you created in Unit 4
• the activity sheets you created in Unit 2
• any other resources you use to find home preschool inspiration (home preschool lesson plans, activity books, Pinterest boards, personal brainstorming notebook)

Tips for Creating Weekly Lesson Plans

1. In the beginning start slowly. Don’t try to plan too much right away. Work on the general flow of your daily routine and start with some easy low-prep activities.
2. The activity sheets from Unit 2 are great options for low-prep but meaningful activities to add to your lesson plans.
3. If you’ll be using a theme or a unit focus, using the free printable Brainstorming Sheet can be a helpful way to brainstorm all of your ideas and get them on to one piece of paper before you decide where to put them on your lesson plans.
4. As you begin to add activities to your lesson plans be mindful of the overall balance of your day. If you have a seated activity, then it is helpful to follow up with an active play idea. Not only is this helpful for different learning styles, it is also appropriate for this age group to be learning through play and active movement.
5. Also consider when you will do activities with all kids in your home, and when you will work in smaller groups or individually. For my older preschoolers I did any written activities that were not age appropriate for toddlers when the younger kids were napping or engaged in independent play time. In the first weeks of home preschool you will find the times that work best for working one-on-one.
6. I personally like to create lesson plans using a pencil and paper. Then I can easily modify and move ideas around as needed. Once we finished lesson plans I scanned them and saved them to the computer to use in the future as well. You can also create your lesson plans on the computer initially. I just liked to have mine on the go for brainstorming sessions when I had a few extra minutes here and there.

Next Steps

Take some time to review these examples. Then create your first three weeks of lesson plans. You can add to them and modify as you get started, but having a general idea of the materials you’ll need and activities you’ll be doing can help you be more prepared. That way you can focus on the fun of learning and teaching instead of frantically preparing at the last minute.

Come Share

Head on over to the Home Preschool Help Facebook Group and tell us a little about your plans for the first three weeks.

What lesson plan approach are you using?

What activities are you most excited about?

If you have any questions about this section, don’t hesitate to ask. We’re here to help.

This is Unit 5, Lesson 1 of the Guide to Getting Started with Home Preschool. Return to the main How to Teach Home Preschool page or proceed to Unit 5, Lesson 2: Tips for Transitioning Into Home Preschool.