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It’s back-to-school month! We actually already finished my daughter’s pre-k course book and are going to move right along to kindergarten, even though she’s only 4. If you missed my three-year old homeschool preschool blog post, you can read it here. I feel like overall we’ve had a lot less “sit-down school” days lately and have spent more time just reading or playing, but I thought it would be helpful to still share our routine and what worked vs. didn’t work for us this year.

MORNING BASKET

Our morning basket has become my saving grace most days! It’s an easy way to prep activities for the week to serve as entertainment for my daughter while I’m getting her little sister ready or just a way to have all our books and “school things” together in one place. Here is what we keep in ours:

• Morning binder (some is still the same from when we did our three-year old homeschool routine)
• Name tracing sheet from Etsy
• Velcro calendar & clock sheets from Little Smarty Ants
• I use this laminator, laminating sheets, velcro dots and washable dry-erase markers for these activity sheets.
• This clock puzzle has been fun to add lately since we’ve been learning to tell time!
• I always try to keep a drawing board in our basket. My daughter loves to draw pictures or practice writing words on it, and her little sister loves playing with it too!
• I also rip out a few coloring pages with markers, crayons or colored pencils for additional coloring practice.
• Some other ideas for items to rotate weekly are books (which I will discuss below), puzzles, dot stickers, matching card games, blocks or magnatiles, reusable stickers, sand or playdoh, scissor practice, stamps, small toys/figurines.

BIBLE TIME

I love starting the day listening to worship music. Something that has been a fun addition is Then Sings My Soul Prayer Journal: 52 Hymns that Inspire Joyous Prayer. It’s not something that’s geared towards children, but I like to read some of the history and discuss a few questions as we listen and study the hymns.

We typically read The Beginner’s Bible before the girls go to bed, but for school I like to use this Coloring Keepsake Bible. I know I’ve mentioned it before because we’ve used it for a couple years now, but something just clicks when children are coloring a picture – they truly soak up what’s being read to them.
Memory verses are something I’ve really enjoyed learning alongside my daughter. We’ve been going through the Tiny Theologians ABCs of God’s Attributes cards, and I also sometimes will find songs/dances on YouTube to help with memorization!

BOOKS 

We are a big fan of picture books! We typically checkout ~20 books every month from our library. We’ve been working our way through Read Aloud Revival’s book lists. I’ve also enjoyed incorporating simple read-aloud chapter books to our school routine after lunch. My oldest usually sits and listens while my youngest plays in the playroom. BOB books have been my favorite for learning to read! They have simple stories with 3-4 letter words perfect for any beginning reader.

SCHOOL WORK

Since my daughter’s brain is a literal sponge, we worked our way through The Good And The Beautiful Kindergarten Prep Language Arts Course Book. I have really loved their courses so far, and how they intertwine the beauty of God in their lessons, as well as the minimal prep work.

We also breezed through Singapore Math’s Pre-K textbooks (A and B linked here). My daughter loved these, but I plan to try out Horizons next for Kindergarten. I also keep this abacus handy for practicing math.

A few other resources we used were Tuttle Twins toddler book sets. They introduce different principles of economics and history in a fun, age-appropriate way! Lastly, I always love a fun craft day. You can search “STEAM activities” on pinterest (STEAM = science, technology, engineering, art and math) for creative ideas. We also used Koala crates while we were living in an airbnb in the middle of moving. They make craft time simple with no prep work!

Homeschooling through preschool has been so much fun! My daughter and I both thrive with routine, so each year we’re figuring out what works best for us. I’m excited to see how much more each year unfolds and the future that homeschooling has to offer!

----- LET'S KEEP IN TOUCH -----
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