He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." ~Acts 1:7

The most important thing when it comes to preschool homeschooling is to use developmentally appropriate preschool activities.

If you are looking for homeschool preschool ideas for kids who are in the beginning stages of noticing print (like words, letters, their names, etc.), this article is for you. Many parents think they have to buy an expensive preschool homeschool kit, but in actuality, it's not necessary at all.  Children at this stage are soaking in everything around them, so use that fact to your advantage and save your money for later when you will need it! 

Here are seven ways below to easily add developmentally appropriate preschool activities to your days and make preschool homeschool FREE and highly effective!

*These methods of homeschooling will make the biggest impact on your child's literacy because they are in line with when they are developmentally ready to read.  For most kids, that will start to happen naturally without the parent having to push it.

#1 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Read, Read, Read! 

This is the single most important thing you can do for your child. Start when they are little and create a routine where reading time is a time for cuddling, togetherness, relationship building, rocking, being curious, exploring new ideas, and building book language (how books sound). The benefits truly cannot be overstated.  Studies repeatedly show that children who are read to have a much higher vocabulary than kids who are not read to. Reading does not have to mean long periods of sitting still, especially if you have an active toddler or preschooler.  Collect board books and shorter stories when they are young and read them often.  Keep books in the car, by the potty, and all over the house to take advantage of opportunities. Attach the habit of reading to other routines, such as before naps, at bedtime, in the shopping cart, waiting at the doctor, etc. Incorporate it into your lifestyle. 

#2 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Read rhyming books.

Along the same lines with reading, choose some books that are nursery rhymes or rhyming/poetry-type books.  Rhyming helps develop children's phonemic awareness skills, which is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in language.  In other words, rhyming fine-tunes children's ears to help them be more discriminating when it comes to listening to sounds. This is so helpful when your child is ready to read! 

#3 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Start with your child's name.

When it comes to learning letters, start with your child's name.  Your son or daughter's name is very special to them, and learning to recognize it and write it is a source of pride and joy.  Write their name often with them and spell it out loud so they can hear the letters in order every time.  They will begin trying to spell it, even when they are not able to write real letters yet.  Make the letters big and encourage them to trace -- capitalize the first letter, and make the following ones lowercase.  By doing this, you are inadvertently showing your child how our language works: names are capitalized, and letters in words are mostly lowercase.  You are also starting them off on a great path to handwriting practice by teaching them how we form lowercase letters.  If your child is not able to trace while holding a writing utensil, have them use their pointer finger on their dominant hand.

#4 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Use play for learning letters and words.

Everything at this age is exploratory and playful.  Turn everything into a game.  Mix up magnetic letters used in their name and see if they can put them in the correct order.  Play memory games with letters and/ or words. Drive Matchbox cars along the letters in their name while they say the letters.  Use play dough or cooked spaghetti noodles to form letters and words.  The possibilities are endless!

#5 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Use movement for learning letters and words and directionality.

Preschoolers are developing their gross motor skills before their fine motor skills, so use big movements to help solidify certain concepts in their brain.  If you had to learn a new language, think about how you would more easily learn the relationship between a letter and the sound it represents -- would it be easier to use your finger on a tiny print to try to practice, or would it be easier to practice hopping on the chalk letters on the sidewalk while you practiced the sounds?  What if you needed to learn to write a beautiful Chinese character -- would you remember it better if you wrote it big on a large whiteboard (where you could notice every detail) or tiny on a college-ruled line of notebook paper?  In both of these scenarios, the large movement would engage more of our muscles to help our brains remember the sound or movement.  Moving their bodies from left to right also cements the direction of the way we read into their minds. This is a great way for kids to learn, especially when they are learning how to write letters and words.  Make it fun and big so it will stick.  

#6 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Use technology to give you a break. 

There are TONS of read-aloud, children's artists, webcams, and educational songs and videos on different platforms for you to utilize that can be so helpful.  We offer interactive read-aloud in our membership, and we also have a YouTube Channel where we have collected our favorite resources over the years.  Turn on the closed caption while they watch, and take a break!

#7 Developmentally appropriate preschool activity: Write down stories they tell you and read them back to them.

Over the years, so many of the kids we worked with in the classroom thought they couldn't write.  They just thought they weren't writers or storytellers!  The truth is, that every human has a voice with stories to tell and opinions to share.  Try this: when your child is telling you about something, casually start writing it down.  When they are done, read it back and let them hear their writing voice!  If you were to compile these stories or retellings in a journal, over time you will have many of their own stories they have already "written."  This teaches kids that if they can think it, it can be spoken, and if they can speak it, it can be written -- such an effective lesson where you are showing them that their thoughts are important!

Conclusion

We hope these engaging developmentally appropriate activities save you money, help you relax, and empower you to teach your child to read.  For more enjoyable preschool activities to try with your budding reader, get 🍭The Sweetie Treatie Scavenger Hunt. And take a look at our Paper Bag Book Ideas that kept our students and our children highly motivated to spend time reading.

We pray this blesses you. Reach out via email with any questions to [email protected]

Be encouraged,

Kim & Jenny

This article was written with care by us, real humans. No AI invited.😜❤️️

Need help and concrete examples to add this to your homeschool plans? Meet with us and we'll give you answers. We have a community of homeschool moms at weekly virtual calls and our online message forum. We also offer monthly 1:1 coaching and teaching technique workshops.  Gather with us around The Well.⛲