Unsure of how to schedule your homeschool day?
These tips will help you set a realistic homeschool preschool schedule.
This article may contain affiliate links to products that may help you when homeschooling preschool.
Why Create a Preschool Schedule when Homeschooling
By creating a preschool schedule, both you and your kid know what is coming next.
Things are less likely to be forgotten because you do the same thing each day.
Your little one won’t need to ask when an activity is because it is after the same activity each day.
This will hopefully help your day to run more smoothly with less whining about snack time.
Kids thrive off of schedules.
It helps to calm them down when they know what to expect next.
If you pair a predictable schedule with visual schedule cards, your little one will be able to see for himself what is happening next.
Hopefully, this will limit the number of meltdowns that happen.
Things to Consider when Creating a Preschool Schedule
Do you already have a morning flow or routine?
If yes, does it work for your family?
If so, keep it in place!
Building on an already established routine will help both you and your little one to stick to it.
If not, you can build one when you make your homeschool preschool schedule.
Does your preschooler know when things are happening?
Make the schedule visible to your preschooler.
Use picture cards that are placed in order so that your kid knows what will happen next.
He may also use it to count how many more things need to be completed before lunch instead of asking for the tenth time when lunch is.
Decide what you want your preschooler to do independently
If you want your preschooler to be able to get dressed independently, you will need to have a system in place so that he knows what clothes to put on.
Is he allowed to pick his own clothes or do you want to pick them out the night before?
You will want to make sure if you want him to do it by himself that you teach him how you want the task completed.
If you are making a visible schedule using picture cards, somehow indicate on them what is to be done with you and what is to be done by himself.
This could be something as simple as having a picture of your face next to the cards that he needs your help to complete.
Do you want your schedule to rely on the clock?
Schedules can thrive with or without time.
Some families find that having an order that items happen is more important than having things happen at a specific time.
Other families thrive on certain things happening at a specific time.
You can have both.
Lunch and quiet time can be at a specific time each day and allow the other items to happen in the order you have scheduled without being dependent on the time.
For example, breakfast may be at 8 AM one day, but at 8:30 AM the next.
How to Create a Homeschool Preschool Schedule
1 – Take a look at the pattern that you usually do things in your day.
To do this, write down what you do in a day as you do it.
2 -Look at the list you wrote down.
Does this routine work for you and your family?
Do you feel rushed in any point?
What part causes you the most stress?
By pinpointing what works and what doesn’t you are able to see what needs to be fixed.
3 – Think about how your little one operates.
Does he wake up early or sleep in?
Is he more productive in the morning or the afternoon?
4 – Create a list of what you want to include in your preschool homeschool.
Things like story time, calendar, free play, arts and crafts, activities, fine motor, and outside time are all examples of things that could be included.
Do you want to include science and math by themselves or during the activity time?
Remember that you don’t have to include everything everyday.
By having an umbrella term like “activity” you can fit in whatever you want to do.
5 – Start with your morning routine (wake up, go potty, brush teeth, eat breakfast, get dressed).
Add on some free time after the morning routine.
This is important so your little one is able to transition from morning routine to school time.
6 – Build a schedule using your list of things you want to include and refer back to the record of how your day usually goes and see where things make the most sense.
If there is a set time that you need the house to be quiet, be sure to make the schedule item for your preschooler something quiet (like reading a book or coloring).
7 – Remember that preschoolers learn through play.
Having your preschooler play is an important part of your homeschooling preschool schedule!
Schedules are flexible!
If you find that your first one doesn’t work quite like how you want, revise and try again.
Preschool Schedule
Creating a schedule that works for you can help your homeschool to run smoothly.
When everyone knows what is expected, there won’t be any surprised which hopefully means fewer meltdowns.