I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen moms in homeschooling groups ask for recommendations for a good homeschool preschool curriculum. Instead of giving her suggestions, she gets comment after comment telling her that all she needs to do is play, read, and snuggle in the preschool years.
And I get it. We’re Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, and Miss Mason definitely advocated for waiting to begin formal lessons until our kids are 6 years old. Which means there’s no need to do preschool…or even Kindergarten, for that matter.
But what if you’re a mom – like me – who likes the structure, intentionality, and fun of a preschool curriculum?
Then mama, absolutely, 100% use one!
Because I’ve been where you might be standing right now: you’re thinking about homeschooling (or you’ve already decided to), but you have no idea where to start in the vast ocean of choices.
You have a little one who would be marching off to preschool if you were sending them to public schools, so you don’t want to do nothing. But what on earth should you do for preschool??
First, take a deep breath.
Second, keep reading.
Because while playing, reading, and snuggling ARE all that our preschoolers truly need, there are some really big benefits to structuring those preschool days. And even adding a gentle preschool curriculum if you want.
WHY USING A HOMESCHOOLING PRESCHOOL & USING A PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM IS A GREAT IDEA
First, homeschooling the preschool years helps prepare you for homeschooling the formal education years.
It’s like a practice run. You shouldn’t have the pressure of state requirements, standardized tests, portfolio evaluations, etc. in preschool (at least not in my state). So, the preschool years can just be laid-back and completely enjoyable.
It still lets you dip your toe in the water, though, and see how homeschooling might work for your family. It also helps you to do some habit training, and just generally develop some rhythms that might work for your family for years to come.
We developed our Morning Basket routine during Mr. Six’s preschool year, and this is our third year going strong! We’ve added some elements as he’s gotten older, but the general format has stayed the same.
I, personally, LOVE preschool at home! We are long-term homeschoolers, and doing preschool with Mr. Six gave me a chance to get a feel for homeschooling and gain a bit of confidence, and honestly, that was worth its weight in gold. (Read what our preschool curriculum choices were here.)
Plus, most kids are super eager to start school at that age. And just because you’re “doing school” doesn’t mean it has to be uber structured or overly complicated.
I promise.
Mr. Four has begged to do school with his big brother, so I finally caved. I was going to hold off until he turned 6 and was ready for formal lessons (per Miss Mason’s recommendations), but he won’t have it. So we are doing a really gentle intro to the alphabet using salt trays and play dough mats. We’re counting and learning to identify numbers.
But more importantly, we’re reading, playing, and cuddling. (Because those moms aren’t wrong…it’s all you need for preschool, really.)
Second, using a preschool curriculum can introduce you to the kind of curricula that will work best for you and your kiddo.
You don’t need a preschool curriculum that’s overly intensive, but gosh, it can really be nice to try out some different styles and see where you land.
When we very first started preschool, I had NO IDEA what I was doing. I had just come from the public school classroom, so all I knew were the curricula the school handed me and the TpT resources I found on my own.
I had no idea what people were talking about: Charlotte Mason versus Classical versus Unschooling. AHHHHHHH! My head would spin when I was around homeschooling moms.
I was encouraged, though, when one of my best friends (a fellow homeschool mom) suggested I try out A Year of Playing Skillfully. She doesn’t do preschool in her homeschool, but she knew I wanted structure. I was familiar with having some kind of curriculum, but she also knew I was a huge advocate of play-based learning in the early years.
And AYOPS was an absolute blessing to our family. It was fun, it helped us make memories, it gave me just a touch of the structure my nerdy, Type A heart needed. And it gave me the confidence to believe that maybe, just maybe, I could do this whole homeschooling thing.
From there, I was able to slowly start to research and process the different types of homeschool methods and philosophies. Once I started reading Charlotte Mason’s Home Education, I realized that was the best fit for us (and seriously, after all of the educational philosophy books I studied in college, reading her Volumes was like a breath of fresh air).
But that year of homeschool preschool (and using a preschool curriculum) gave me some time to experiment, figure out what our family needed, and research what was out there for us as we moved into formal lessons.
Third, homeschool preschool helps you be intentional and structured with your daily routines.
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, then you know the days can start to feel monotonous. Being able to be home is incredible and I’m so thankful every day. But I think because of the nature of being a SAHM, it’s easy to get into a rut of just accomplishing tasks that need to be done to keep the home running smoothly.
I wanted to be intentional with my time with my kids, though. I didn’t want to always feel like I was only doing laundry and dishes, and not really spending the high-quality time with them that they deserve.
But I’m honestly not very good at just playing. The boys invite me to make believe with them, and I do it, but I struggle. I used to LOVE playing pretend when I was a kid, but I’ve definitely become a full-fledged grown up, which is really sad.
For me, having a play-based curriculum gave me a more structured way to build intentional activities and fun into our days. We were already reading loads of beautiful picture books, so having a preschool curriculum was a perfect way to help me organize our days.
I could sit down each weekend with my planner open and plan out our week ahead. Our weeks were full of really fun activities and we have so many awesome memories from that year that I am incredibly thankful for.
Finally, preschool at home is just a blast!
While I do certainly recommend doing preschool at home if you want to, I do NOT recommend getting a workbook-based curriculum. I recommend something hands-on, play-based, and really laid-back.
Because then it’s going to be a year filled with fun, and that’s the best introduction to school you can give your kids!
I wholeheartedly recommend the following preschool curriculum:
- A Year of Playing Skillfully: This is hands-down, our favorite for all things play, movement, and hands-on learning.
- Gentle + Classical Preschool. This is such a wonderful introduction to classic literature, nature studies, and narration the Charlotte Mason way.
- Preschool Math at Home. I really like this small book for games and activities to give my kids a solid foundation in number sense.
DO YOU NEED A PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR YOUR HOMESCHOOL?
No, you really don’t.
Those moms in all those groups are always right: all kids really need is loads of free play (preferably out in nature), lots of snuggles, and plenty of beautiful and lovely picture books read to them.
However, I totally get the feeling that you WANT some structure. You want a curriculum to either tell you what to do to make sure you teach your preschooler all the right things, or you at least want loads of ideas already laid out for you.
So, yes, while I happen to wholeheartedly agree with Charlotte Mason when she talked about the first 6 years of a child’s life being for “quiet growing,” I also think sometimes us moms need a bit of structure, routine, and confidence as we enter the wildly beautiful world of homeschooling.
And that’s okay!
