Preschool is a beautiful time of learning and exploration. Here is an overview of our daily rhythm and preschool homeschool schedule.
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My focus for our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
As a mom of almost 5 children (baby due soon, 1, 4, 5, and 7 year old), though still new on this homeschool journey, I have had quite a bit of experience with the early years.
Learning experiences through daily life
Preschool is such a fun time of play-based learning, exploration, free play, and time to wonder. Everything we do in daily life is a learning experience in preschool.
Life-giving Learning Environment
My main focus in early childhood is to set up a life-giving learning environment. The best “classroom” for my young children is where our daily life and education seamlessly come together. My goal for this is that my children would not even know this is “school”. This is the beauty of homeschool, and you cannot find it in public school.
Preschool work in our home does not involve workbooks, drilling flashcards or even sitting down for long periods of time to focus.
We fill our home with beautiful books, take time to read, create space for family time, play outside, and focus on character development.
The freedom and flexibility to build out a beautiful education for our children is something I am so grateful for in our day-to-day.
I hope by sharing our daily homeschool schedule for the early years gives you some inspiration for your preschoolers home education.
If you want to read deeper into our education philosophy behind planning out a life-giving preschool homeschool day, check out this article here.
Our Preschool Homeschool Schedule Overview
Block Scheduling
Instead of working with a specific time for our school time, I like to incorporate “school” in different ways throughout the natural blocks of time in our day.
Using blocks of time to schedule is a great way to remain flexible with the attention spans and needs of preschool children, especially when planning for additional babies and older children in the mix.
Anchors in our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
What are anchors?
Anchors are times within the day that always happen no matter what. These anchors occur within the different blocks of time that make up our day.
Example of a few anchors: waking up, our 3 meal times, rest time, and getting ready for bed each evening.
These are anchors in our day that provide a great opportunity for stacking habits into. The things that I want to accomplish in a day, typically are stacked with a habit we have already established. ie: if I want to remember to give the children their vitamins, I set the vitamins by the breakfast supplies to serve with breakfast. The anchor is eating breakfast, the new habit is taking vitamins.
A few quick tips on habit formation for preschoolers
- Set the environment up for the habits you want to encourage. ie: you want your children to read more. Setting the environment up for more reading would include having great books accessible and within sight for the child. This may include a cozy nook to sit and read that is inviting.
- Create more friction for the habits you want to discourage. ie: we don’t have a TV because we don’t want the habit of screen-time to be easy for our family. The habit to discourage is screen-time while the friction you create is removing the TV from easy use.
- Book baskets and accessible shelves are nice for young children. I fill these with activities for my preschooler to access and engage with.
- Encouraging independence. Setting up the environment for little ones to be able to do age-appropriate tasks on their own, helps foster independence. If it’s too difficult for them to do, is there a way that you could make it easier for them? Moving things to the child’s level, using step stools, having items that are easy for them to hold and use, all encourage independence.
Loop scheduling
I also like having a loop schedule within the block schedule. A loop schedule is a time where we rotate through different subjects during the designated time block.
For example, during our “table time” block I may loop art study, poetry tea, handicrafts, sensory bins, and letter play.
The first day we would look at some beautiful pieces of art.
Then, the next time we do table time I would incorporate our poetry tea time.
The next table time activity for the week would be a handicraft to work on and so on.
Loop scheduling helps us touch on a variety of new things, books or subjects I want us to cover. This loop method is helpful to go beyond the “3 R’s” (reading, writing, and arithmetic), and provide a broader feast of education.
The use of looping in our preschool homeschool schedule helps me to ensure I am spreading a beautiful feast of education. This way we cover a variety of interests without cramming too much into a set time. This is also helpful if I find we consistently miss the same activity.
A time for Skill building in our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
Training and teaching preschoolers in new skills helps them to become more capable in daily life. The more capabilities they have, the more competent they become in that area, which in turn builds confidence in the child, and encourages independence in the skill over time.
Preschool + Older kids schedules
I have found it helpful to have different activities scheduled for my preschooler to do while simultaneously doing lessons with my older children.
Here are some ways I have done this.
Baskets
For our different subjects we cover during school, I have a basket for my preschooler.
Math Basket
When we are doing math, I have a math basket with hands-on activities to occupy my preschooler. Some things I stock in the basket are numbers to play with, age-appropriate puzzles, math manipulatives, and shape tiles. Each activity is building on a math concept though the child just sees this as play time.
Each basket will sometimes have picture books that are related to the subject at hand.
Language Arts Basket
In our language arts basket, I put different books geared towards letter recognition and letter sounds.
No matter the subject areas, I have found the best way to include our preschooler during morning lessons is to curate some special baskets. I fill the baskets with educational activities for our core subjects. These baskets are full of living ideas that they can explore and play with during school lessons with older children.
Handicrafts
Having a handicraft basket is a great time for fine motor skills to be worked. Lacing cards, paper folding, cardboard modeling, or even knitting can be great options.
A Gentle Approach to Homeschooling Preschoolers
If you do not have older children yet, having baskets geared towards the educational feast you want to offer is a beautiful way to gently begin preschool. Fill these baskets with a feast of ideas and bring them out for preschool during the anchor times in your day.
A child’s education is not about a list of subjects to check off. A life-giving preschool schedule is sprinkled with beautiful ideas throughout the day, naturally introducing them to concepts they will explore more formally in later years of education.
This gentle introduction will bless your time with your preschooler while gently incorporating a preschool homeschool schedule that blends seamlessly with your life.
A note on screen-time
I have found that our life is better without screen time. Especially for young preschoolers. Days in our home are easier and more life-giving when they are full of new skills my children want to explore and free play to use their imaginations. We occasionally will do a family movie night which we enjoy but aside from that, we have worked to fill our lives and home with so much screen-free goodness that turning on a screen really detracts from those better things. The payoff of eliminating screens has been exponential to our home.
With that, here is a look into the practicals of our preschool homeschool schedule!
Our Preschool Homeschool Schedule + Daily Rhythm
Block one (7:30-9 AM)
Everyone is typically up by 7:30 am. When my oldest was in preschool, the best thing we did was train our children to stay in their rooms until their “ready-to-wake” clock turned green. The green signaled that it was time to rise and start the day. Now, our children just stay in their rooms until later but whenever we have an issue with rising too early, a ready-to-wake clock has been so much help.
Breakfast
After waking, we start breakfast.
My preschoolers are often the ones helping me with breakfast. I like to have things they can easily do during this time. Stirring the oatmeal, setting the kitchen table, helping a younger sibling get milk, etc, are simple preschool tasks.
This gives quality time and attention to my preschooler from momma, while also building skills. They are learning as they watch how I make breakfast, clean up, etc.
Bible Study Loop
During breakfast, we like to have a loop here for Bible study. This lesson loop includes hymns, catechism, and other family devotions we want to read.
Morning Jobs
After breakfast is finished we go into a time for morning chores.
You can get this free morning routine template in my Free Subscriber library. You can edit and use this tool in your own home.
Supervising Morning Jobs for my Preschooler
For my preschooler, I am supervising this process of morning chores. I help the child make the bed properly, check brushing teeth, instruct in unloading silverware from the dishwasher, etc. Over time this will become second nature and very easy. But I have found that the younger the child, the more direct instruction is needed to set them up for success.
Visual Timers– Essential in our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
I also set a visual timer for morning jobs. This large visual timer has been a game changer with young children to be able to grasp the concept of time, how to manage their time, and not constantly ask me how much time is left. This tool can also be helpful in curbing a dawdling habit.
If a child has completed the jobs listed on their list, they can use the rest of the time for free play.
Bible Time
After the timer goes off for morning jobs, we move to the couch for blanket time/Bible time. This is a time where we are quiet and practice for sitting in church. Each child grabs their Bible and I grab mine. We independently read our Bibles and Bible story books for 20-30 minutes before moving on to our school day.
At the beginning, we started with just 2 minutes and built up from there. 20-30 minutes has been a sweet spot for me to get in quality Bible time while working with the attention span of my child.
Block two (9 AM-12 PM)
We don’t have a set start time for school but as my children are getting older, I try to start around 9 am so we can accomplish what I have set for the day for my older children’s education.
Morning Time
After the timer goes off we move into our morning time. Some people call this time morning basket, circle time, morning collective, etc.
Family Subjects
For morning time, I have a shelf of books in our living room that we rotate through. I also have morning menus that we use to help my children to follow along. I include our scripture memory, Poems we are memorizing, folksongs and hymns we are singing. Sometimes I add in a piece of art we want to study.
The subjects scheduled for this time do not require us to be at a table and are beautiful subjects to share as a family.
Morning Menus for Preschool
For my preschooler, I have a special morning menu. This menu includes hands-on activities he can do while I read. He is also free to play with a basket of quiet toys we have in the living room. We rotate out one toy such as train tracks, blocks, and magnetic tiles. These are great for occupying little hands while I read.
Movement + Gross Motor Skills
In between reading we will get up and move our bodies. This time includes active games, Swedish drill (which is directed physical movements for children), stretching, dancing, and singing.
Alternating Subjects for Attentiveness + Refreshment
Switching up these activities between movement, focused listening, singing, and memory work helps with attentiveness. By alternating subjects in such a way, children can come to the next subject with renewed energy. If areas of the mind and body are not alternated throughout our lessons, we run the risk of overextending ourselves and our children.
Table Time
After our morning time, we move to the kitchen table.
This is where I work on math, word building, art, geography, and other subjects with my formal students. I bring out the baskets for my preschooler if he would like to join us.
Some options for our preschooler at table time:
- Sensory play with a bin in our school cabinet (sand tray, play dough, watercolors)
- Pull out his box of school activities (coloring, sticker books, pencils and a notebook for writing)
- Explore the subject baskets (math, language arts, handicraft)
- A puzzle
If he is not interested in joining the table, he can go read picture books or independently play. (though often he wants to join the older siblings)
Outdoor Time
After table time, children go play outside before lunch.
12-1 PM lunch time
During lunch time we will often listen to an audiobook. Sometimes I will cover a book that we didn’t get to in the school time for whatever reason. Lunchtime is a nice anchor to incorporate read aloud books or listening to different composers while children are busy eating.
Block 3 (1-3 PM)
Rest time.
Everyday, no matter the age of the person in our home, we have a quiet time. This is a time where the whole house is quietly reading, sleeping, or doing a quiet activity that doesn’t involve help from mom or anyone else. Especially for Preschoolers (and myself let’s be honest), a time to rest minds and bodies is vital for us to go into the second half of our day well.
Block 4 (3-5 PM)
After quiet time is more outdoor play before dinner prep.
Dinner Prep
I like to leave more time for dinner prep so that children can help me and we don’t need to rush.
I have found it helpful to keep a mindset of including children as a part of our family team and being prepared with ways they can help me in our everyday life. This mindset readies me to invite the child into what I am doing throughout a day.
We have conversation during this time which helps with building social skills, and this provides ample opportunity for building good habits in our home while we complete tasks together.
My children love feeling included in what I am doing, they build confidence and skills that equip them as contributors to our home. The love of learning woven throughout the day continues on while they participate in meaningful work during meal prep time.
5:30-6:30 PM Dinner + SCAMP
After dinner is finished, we sit down to eat as a family. This is a time we practice table manners, listening to others, and connect as a family. We light a candle and as long as the candle is lit, we remain seated and enjoy each other’s company unhurried.
SCAMP (Speedy Clean After Meal Party)
After dinner we have a cleanup party. My friends over at Now That We’re a Family have termed this time SCAMP (speedy clean after meal party).
This is a 15 minute time we turn on music, everyone has a job to help reset the house and clean up before we get ready for bed. The best thing is we have a fun time doing it and work together to set ourselves up for success the next day.
This also prevents me having to clean up by myself after bedtime when we just make it a family affair.
Block 5 (bedtime routine)
After clean up, we begin our family Bible time and bedtime routine. This is simple and straightforward which I have found helpful with preschoolers who can tend to draw out bedtime if we let them! (I was a master at this as a child)
We have a simple routine, a time to close out the day with family Bible time for connection, prayer, and maybe an audiobook or some instrumental music before turning the lights off for the night.
Family Bible Time
For family Bible time, my husband leads our children in a short Bible reading, a fun role play of the concept we read, and occasionally we will do a lesson in a habit we are working on with our children such as “how do we greet people at church” or “answering the phone”. Something very practical that we can teach and practice in a fun, low stress way.
We then pray and children go to bed to listen to a story or music for a bit. We tuck them in, turn off the light, and begin again tomorrow.
Preschool Homeschool Schedule tool: Evening Routine Printable
Block 6 (momma time/plan/prepare)
While the children are listening to a story, I put the baby to bed, tie up any loose ends around the house, and take time to prepare for the next day.
I write a simple list of housework I need to get done, check in with our lesson plan, and write down two main things I want to get done the next day before I just relax and wind down for the day myself.
This is a basic overview of our daily homeschool preschool schedule but I hope it helped give you an inspiring idea or two for your own home.
Free Printable Block Preschool Homeschool Schedule
Protecting the Early Years
Delight + Wonder in our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
These preschool years are so fun and such a beautiful time of learning, play, and connection. From snuggling on the couch for read-aloud time, to answering countless questions, and exploring the great outdoors as our little ones wonder at the clouds and variety of birds and bugs, these days are a great time for gentle home education.
Weaving in academic subjects in a way that is delightful and intentional while creating space for wonder and imagination for my preschooler is one of my absolute favorite things as a homeschool mom.
Trying to push too much too soon, having a “get it done” mindset, and focusing on filling up workbooks during preschool is a detriment to our children. These quiet growing years are a beautiful gift to be protected and stewarded well.
A better place to put our focus would be on cultivating a life-giving home atmosphere, establishing good habits, and filling our days with the truth, beauty, and goodness of living ideas. These are the things that make up a life-giving preschool homeschool schedule.
What does a homeschool preschool day look like in your home? Let us know in the comments below!
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