Pre-School at Home

I've actually never organized a formal preschool for my kids.  I've always just been available to my kids, reading to them and playing with them regularly, and I think that is enough.  However, now I am getting pretty busy and have found it necessary to specifically make time for my little ones every day and actually DO something with them; otherwise, I just won't find the time.  So this year, that is what I have done, and have dubbed it "preschool."  I'm keeping it pretty simple.  Here is our schedule:

Monday: Letter of the week craft / read from Mother Goose, poetry

Tuesday: Cooking something together / read stories from the Children's Bible

Wednesday: Go to the park

Thursday:  Do a paper or paint craft / read fairy tales

Friday:  Play physical games (duck, duck goose, ring around the rosie, simon says, etc.) / read a picture book of their choice.

Now, keep in mind, this is my first day :)  I have faith it will be successful though.  I'll update changes to my plan if it doesn't work out.

I don't coordinate books or activities to the letter of the week unless it is just super convenient.  The point is just to spend time doing something together for about an hour of my undivided attention.  I have a few activity and craft books laying around that I get my craft ideas from. There is also a ton of resources online if you just do a Google search. 

For pre-writing, pre-reading, and math skills, I don't specifically focus on those things for my 3-year old either.  I may include those things next year when he is 4.  We count things informally, I encourage him to color (which he is not interested in at all), and we are learning letter sounds.  That's it for age 3.  Caroline (age 1) just tags along and Madelynn (age 5) has her own Kindergarten curriculum at another time of the day.  So this is mainly for Zachary (3).

If you want a fancy, all-laid-out-for-you, formal preschool curriculum, there are many to choose from.  I would suggest going to the welltrainedmind.com/forum and becoming very familiar with it.  There you will find posts that list all of the preschool websites and curriculums, as well as people's reviews of them.  There is a specific page for pre-K and K at http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/forum/34-prek-and-k/  Utilize the search feature to find exactly what you want.  Good luck!