What Homeschooling a Preschooler is Really Like

Homeschooling is not sitting around a table doing worksheets for a set period of time, or creating a block of time within the day to "do school." Homeschooling encompasses every part of our lives, where skills are gained daily in small increments. So, what does a day of homeschooling really look like?

It is early. 6:30 a.m. Both of my children are awake, and subsequently, so am I. We take some minutes to talk quietly in bed, have a few laughs, and cuddle. Then we start our morning routine: potty, change, and downstairs to eat breakfast.

The homeschooling day has already started. Completing the morning routine is an exercise in encouraging independence and patience with one another. Social skills are happening at almost every moment of the day when you have siblings.

After we eat breakfast, I usually do some morning chores and the kids have some independent work time. I invite my son to help me with the chores if he wishes, but he usually goes right to his shelves and starts on work that he does every day (here is where I tell you that his favorite "work" is his Mr. Potato Head and it is the work that he chooses every single morning as the first thing to do).

The rest of the morning depends on what we have planned. If we have a morning activity, we get ready and we leave. This varies by day - from swimming lessons to library time to speech therapy to visiting the animals at a local park. If we don't have a morning activity, we stay home. This repeats again in the afternoon depending on if we have errands to run or an activity to attend. All of these things provide essential skills for my children.

So what happens if we have no activities and we stay home? I will ask my son if he would like a lesson or what he wants to work on. His current favorites are sound games and sandpaper letters, pattern blocks, art work, puzzles, and cutting work.

I have NO planned lessons for the day. Here is where I think homeschooling is different. I have overarching goals for the school year. These are things that I believe my son will be able to achieve by May or June, but it is not a big deal if he doesn't. But I do not write out what we will do every day. I follow my children and their interests.

So what DO we do ALL day? (Besides activities and errands) And, what is my role as a homeschooling mom?

We learn (and guide)! If my son wants a lesson, I give it to him. Sometimes it is a formal three-period lesson, and sometimes it is a quick lesson. Most of the time he can figure out a work on his own without my guidance. I am always around to guide him through a work if he needs it. My son does language all day, every day. He talks non-stop. He works on letter sounds. My son also does math every day. We count everything. He works on "how many?" questions and quantity work. He does practical life work such as helping with the laundry, vacuuming, dusting, washing windows, feeding the pets, baking, etc. He does sensorial work outside or works with the materials I have for him such as sound boxes or the pink tower. We read a lot of books! I mean, a lot. This is an area where we practice some turn-taking because the baby wants to turn the pages as well, so we practice patience with waiting. I help him work through those really tough moments where his emotions overwhelm him, where he is angry or upset or sad about something.

The best part of every day is that we laugh and smile together. Every day. Even on the really hard days where life is really getting us down, we always end up laughing about something. Preschoolers think a lot of things are really, really funny.

At the end of the day, he has learned a lot. His knowledge is growing every single day. Some days we do a lot of work, and other days are more relaxed. I am grateful I get to spend these days with my children, guiding in their knowledge and seeing how they discover this beautiful world that we live in.