I’m going to do a short series of posts titled ‘Daily Homeschool Schedule’ for you all. I’ve had countless questions about our homeschool schedule. And you can see a basic overview of our daily schedule here.
But more specifically you’ve been asking questions about how long we do each subject, how many days per week, and what our day looks like hour by hour for each grade level.
So for the next few weeks I’m going to share our schedule in a more detail by each grade level.
Download a copy:
Today we’ll be taking a closer look into the life of the Teeny Tot. She’s currently 4 years old and doing preschool this year. Since she won’t be doing kindergarten until next year, we’ll be doing another round of Letter of the Week and add in a few of the K4 activities as she’s ready.
Here’s our Basic Preschool Schedule:
- 8:30am – Breakfast / Family Devotion Time
- 9:00am – Calendar Time & Daily Learning Notebook
- 10:00am – Phonics
- 10:10am – Fine Motor Skills
- 10:30am – Color / Shapes Recognition
- 10:45am – Math Activities
- 11:00am – Logical Thinking
- 11:15am – Large Motor Skills
- 11:30am – Art
- 11:45am – Reading
- 12:00 noon – Lunch/Outside
- 1:00pm – Free
Her schedule is pretty simple, and it can vary from day to day. While I just shared our basic frame with you, keep in mind we do not rigidly follow this schedule, and our days vary quite a bit.
The other thing I’d like to mention is that if the Teeny Tot were my oldest I would probably not be doing school with her every single day. I would more likely do a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule with her.
But since we have older kiddos doing school, the Teeny Tot likes to be included daily. She even usually stays in the school room by choice after she’s done with her own activities.
Since she’s doing my Letter of the Week curriculum again, she is focusing on one letter each week. I sort out the activities so that she’s doing a bit of each skill every day.
In the Letter of the Week lesson plans (shown above), these activities are planned out for you, so you don’t have to do a schedule like the one at the top of this post unless you prefer to modify the curriculum.
Click here to see a SAMPLE LESSON PLAN
On most days the Teeny Tot does school from about 9am – noon. Like I said, it can vary. Often times she is done before that, it just depends on how long her activities take her that day.
And that’s about it!
I’d love to hear some comments what you do for preschool each day!
Leave a comment below!
The Letter of the Week is a full 26 week preschool course designed to give your student a head-start on preparing for kindergarten! It is a 26 week curriculum that’s full of educational activities that focus on the letter recognition, sounds, number recognition, counting, basic math skills, pre-writing practice, and all the necessary fine-motor skills that will be required for your preschooler to be ready for kindergarten! Included are weekly lesson plans that cover all the subjects a preschooler needs and more!
Thank you for the basic outline! I am a newbie at this with my oldest just turning 3; and I have had an idea in my head on day schedules but haven’t been able to get it out on paper – and this seriously helps. Thank you.
this gave me a boost in confidence..thanks so much for posting it
I want this routine! I find that I benefit enormously from scheduling my days with my four year old daughter, for the brief periods of time I can make it happen. For me, it is soothing to know what I am supposed to be doing and what will come next, and yet, I have trouble enforcing it without greatly upsetting my daughter.
I hasten to add that I am known as being a fairly strict disciplinarian compared to others in our (very progressive, permissive) friend group, and my daughter doesn’t have bad behavioral issues. She will generally clean up and come willingly on errands, because she knows these things can’t be helped, but if I told my her we were doing letter tracing or shape puzzles as our activity, she would be upset. Instead, she just wants me to be available for her free play all day. I feel frazzled as I go back and forth between interacting with her imaginary games and doing dishes, laundry, etc. Is scheduling important enough that I should feel more confident in saying, “Yes, it *is* letter collage time [or something similar I might put in my schedule]; I am not playing super heroes.”? Please help, as the fact that I am already having trouble organizing our day before serious homeschooling even starts, really worries me. I very much wish to homeschool, and think I could do a good job if I could just organize my time better.
On the positive side, my daughter is not behind in any academic category and forms her letters fairly well. I just hear “I’m bored. Play with me,” quite a bit, while I assure you that not many chores, nor projects of my own, are actually getting done. It’s just a little bit of food prep and basic upkeep.
When you say that 1:00 PM on is “free time,” do you mean that you are also free to fold laundry or straighten up during that time? Do the kids play on their own?
Hi,
Each year the schedule changes a little to fit our needs. I do try to keep up with it though on a daily basis just for consistency for me and the kids. That doesn’t mean we don’t get frazzled or have crazy days. I do think if yous set a schedule for her to do each day it’s important to be consistent with it so she knows what’s expected of her. You might start out with a new day saying “Here is our schedule for today. We’re going to eat breakfast, and then do four school activities, and then break for snack/lunch/whatever. Then we’ll do a fun art project, and then you have the rest of the day off”. It doesn’t have to be that exact schedule, but just by telling her what is expected of her and then following through consistently each day will eliminate some of her reluctance to follow through with it. Everyone goes through an adjustment period, and just getting into a groove for both of you will come after a little bit of time.
When I say 1:00PM is their free time, that means they get to go play or whatever for a bit. Then we’ll do a few chores before heading off to sports.
This is fantastic! Thank you so much.
My daughter is only 2 but I’ve felt she needs more me time and I’m at a loss, (playing chase or the like can only last so long before I go nuts) and I feel I can tune this plan to her age. I don’t feel the need to educate young, but at the same time it will keep us both engaged, having planned, interesting activities. Thanks again!
I have the “Letter of the Week” and the “K4 Kindergarten Curriculum. Will you be updating the Calendar workbook for 2018-19 ? Or is the 2017-18 adaptable
Yes, I update it annually usually around May/June time frame since the current one runs through August.
I love your routine. What a nice combination of activities! Do you include any type of sensory play?
Yes, there are several activities through my Letter of the Week curriculum that include sensory type play and go along with the letter for that week.
Thank you so much for your pre-k schedule. I’m homeschooling for the first time because of the coronavirus and your template has been such a blessing to my plans.
Hello, thanks for the schedule! What do you guys do from 1pm until dinner?
My kids are older now, but when they were in prek, we did fun things in the afternoons. I liked to reserve nature walks, art projects, science experiments, reading together, and free play time for our afternoons.
What basic items would I need to get started with following your preschool curriculum?
Hi, The curriculum comes with a basic supply list, but I would just gather some counting manipulatives, construction paper, glue, scissors, markers/crayons, the basics.
Hi.
Im writing from South Africa and I was hoping you could help with some advice / guidance.
I have a 3 year old and 2 year old who have been home with me pretty much since they were born. My 3 year old went to school for a few months but landed up bringing germs home that put his little sister in hospital. Long story short they have both been in hospital for respiratory infections and have not been to school and then covid hit the world so they wont be going back to school this year with them being high risk to respiratory infections.
Do you have any advice for home schooling a 2 year old and 3 year old together that are obviously on 2 different levels but only have me as their teacher.
Ive done a few things with home made laminated boards with colours and shapes. I also have a few things that work with motor development but I have no clue if what I am doing is age appropriate, how long to do it each day, what else I can incorporate etc.
Hi, yes, I would definitely try to do as many things as you can together. So things like science, history, art, bible, music, P.E. can all be done together. Things like math, reading, and writing typically are better to do on their grade level. I also have this post that may help as well: https://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2020/04/coah-podcast-ep-4-teaching-multiple-grades.html