We're coming near the end of our first homeschool year and so I've decided to write a short series on what we are doing, what we have learned, and where we are heading.  Because I spent some fun learning time with my preschooler today, and because I have more experience homeschooling little tykes than big ones, I will start with this topic: Homeschooling a Preschooler.

Really, I should call this post "playing games" instead, since that is where learning happens for these little tigers.  While I have used the Hooked on Phonics set Hooked on Kindergarten with all three of my boys, the pre-reading stage is all play-based, with a little help from Leap Frog's animated DVD, "The Letter Factory." 

Once they know many of their letters and the sounds they make, I design their first "treat game" board. I get a large white craft board and make a train of letters, numbers, short words, and common blends like th, sh, ch, and br.  We grab a spinner from one of their other board games, a little toy to mark where they are on the board, and a small bowl of "treats."  

They spin, they count, they move their marker around the board.  When they land on a letter they say, "A, an A says ah, for apple...  Z, a Z says zzz for zebra...  P, and P says p for popcorn..."  When they land on a short word, they work on sounding it out.  When they land on a blend they don't yet know, I simply have them repeat the sound after me.  When they land on a number they tell me the number, sometimes count to it, and sometimes trace it with their pointer finger.  As for the treats, sometimes they get one every time they get an answer correct, other times I give them one special treat when they've made it to the end of the game.  Today my big guy didn't use a spinner, instead he read every letter and number and word along the train, and then got to finish up the rest of his Easter candy.

When an older brother wants to play along I let him, but each letter needs to be a noun, every number is multiplied, and each word must be made into a sentence with a subject and predicate. Ha!  But today it was just a little game with my youngest. 

Another of our favorite games is "Stack the Numbers."  As with "The Treat Game," we use "Stack the Numbers" once the child is mildly familiar with their numbers.  Write one number on each index card.  Begin with numbers 1 - 10, then arrange them out of order for the youngling to pick up in order.  Right now my preschooler is mastering numbers 1-30, as well as counting by 10s from 10-200.

Here are some pictures from a couple of years ago, when my middle-est was working on Numbers 1-50.

The last ingredient while growing kids at home, whether you are home schooling, private schooling or public schooling, is to read aloud to them liberally, no matter their age. Since my boys struggle listening to a good book together (insert: hitting, crying, complaining, trying to make each other laugh, doing back flips), this is not always a peaceful, enjoyable experience for their dad and me.  However, as we work on their manners they are learning to recieve this gift that is key to both bonding and learning at home.  

Our last Read-Aloud was Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingals Wilder.  Today I picked up The Apple and the Arrow - The Legend of William Tell by Mary and Conrad Buff, for my husband to read with the boys this weekend while I'm gone on a women's retreat.  I'm sure there will be much archery and tree-house designing while I am away, so I thought a Father-Son story would be perfect.  

I am by no means an expert in this homeschooling thing.  But now that my oldest two are 9 and 7, I often look back for inspiration to these early days, simply playing, being together, and learning along the way.