In light of the recent events, many schools are closed across the nation for an extended period of time. Like many of you, my boys are getting bored very quickly and starting to bounce off the walls. Admittedly, I am also going also going also little stir crazy trying to keep the toddler beasts entertained all day! Not having preschool two days a week as usual to break things up makes for some really long days.
If you have children under 4, today’s post is all about ideas for how to have preschool at home. The first few days of quarantine I played everything by ear/survival mode but that is quickly getting old. My boys benefit and thrive with some structure so it’s time to put on my thinking cap and get creative. After all, who knows how long this is all going to last.
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The easiest thing to do is to create a loose schedule that mimics the school schedule they are already used to following. Our boys attend school two days a week from 8:30am-2:00pm. I began implementing preschool at home today and will do it each Tuesday and Thursday until the boys return to school.
There is a lot of flexibility with school from home. You can create the day to look however you want it to! Add in foreign language, free play- whatever you want! If the kids don’t jump on board right away, it’s okay!
Here is an example schedule that I am using with my littles.
Pinterest has a wealth of ideas to help you come up with plenty of different arts/crafts for your kiddos to do. Here are a few of my favorites.
Large paper and watercolor paint
Coloring books
Craft of the day
Building shapes
Play Doh
Bubble Art
Circle painting
Painting
Rainbow name
iPad time
Reading
My kids LOVE the LeapFrog learning dvd’s and I do to. They are entertaining and actually very effective.
I saved lots of ideas on my Homeschool board- do check it out!
Let your child decide what they would like to do. As long as they are playing independently without screen time, anything is fair game!
The important thing to note about how to do preschool at home is to be relaxed with the schedule. You will notice my sample schedule has no “times” just general time of the day. Go with the flow! This is meant to help make your days at home with the kids during the quarantine easier and not more stressful.
I hope this helps give you some ideas to break up the day and keep those babies entertained and learning. Stay calm, do not panic, and wash your hands 🙂
