Randomosity's Ultimate Homeschooling Resource List for Preschool

Randomosity's Ultimate Homeschooling Resource List for Preschool

This post is copied from Randomosity Blog.

The Ultimate Homeschooling Resource List for Preschool

"So, you’ve decided that you want to homeschool? Or, maybe you just want to get your preschooler ready for kindergarten. Whatever the case may be, this is the list for you! I have spent hours upon hours compiling resources for those that are homeschooling for preschool. If you have any free resources to add, please leave them in the comments! All resources listed on this page are free unless otherwise noted.

VERY detailed (and free!) curriculum planner here. This is printable, but it is 180 pages! So be sure you have a new ink cartridge and lots of ink if you are going to print it.
Enchanted Learning – You can print many things here for free, or purchase the premium version for $20 per year (totally worth it in my opinion). This site covers kindergarten through third grade and beyond, so you can use it for more than one child. There are lots of great books to print. I love this site, it’s one of my favorites and has been for years.
Christian Homeschool Hub – Even if you aren’t christian, the platinum membership is only $1 a year for unlimited downloads. Worth the investment.
Free Preschool Activities - Divided into themes, months, and subjects. Includes games, crafts, worksheets, and more.
Mommy Nature – Sort by letter or by theme. Not quite as extensive and organized as the other sites, but helpful nonetheless.
HandwritingWorksheets.com – Plug in your child’s name and print. Or you could do colors, numbers, sight words, etc. You can choose your writing style, and they even have cursive for older kids.
Letter of the Week – This is a great place to start if your child hasn’t learned his/her letters yet. I will be using this a lot with Sapphire. Other (free) curricula are available on this website as well.
Preschool Palace - This site was created for educators. It has complete curricula outlined for you. It isn’t as in-depth as some of the other sites, but it is very organized (by year and by month) and helpful. Lots of free printables, too. Has pictures of actual projects completed.
Kids Sparkz – Hundreds of free curriculum pages and preschool activities to download instantly for toddlers, including alphabet, treasure hunting, numbers,and dot to dots.
Prek-8 – This site covers pre-k all the way up to 8th grade. Preschool section includes free printable flash cards.
Easy Fun School – Not very many printables here, but lots of links. I really like the Presidents Unit Studies.
A to Z Teacher Stuff – Have used this site for years and it just keeps getting better. Tons of great preschool resources. I love their themes section.
Head of the Class – Instructions matched up with various state curricula, thousands of free printables. Preschool section here. Very in-depth, tons of helpful information. One of the best sites I’ve found.
Core Knowledge – Great site for all grade levels, basically gives ideas and full lessons but not printables.
Homeschool Share – Love this site for unit studies (our favorite way to learn)!
Spelling City - Perfect for all ages, used this for Nell’s homeschooling in second grade. Everything related to spelling. Worksheets, games, etc.
Kids Know It – Makes education fun. Interactive.
Gamequarium Junior - Interactive, games.
Star Fall – Reading, games, etc. One of the best sites out there, we use it all the time. Starts with ABCs and goes all the way up to actually reading. Has games, too.
Book Adventure – Reading motivation program for children in grades K-8.
Original I See Sam Books – 1972 early reader books, free downloads.
School Sparks – Most of these are kindergarten worksheets but pre-k and kindergarten are kind of the same thing on some sites. Cutting worksheets, too!
Early Writing for Little Hands - Free ebook, traceable worksheets for every letter of the alphabet. Great resource!
2 Teaching Mommies – Love this site for unit studies!
First School – Tons of printables for preschool. Very organized, easy to use.

Full Curriculum
Charlotte Mason Style/Old-Fashioned k-12
Ambleside (Charlotte Mason Style) k-12
Lesson Pathways k-5
Baltimore Curriculum Project k-5, no math
Pre-K Curriculum 34 weeks worth of lessons, $10

Homeschooling older kids? Not sure what to teach? Use this World Book Typical Course of Study to find out what your child should be learning in each grade." - Source: Randomosity Blog

Fun Things To Do With Stuff Around The House

1. Pinto beans and a plastic shoe box
2. Make sculptures with aluminum foil.
3. Keep junk mail and paper scraps for hole punching and cutting.

*Ideas gratefully gathered from Keeping the Kingdom First.

Drumroll Please

Loving this craft from the Disney Family Fun website:


"This easy-to-make instrument just can't be beat -- no, wait, it can! It provides even the youngest musicians with a wonderfully rich and resonant sound. Click here for instructions on how to make the mallet drumsticks.

Materials

Large, cylindrical oatmeal container
Craft knife
Tyvek (what no-rip envelopes are made of; available at your local post office or at office supply stores)

Markers
Duct Tape
Heavy-duty wrapping paper or one of your child's drawings

Total Time Needed: 1 Hour

Instructions

Remove the lid from a large, cylindrical oatmeal container. Cut out the bottom with a craft knife.

Cut a piece of Tyvek (what no-rip envelopes are made of; available at your local post office or at office supply stores) into a circle that's 4 inches wider than the mouth of the oatmeal carton. (For instance, if your container measures 5 inches across, the Tyvek should be 9 inches.) Don't worry about making the circle perfectly round; we traced the carton onto our envelope, then cut around it, keeping our scissors roughly 2 inches from that line.

If you like, have your child decorate the Tyvek with markers while you cut eight 2-inch lengths of packing or duct tape. Now tape the Tyvek over the mouth of the container. To get it as taut as possible, adhere 2 pieces of tape directly opposite each other after pulling the Tyvek tight between them. Continue in the same way around the container, until all 8 strips are applied in pairs (you'll need to gather the material slightly as you go). Finally, cut one last, longer piece of tape and wrap it all the way around the edge of the Tyvek.

Jazz up the drum by decorating it with heavy-duty wrapping paper or one of your child's drawings, held in place with packing tape or colorful duct tape.


To add to the fun: Make a few more in different sizes so your child can have a complete drum set."

Artwork With a 17 Month Old

This is a fantastic idea from babycenter:

"Set your child up with big sheets of thick paper; tape it to the table so it stays put. Offer her a few thick crayons (she'll likely snap the little ones in half) or washable markers. If she's not interested in drawing on paper, see if she'd like to draw outside with sidewalk chalk. Finger painting, or making handprints and footprints with paint, is usually a popular activity with toddlers (who doesn't like having permission to make a huge mess?). Or, next time you go for a walk, encourage her to collect some leaves, pebbles, acorns, and the like. When you get home, make a collage that commemorates your outing, gluing the items to a piece of cardboard that she can then decorate with paint or markers."

I am in love with this list of 101 fun things to do with your toddler written by Counting On Me

Color
Blow Bubbles
Play Hide-and-Seek
Peek-a-Boo
Play Chase
Do Finger-plays
Sing a song
Collect rocks in a basket
Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
Go for a Walk
Make a Car out of a Box
Read a book
Go to the park
Finger-paint
Play with Play-Dough
Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
Play the shell and pea game
Dance to music
Download games for toddlers from the Internet
Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and your couch
Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
Put on a puppet show
Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
Make a Horseshoe game
Make a Shape Puzzle
Play paper basketball
Run through a Sprinkler
Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
Play with a kazoo
Wash windows together
Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
Brush each other's teeth
Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
Make a playhouse out of a large box
Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn't eat them!)
Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
Play a musical instrument together- i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
Go on a Smelling Hunt
Frost Cookies
Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
Play hide and seek together- trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
Have a splash party together in the bathtub
Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
Record each other on a tape recorder (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
Make and try on paper hats
Give a piggy-back ride
Play "Horsey"
Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
Play tug-of-war with a blanket
Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real...)
Make a camera and go on a Safari
Play games with frozen juice lids
Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
Leave your phone connected and really make phone calls to relatives- let your child talk too
String large beads onto or along a shoelace
Squirt each other with squirt bottles
Glue shapes onto paper
Make sock puppets
Make paper puppets
Fill an old purse with toys
Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
Make binoculars and go "Bird Watching" or "Stuffed Animal Watching"
Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
Act out a story from a book
Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
Do the Hokey Pokey
Make a super-hero costume out of household items
Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
Learn numbers from a deck of cards
Play the matching game with a deck of cards
Make a domino chain
Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
Make a nature collage
Mirror each other
Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
TAKE A NAP!

Paper Towel Tube Binoculars

Materials:

Paper towel tube
rubber band or glue

Directions:

Cut a paper towel tube in half. Glue or put together with a rubber band. Instant binoculars! Thanks so much for the idea Judy!