Now I do not actually do full homeschooling for my children yet. I work four days a week and do not have the time to devote to full-day schooling. However I felt like I needed to do something to keep my children more engaged, especially with all the schools being closed. So I created a pop-up homeschool for my kids that I can easily pull out for about an hour each night and then put away when we are done.
That will change very soon though as I do start doing a more complex homeschool routine since my husband and I are opting to do remote learning this school year. I also want to throw a disclaimer out that I am not a professional teacher by any means. The information in this post is strictly fun materials that I have put together for my family.
Part of that school set-up includes a tri-fold learning board we use as a calendar and for other fun activities. The other part of this set up my three-ring binder I use to organize and plan out our lesson plans. This DIY book is seriously a life-saver and cuts down so much time for me, which is very important since I don't have all day to do school.
It's super simple to put together and is very cheap because most of the materials you can get from the dollar store. The items I bought from the Dollar Tree include the three-ring binder ($1), a pack of dividers ($1), one pack of dry erase markers ($1) and I ordered a pack of sheet protectors on Amazon ($5) but then found smaller packs that would still work at the Dollar Tree ($1).
**This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Once you have the materials for you teaching binder you can start to fill it with lesson plans, activities and other resources. I generally sort my binder out into 3 parts: the lesson plans, activity sheets and book reports.
Section 1: Lesson Plans
I have several sheets that I use and fill out ahead of time. That way all I have to do after a long day of work is pull out a lesson plan, grab the right materials and we are ready to go.
Click here for a free lesson plan printable!
In every lesson plan I try to include major skills or activities that young children should learn or practice including:
Reading
Since I like to do my plans around themes, I try to pick two or three books that fit that theme and those are the ones we read for the lesson. I spread them out throughout our school session generally starting and ending with one and then maybe throwing a third in the middle. Read aloud to your child and ask them questions about the books afterwards. What was their favorite part or character? Are there any parts they did not like and why? What happened at the end and did they like the book?
Music and Movement
This is as simple as playing some nursery rhymes on your phone or computer. Sing along and dance around the room. Act like animals, stomp around like dinosaurs or sing the alphabet! Anything to get your child up and moving works great for this. Not only is it fun for them but it's nice to throw this one in between some book readings or worksheets for a little 'brain break'.
Math
Practice counting by using different toys or items around the house. I try to use toys that correspond with our daily theme but you can use whatever you have available. Use toy cars, Legos, puzzle pieces or even food like Cheerios or crackers. An example that we have used are toy bugs. During a bug themed day we learned about different types of bugs and then separated the toys by the different types of bugs we had. Then I had my daughter count how many of each bug and write the number on a sheet of paper. So we added some math and some writing into the session.
Fine Motor Skills
Any activity that makes your child use their fingers or hands to grab small objects work their fine motor skills. Try using play tongs to pick up and move pom-poms or other small objects. Doing puzzles is also a good activity because it forces little hands to focus picking up pieces and placing them in the correct spot.
Gross Motor Skills
For this skill get your child up and moving again. Activities for this could be things like throwing balls or bean bags into targets, balancing on objects, running around like an animal, jumping, climbing or any full-body movement. Make a game out of this activity to really engage your child and most importantly have fun.
Crafts
Most nights we do not do a super involved or complicated craft, but as long as you do something your child will probably not mind. Some nights we just do a simple painting or cut out scraps of paper to make something like an animal or item.
Sensory Play
Sensory play doesn't' have to be super messy, but it should let your child experience different textures. You can check out some dry sensory box ideas that I featured in another post. Other options using Play-dough or finger painting.
Section 2: Activity Sheets
Using the sheet protectors I have multiple pages for my daughter to practice writing her letters and numbers. I like using the sheet protectors and dry erase markers because we can use the same sheets over and over again (less waste is always a plus!).
Most of the sheets I have are from activity books or I found online. There are tons of free printables and resources on the internet that are available for free or you can check out these great workbooks above that are loaded with great learning materials.
Section 3: Book Reports
Click here for a free book report printable!
While my daughter was in preschool (before they all closed due to the pandemic) she had to do a weekly book report. I thought it was an easy and important thing for her to do because not only does it promote reading and literacy but it also is a good introduction to doing homework. I created my own book report template that we use which you can download below and you can do this either during your home school sessions or have your child do it afterwards like an actual homework assignment.
The template that I use is super simple for young preschoolers or children in kindergarten. You can make it more complex for older children too by adding in questions and maybe even having them write themselves. For our use we just read a book, my daughter draws a picture of her favorite part and then we talk about the story. To finish it off she writes her own name at the bottom.