Today I’m going to share some sample schedules to help you find some ideas for creating your own schedule. I believe it’s important to sit down and write out how you want your day to go. It may not end up like this, but having it written down and visualizing how you want your day to go will help you out.

I want you to close your eyes and imagine your ideal home preschool day. What does it look like? Are you going outside a lot? Is there free time? How much teaching are you doing or are you just guiding them through activities?

The routine you choose will be based on your educational approach and the level of structure you choose to do. Not every homeschool family teaches the same. Some have a Montessori or an Unschooling approach to learning. Understand what your vision is for the year and that will help you make a plan.

Here are some components to preschool that you may choose to add into your routine: 

• Circle time (I mentioned this in the last video)

• Outdoor time – SUPER important for kids to go outside and get fresh air!

• Free time – this may seem obvious, but kids need lots of time to play and explore. You should have a lot of this added into your day

• Literacy – reading stories, alphabet activities, prewriting activities, oral vocabulary activities, and anything else related to literacy

• Math – math activities, such as counting, sorting, patterns, and number recognition

• STEM – I love implementing simple STEM activities, such as a science experiment

• Snack time – you never want to forget snack time!

• Rest time – depending on your child, you may need to add a nap or rest time to your day

• Sensory play – I like to create invitations to play, which means I set up a sensory bin or a similar type activity and then I invite them to explore and play with it.

• Crafts or processed art

• Dramatic play

• Sports or dancing

I’m going to share 3 sample routines. The first one is for a younger child. I wrote down age 2, which I know is super young. I didn’t do anything formal with my kids until they were 2.5. Basically, there’s a lot of time to play. Very little instruction because they are so young. One thing I want to point out…if you live in a climate where it gets really warm in the afternoon, you may want to do outdoor time in the morning. Also keep in mind that activities should be short. They don’t have long attention spans!

The next schedule is for 3 year olds. It’s pretty similar, it just has a little more to the schedule. I added in a little more time for literacy and instruction and added a time for centers. The four year old schedule just adds in more instruction. It has a time for literacy in the early morning and time for math in the later morning. One thing I want to mention is you may want to set your schedule to meet the needs of your youngest child. If they need lots of attention during the morning part of the day, then do the academic part of your day in the afternoon while they nap. That’s exactly what I did when I had two kids. You may need to tweak your schedule if your baby’s nap schedule changes, too. Another thing to keep in mind is teach the academic portion of your day when your child is feeling their best. Usually that’s mid-morning for preschoolers, and definitely not any time later afternoon when they may be hungry or tired. 

I have a colorful schedule template for you to use to make your own routine! It’s editable, so you can fill it out however you’d like. I’ve also included my schedule, in case you want to copy some of it. I’m also sharing my visual schedule cards in case you think your child would benefit from seeing the routine with pictures. I’ve found that my kids did really well with a visual routine. Now you’re probably thinking, how do I actually teach my child the routine? 

Here are my tips: 

 • Use a visual schedule and talk to your child about it. Go through the cards and talk about what they mean. Then display them somewhere in your house where they can see it. If your child likes to know what’s happening each day, then go through the visual schedule with them and make sure to discuss any changes you have to the day, such as an appointment. 

• When it comes to the school part of the day, make sure to set the expectations at the beginning. If you want them to clean up their toys at 8:45 and then start teaching at 9, try to stick to that schedule. 

• Don’t worry if they don’t get it right away. You may have a few days at the beginning where the day doesn’t flow the way you want it to. That’s no need to stress out. Just try to keep to the schedule you want and it will come with time. 

Having a routine is important, especially for young children. A routine helps them know what to expect throughout the day and helps calm any chaos. I want to remind you that a routine doesn’t have to be strict. As long as the daily rhythm is the same, your child will feel more comfortable throughout the day. Now your job is to sit down and figure out your routine and schedule for the day. Visualize how you want home preschool to go and then start writing it down.