Welcome to FHD’s 3rd annual event, Homeschooling for Free and Frugal Series! Click here to begin reading all of the new Homeschooling for Free and Frugal articles. This article is by Stacie Nelson of Homeschooling on a Dime.
Before I was completely sold on homeschooling my children, my oldest daughter attended preschool one year for three afternoons per week. It was a small church preschool and I loved her teacher, but it was still quite a bit of cash out of our pockets every month. I knew we could easily save a ton of money by doing preschool at home!
As the years have passed and all three of my girls have “graduated” from preschool age, I’m more convinced than ever that less is more. You definitely don’t have to spend much money to give your child an amazing preschool education!
In fact, here are my top five {inexpensive} recommendations for preschool on a dime:
(This post may contain affiliate links)
1) Fill Your Home with Books on the Cheap
We are avid readers at our house, and there are baskets and shelves of books everywhere. Most of them have been acquired inexpensively–from garage sales, Goodwill, and auctions, but we also make good use of our library and inter-library loan privileges. The girls often ask for and receive books as gifts, too.
While I still prefer bound, printed books for my young children (they need to touch, experience, and manipulate physical pages), classics and other books can also be acquired for free or inexpensively for your digital eReader. I’ve been able to fill up our Kindle with all kinds of free and discount eBooks.
Whether you choose to do a formal preschool curriculum at home or you choose a more relaxed approach, read often and enthusiastically with your children. It’s so important! (You can find my top Seven Tips to Raise a Reader here.)
2) Make Time for Playtime (Indoors and Outdoors)
In our hurry-up world, we sometimes forget how important play is for our children. Many of the skills our children need for the future can be acquired through play: problem-solving abilities, gross and fine motor skills, sequencing, various social skills, and more.
Unfortunately, I’ve found that more and more babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are spending large amounts of time with technology and some of the research on what this is doing to our children’s brains is concerning. While limited use of electronic devices and TV may be okay, open-ended, imaginative play is far superior for your young child–and it is inexpensive, too!
Make a dress-up box with clothes from a thrift store, scoop and pour water with bowls and measuring cups, build with boxes, make a store or “cook” with recycled food boxes/cans from your kitchen, or create a blanket fort. The ideas are endless–just be sure to give your child time and space to explore.
3) Create Some Learning Bags
A Learning Bag is simply a learning activity in a bag (or box or basket). Some call them “busy bags” or “activity bags,” but no matter what you call them, learning bags can be a sanity-saver with preschoolers (especially if you have older children you are homeschooling)!
When I had preschoolers, I kept these in totes (one container for each day of the week) and pulled them out for my youngest daughters when I needed to work with my oldest. I also stored a few in my purse or diaper bag to use while we were waiting at the doctor’s office or restaurants.
You can find quite a few ideas on my website for busy bags you can easily make yourself. You can also find a free downloadable eBook called Learning Bags, Baskets, and Boxes.
4) Involve Your Child in Everyday Life
It’s never too early to train your child to help around the house, and it is much easier to build a good foundation right from the start. Preschoolers can easily help with:
- Dusting (a sock over the hand works well)
- Sweeping (with a small hand-held broom)
- Picking up toys (music makes it fun)
- Putting away laundry
- Getting dressed
- Unloading the dishwasher
- Pouring and mixing ingredients for cooking
- Setting the table
- Watering plants — indoors and outdoors
You can find an idea for a simple “Helping Hands” Chore Chart or make your own printable chore chart. Jamerrill also has a printable age-specific chore list.
Including little ones in cooking projects is also a great way to teach them new skills–math, fine motor, gross motor, serving others, and many more. You can find a few tips and age-appropriate cooking tasks for preschoolers here.
A few kid-friendly budget recipes:
- Resurrection Cookies (with printable recipe)
- Easy as Apple Pie Snack
- Homemade Pretzels
- Cook-A-Doodle-Doo Strawberry Shortcake
- S’Mores Cones
- Easy Crockpot Applesauce
- Banana People
- 2 Ingredient Popsicles
- 5 Peanut Butter & Banana Snacks
- Flag Fruit Pizza
- Thunder Cake
5) Utilize Your Printer and Internet Resources
Many moms like printable preschool packs, and they can definitely be used to help strengthen and build fine motor skills. Some children really love them, while others do better with more hands-on type activities (screwing lids back on jars, picking up beads with tweezers, scooping and pouring beans or rice, etc.). I’m personally a fan of play-based activities for preschoolers, but I did supplement with a few printables. Here are a few of my favorite sites to find printables for preschoolers:
- Free Homeschool Deals Printables
- Royal Baloo Preschool Printables
- 3 Dinosaurs Preschool Printables
- This Reading Mama Preschool Printables
- Homeschool Creations Preschool Printables
- 1+1+1=1 Preschool Printables
- 123Homeschool4Me Printables
I also have a few printable packs available:
- Calendar Binder Printables
- Printable Number Rhymes (helpful for teaching your child how to form numbers)
- A is for Apple
- G is for Garden
- X Marks the Spot
- Z is for Zoo
You may also be interested in my free hands-on preschool curriculum called God’s Little Explorers!!
I had a great time putting it together and made many sweet memories with my daughters.
Remember, no matter what kind of curriculum (or non-curriculum) you do with your preschooler, be intentional about making memories with them. Read, play games, cook, and have fun together. Time goes so fast. Soak it up!
What are some of your favorite, inexpensive ideas for preschool at home?
Stacie Nelson is the creator of MotherhoodOnADime.com and the newly-created HomeschoolingOnADime.com. She is passionate about encouraging moms and giving them creative, yet simple, activities to do with their children. A bargain-hunter by nature, she enjoys sharing deals and freebies.
She also loves extra dark chocolate, jogging, writing, cooking dairy and gluten-free, and attempting to declutter her book-filled rooms. Faith and family are her top priorities, and she seeks to encourage others to live life on purpose.
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