Homeschool · Ages 3 to 5

Pre-K at home

Pre-K is mostly stories, songs, play and talk, done together. Here is a gentle rhythm for the day, lessons to follow if you want them, games and printables for a few minutes of practice, and a week of ideas to print.

A gentle daily rhythm

Not a timetable: a few good things most days, in whatever order suits your home. Short and cheerful beats long and tired.

Story
Read aloud every day, and more than once if your child asks. Talk about the pictures. Let your child finish a rhyme or turn the page.
Song or music
Sing nursery songs, clap along, march and freeze. Tap a pot with a wooden spoon for a drum.
Counting
Count everyday things: stairs, spoons, buttons, snacks. Line up toys from small to big, and look for circles and squares around the house.
Outdoor time
Walk, run, dig and look. Collect leaves, watch birds and clouds, and talk about what you see.
Art
Crayons, play dough, paper and glue. Let your child make whatever they like, then tell you about it.
A little practice
Five to ten minutes, sitting together: a lesson from Hannah Ward's Little House Pre-K, a Math Ladder lesson, a pre-reading game or a printable sheet. Stop while it's still fun.

Lessons and practice

Little House Pre-K, by Hannah Ward

A full year of open-and-go preschool: 180 short daily lessons, each a math page and an English page. Hannah's lessons are free and shared with her permission; they open on her site.

Open the lessons →

Math Ladder: Pre-K

Counting, how many, more and fewer, shapes, patterns, sizes and position words, with picture practice to tap and read aloud. Each lesson has ideas for real blocks, spoons and snacks.

Start counting →

Pre-reading games

Big and small letters, finding a letter, rhymes, clapping the parts of a word, words that start the same, and listening for words in a sentence. Then on to Phonics Practice.

Play together →

Hand-skills printables

Tracing lines, shapes and numbers 0 to 10, mazes, color by shape, cutting lines and dot-to-dot. A new sheet every time you ask.

Make a sheet →

When letters feel easy: Phonics Practice, Step 1: Letters and sounds, alongside Hannah Ward's Crystal and Shell Pre-Reading Workbook or Teach Your Child the Alphabet in 60 Lessons. The lesson planner can lay out any of these, week by week.

More to explore together

These courses are written for ages 5 and up. Many four- and five-year-olds enjoy the first lessons with a grown-up reading aloud; skip anything that isn't fun yet.

Manners for Young ChildrenPlease and thank you, sharing, greetings and table manners. Nature studyGo outside and look closely at birds, bugs, trees and flowers. Drawing for Young ArtistsLines, shapes and colors, one cheerful drawing at a time. Maps and PlacesNear and far, left and right, and a first map of your home. Life Science for Young LearnersPlants, animals and the seasons. American History for Young LearnersStories, symbols and holidays. Science Lab: Sky and Solar SystemWatch the Moon change shape, then look for it tonight. Science Lab: PendulumsWatch pendulums swing, then push a swing at the park.

MusicPlay Twinkle, Twinkle, Hot Cross Buns or Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano page and sing along.

Books to read aloud

Aesop's Fables: very short stories with a lesson. Read one, then ask what the animal should have done.
Winnie-the-Pooh: gentle, funny chapters to read in short sittings.
Classic fairy tales: read them first yourself and choose the ones that suit your child.
McGuffey's Primer: short picture lessons to read aloud now, and for your child to read later.
Hannah Ward's book lists: picture books and read-alouds by age.
Nursery rhymes, picture books from your library, and the same favorite book again and again.

A week of ideas

One idea a day for each part of the rhythm. Print it for the fridge, or ask for a new week.

A week of Pre-K ideasteddyrookbook.com/homeschool/pre-k/

Day	Story	Song or music	Counting	Outdoor time	Art	A little practice
Monday	Read a picture book together. Let your child turn the pages.	Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” then play it on the piano page.	Count the steps as you go up the stairs.	Go on a walk and collect five leaves. Which one is biggest?	Draw with crayons on a big sheet of paper.	One Little House Pre-K lesson by Hannah Ward.
Tuesday	Read a nursery rhyme twice. The second time, stop and let your child say the last word.	March around the room to music, and freeze when it stops.	Count spoons as you set the table.	Look for birds and listen for their songs.	Roll play dough into snakes, balls and pancakes.	One Math Ladder Pre-K lesson, then count real things.
Wednesday	Look at a picture book with no words, and tell the story together.	Sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and let your child pick each animal.	Count crackers at snack time. Eat one, then count again.	Draw with chalk on the sidewalk.	Tear paper scraps and glue them into a picture.	Pre-reading game: Big and small letters.
Thursday	Read a favorite book again. Before you turn a page, ask, “What happens next?”	Tap a wooden spoon on a pot like a drum while you sing.	Put out five blocks. Hide some under a cup. How many are hiding?	Lie on the grass and watch the clouds. What shapes do you see?	Paint with water on a fence or the sidewalk.	A tracing sheet from the hand-skills printables.
Friday	Read one of Aesop's fables aloud and talk about what happened.	Sing a counting song, like “Five Little Ducks,” using fingers.	Count the buttons on a coat.	Hop, crawl and waddle like different animals.	Make leaf rubbings with crayons and thin paper.	Pre-reading game: Rhyme time.

Do what fits the day. Read aloud every day, and count everyday things.

For grown-ups

Read, talk, play

Read aloud every day. Pediatricians encourage shared reading from birth through at least kindergarten.
Talk with your child all day: name things, ask questions, and wait for answers.
Play is learning. Blocks, dough, sand, water and pretend play all count.
Count everyday things out loud, and let your child count with you.

Screens, kept small

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no more than about an hour a day of screen media for children 2 to 5, and good programs only.
Use the games here together, for a few minutes, and then do the same thing with real things: blocks, spoons, crayons.
Most of what's on this page needs no screen at all.

Gently does it

Every child learns at their own pace. Follow your child's interest and come back to things later.
Praise effort: “You kept trying!”
Stop while it's still fun, and try again another day.

Sources

American Academy of Pediatrics, “Beyond literacy: shared reading starting in infancy offers lifelong benefits” (HealthyChildren.org, 2024), on the policy statement “Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice” (Pediatrics, 2024).
AAP Council on Communications and Media, “Media and Young Minds,” Pediatrics 138(5), 2016 (doi:10.1542/peds.2016-2591): limit screen use for children 2 to 5 to about 1 hour a day of high-quality programs; summary at Healio.
The daily rhythm, week of ideas, games and printables are original to Teddy Rook Book. Hannah Ward's lessons stay on her own site.