Preschool Homeschool Curriculum

Are you planning to homeschool your child beginning at the preschool level? Are you not quite sure to where to begin or what materials to use? One of the benefits of homeschooling is the freedom to choose materials that work for your children. No single curriculum is a perfect fit for every family. Even within my own family, I have added or removed materials from my first kiddo through my fourth kiddo. In general, I use a variety of workbooks and other resources for my preschool homeschool curriculum. The following are the workbooks that I am using with my fourth and last child. If you are interested in any of the materials, easily find copies on Amazon via my affiliate links.

I began homeschooling my oldest daughter when she was 2.5 years old. I started homeschool preschool with my son a few weeks before he turned 3 and my second daughter when she turned 3. I plan to begin preschool work with my youngest daughter around age 3 as well. One benefit of homeschooling is the freedom to work at the pace of the child. My oldest daughter spent two years doing preschool work a few times a week before starting kindergarten. My son worked on his preschool lessons four or five days a week until he turned 5. My third kiddo finished preschool around her fifth birthday as well.

Of all the materials that I have used over the years with my children at the preschool level, my favorite is Teach a Student to Read: Letters and Graphemes, which I wrote for my thirdborn. As a linguist, I consider spelling one of my academic passions. Before learning how to read, children must first learn the letters of written English. Letters are the raw materials for making the graphemes and markers that spell words. My workbook teaches the letter names and shapes followed by an introduction to the most common English graphemes. Using the workbook with my third preschooler definitely helped her learn to read and write easier.

Originally published on February 9, 2018. Updated on June 8, 2024.

General

Introducing preschoolers to educational workbooks can set the foundation for a lifetime of learning and curiosity. The right workbooks can engage young minds, reinforce fundamental concepts, and make learning an enjoyable adventure. From colors and shapes to early reading and math skills, a well-structured workbook can provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that helps children grasp basic prekindergarten concepts. The following are the general preschool workbooks that have proven effective and entertaining with my children.

Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills, Grade PK guides preschoolers step-by-step through a variety of engaging and developmentally appropriate activities that cover basic prekindergarten concepts such as colors, shapes, and opposites. The 544-page full-color workbook features vivid, full-color illustrations and grade-appropriate activities for phonics, reading, language arts, writing, and math. The workbook provided my preschoolers with fun educational activities and instruction at the preschool level.

Basic Concepts, Grade PK contains proven instructional methods for developing proficiency in basic skills such as identifying colors and simple shapes, reading and writing color words, and recognizing opposites. The 160 full-color page workbook provides my children with extra practice on many of the topics from the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills, Grade PK.

My children love Curious George, so I included Curious George Adventures in Learning, Pre-K in our preschool curriculum. Recommended for students between the ages of 4 and 5, the 320-page workbook features twelve new mini-stories that provide context for math, reading, and science practice that strengthen foundational skills in math, literacy, and science. My daughter completed one section at a time while my son and I worked on a few pages at a time.

The Children’s Learning & Activity Book from Liqui-Mark features 40 pages of skill-building exercises, alphabet and number practice, and more. I like that the writing activities are primarily tracing-based because preschoolers are better at tracing when learning to use a writing utensil. Tracing reinforces the letter and number shapes better than having such a young child make the letters and numbers on their own. (Not available via Amazon.)

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are essential for preschoolers to lay the groundwork for many daily activities. Developing these skills through engaging and hands-on activities not only enhances coordination and dexterity but also fosters creativity and concentration. To support this critical aspect of early childhood development, I incorporate several cutting and pasting workbooks into our preschool curriculum. The following are the workbooks that have been particularly effective for my children.

Let’s Learn to Cut from Spectrum Early Learning builds fine motor skills and teaches basic skills through fun cutting and pasting activities. The 64-page full-color hands-on workbook offers step-by-step instructions children age 2 and older.

I also purchased two additional cutting and pasting workbooks for my third and fourth children: Preschool Cutting and Pasting (Highlights Learn on the Go Practice Pads) and Cut & Paste Skills Workbook. Both offer additional activities that focus on the fine motor skills of using scissors and glue.

Handwriting

Handwriting is a crucial skill for preschoolers, laying the foundation for effective communication and academic success. Developing strong handwriting skills involves fine motor control, proper penmanship, and an understanding of letter formation. To help my children master these essential skills, I have incorporated a variety of engaging and educational workbooks that offer a range of tracing and writing activities designed to build pen control, line tracing, and letter recognition into our preschool curriculum. The following are the workbooks that have been particularly beneficial for children for handwriting development.

For fine motor skills related to handwriting, I used a number of workbooks including the Trace & Write Activity Book from Scholastic which provides 32 pages of colorful, kid-friendly activities.

The Trace Letters (Big Skills for Little Hands) from Carson Dellosa introduces capital letter shapes and letter names. The only downside is that the workbook includes only capital letters and not the lowercase, but I like that all the activities are tracing.

My First Learn to Write Workbook provides 84 pages of activities focused on proper pen control, line tracing, and other related activities that teach letters, shapes, and numbers.

Color and Shapes

Introducing preschoolers to colors and shapes is a fundamental part of early education. Learning about colors and shapes not only enhances the ability to recognize and categorize objects but also lays the groundwork for more advanced concepts in math and reading. To make this learning process engaging and effective, I have incorporated several interactive workbooks that feature hands-on activities about colors and shapes into our curriculum.

From Spectrum Early Years, Let’s Learn Colors & Shapes helps the youngest learners work on fine motor skills while learning about colors and shapes. I like that each activity includes detailed parent instruction that help me teach the basic concepts to my preschoolers. The 64 full-color pages offer super fun hands-on activities that I have not seen in other preschool workbooks such as sprinkling salt over glue on the white snowflake activity.

The 32-page full-color Colors & Shapes, PreK-K workbook from Evan-Moor offers more activities about colors and shapes through short, colorful activities. Quick and captivating activities keep the youngest learners focused while practicing important concepts such as reading color names, identifying basic shapes, and following directions.

Language Arts

Introducing preschoolers to language arts is a crucial step in fostering a love for reading and writing. Early exposure to letters, sounds, and simple words sets the foundation for literacy and effective communication. To support this development, I have carefully selected a range of comprehensive and engaging preschool language arts workbooks that provide a balanced mix of letter recognition, grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), and prereading activities, ensuring a thorough understanding of the English writing system.

I created the Teach a Student to Read series to teach my kids starting with my second to teach the English writing system completely and accurately. The first book in the series is Letters and Graphemes, which teaches the 26 letters of the English alphabet and introduces the most common English graphemes. Before learning to read, a student must know the letters of the alphabet. The primary goal of Teach a Student to Read: Letters and Graphemes is to teach the names and forms of the letters of the English writing system. The secondary goal is to introduce the student to units of letters (graphemes) spelling sounds. Students will learn that two or three letters together can spell one sound. The workbook finally introduces students to the concept that not all letters spell sounds.

I have used multiple DK Workbooks for multiple grade levels. I thus purchased DK Workbooks: Language Arts, Pre-K to use during our second years of preschool lessons. The 60-page workbook includes activities on upper and lower case letters, rhyming, simple reading exercises, and other fundamentals of language arts. The activities provided additional practice on topics that my children had previously learned.

Although labeled as a spelling workbook, DK Workbooks: Spelling, Pre-K focuses more on basic reading skills than spelling. The 60-page workbook includes activities on letters of the alphabet, letter sounds, and rhyming words, among other pre-spelling activities. The workbook contains quite a bit of handwriting practice and letter recognition, both of which are essential skills for later spelling.

My kids love Curious George, and I love the Curious George workbooks. I included the 64-page Learning with Curious George Pre-K Reading workbook in our preschool language arts curriculum. The workbook includes roughly 60 activities that align to national and state standards.

After teaching my preschoolers to write and identify the letters of the alphabet, I used Skill Sharpeners Reading, Grade Pre-K to continue working on prereading skills necessary for learning to read in kindergarten. Each of the twenty-one units in the 144-page workbook contains a cut-and-paste activity that introduces a consonant sound and three activity pages that reinforce reading readiness skills. The cutting activities help build the fine motor skills needed for writing. I especially love that the exercises are unique and not found in other similar reading or writing workbooks.

The 96-page At-Home Tutor Reading, PreK workbook focuses on prereading skills needed to eventually learn to read including directionality, matching, and rhyming through many full-color activities.

To help my preschoolers further learn about the letters of the alphabet and develop other necessary prereading skills, I purchased Skill Sharpeners Spell & Write, Pre-K. The 144-page color workbook contains twenty-six units, one unit per letter of the alphabet. Each unit includes an alphabet story and three activity pages for identifying and writing capital and lowercase letters. Each unit additionally includes a Test Your Skills assessment page. I used the workbook as part of my preschool alphabet lesson plans to help my preschoolers practice printing and identifying letters. The activities are different from exercises found in other alphabet workbooks, adding variety to homeschool time.

Math

Introducing preschoolers to math is essential for building a solid foundation in numeracy and problem-solving skills. Early exposure to numbers, shapes, and basic math concepts can make a significant difference in their cognitive development and future academic success. To make learning math engaging and effective, I include a variety of interactive workbooks that offer a mix of tracing, counting, and hands-on activities that are designed to reinforce early math skills in a fun and educational way into our preschool curriculum.

Recommended for learners age 2 and older, Let’s Learn Numbers offers step-by-step instructions for teaching numbers 0 through 25 and counting. The 64-page full-color workbook includes one two-page spread for each number with various interactive activities that build fine motor skills and teach early math skills.

The 32-page Beginning Counting with Mother Goose from Evan-Moor provides math activities that focus on tracing numerals, counting sets to 20, and writing numerals to 20.

I really appreciate the 32-page Carson Dellosa Trace Numbers Workbook for Preschool-Kindergarten because all the activities are tracing the number rather than writing unassisted. Tracing helps preschoolers recognize number shapes before the ability to write on their own develops.

To help my preschoolers practice and master basic math skills, I purchased At-Home Tutor: Math, Grade Pre-K. The 96-page full-color workbook includes activities on number skills, counting from 1 to 10, shapes, patterns, addition and subtraction, and time. I used the workbook during our second year of preschool to reinforce previously learned math concepts. My children completed a few pages at a time. I particularly appreciated that the activities differed from exercises in other preschool math workbooks.

I am a big fan of The Complete Book series from Thinking Kids including The Complete Book of Numbers & Counting, Grades PK-1. The 416-page workbook helps young learners build a solid foundation in math, focusing on key concepts such as addition, subtraction, time, money, place value, graphing, comparing numbers, and recognizing number rhymes. My kids began the workbook during their second year of preschool while working on number recognition and continued working on the material through kindergarten and first grade.

For more supplemental math practice, I purchased DK Workbooks: Math: Pre-K for my preschoolers. The 60-page workbook contains exercises on counting to ten, reading and writing numbers, shapes, money, and other fundamentals of math that provide practice to reinforce learning and understanding of key mathematical concepts. Like all DK workbooks, the pages are glossy, of which I am not a fan because the glossiness makes writing more difficult, especially for little learners.

Numbers & Counting helps preschoolers develop the basic skills needed for kindergarten math through creative games and activities. The 80-page full-color workbook teaches the numbers 0 through 20 with writing activities and cut-outs. My daughter loved working on her cutting pasting skills while learning about numbers and counting.

I used Math Basics from Spectrum Early Years with my preschoolers during the second year of homeschool preschool to further practice math basics such as counting, patterns, shapes, sorting, and matching. The 80-page full-color activity book focuses on games and puzzles to facilitate learning rather than more conventional workbook pages. I liked that the book offered my children some hands-on activities that helped with fine motor skills in addition to practice with basic mathematical concepts.

As I already mentioned, my children love Curious George. I therefore included Learning with Curious George Pre-K Math as part of our math curriculum. The 64-page full-color workbook includes activities on counting, tracing numbers, matching, patterns, sorting, comparing size, colors, and shapes. I used the workbook during our second year of preschool to review and reinforce basic math concepts.

Science

Introducing preschoolers to science helps foster a lifelong love for discovery and learning. Early science education involves exploring basic principles about the world, from understanding the weather to recognizing plants and animals. To create an engaging and comprehensive science curriculum for my children, I have incorporated a variety of preschool-level workbooks that cover fundamental scientific concepts through interactive and age-appropriate exercises. The following are the workbooks have been particularly effective in introducing my preschoolers to the wonders of science.

For science lessons for my preschoolers, I used the workbook DK Workbooks: Science, Pre-K because I quite like the DK Workbooks series in general. The workbook contains exercises that focus on the most basic principles of science including animals, plants, the five senses, weather, seasons, and matter. Although not important to me, the workbook supports the Common Core State Standards.

I also used Take It to Your Seat Science Centers, Grades PreK-K for additional science work with my preschoolers. The sixteen units in the 192-page activity book cover identifying living and non-living things; relative position of objects; comparing and sorting by physical attributes; classifying plants and animals; understanding plant life cycles; understanding animal life cycles; identifying major structures of animals; identifying major structures of a plant; understanding where food comes from; identifying human body parts; understanding how weather affects our lives; identifying animal habitats; recognizing solid and liquid forms; and identifying the sun, Earth, and moon.

The 144-page Skill Sharpeners Science, PreK from Evan-Moor helps preschoolers develop an understanding of physical, life, and earth science with engaging activities such as activities songs, rhymes and hands-on projects.

I used parts of the 48-page Preschool Hands-On STEAM Learning Fun Workbook (Highlights Learning Fun Workbooks). We did all of the workbook pages and some of the experiments. For some of the experiments, we either modified the details or just talked about what would happen.

I finally added Early Bird Weather to our curriculum for my third child because she wanted additional science activities. Weather is an everyday science fact, which makes the topic relevant to everyday life. Fun activities related to weather conditions, daily weather changes, and how weather helps us that provide age-appropriate practice of language, math, and fine motor skills.

Social Studies

Introducing preschoolers to social studies with a focus on geography and map skills is a wonderful way to expand their understanding of the world. Learning about different places, directions, and landforms helps young children develop spatial awareness and a sense of curiosity about their environment. To make these lessons engaging and effective, I have selected some interactive workbooks for our preschool curriculum. The following workbooks provide foundational knowledge of geography through fun, age-appropriate exercises, ensuring that learning about maps and globes is both enjoyable and educational.

My children love globes and maps. For our preschool geography lessons, I used the workbook DK Workbooks: Geography, Pre-K as one resource for our social studies lessons. The 60-page workbook topics include directions, globes and maps, landforms, and more. Although not important to me, the workbook supports the Common Core State Standards. The only negative of the workbook is the glossy pages, which make completing the activities with most writing utensils more difficult.

The 144-page Evan-Moor Skill Sharpeners: Geography Grade Pre-K workbook teaches important geography concepts including basic map skills. Activities include counting, vocabulary practice, writing prompts, comprehension questions, patterns, and comparisons.

Because my third child loved doing geography so much, I added Geography: US and Canada Sticker Activity Book and World Geography: Sticker Activity Book from Kumon to her preschool curriculum. She also loved stickers, so the two workbooks were a perfect addition to our social studies work. I will use both with my fourth child as well. My only complaint is that the mazes in the workbooks are way too difficult for preschoolers, so I ended up doing the mazes and having my child trace the path.

Health

Introducing preschoolers to concepts of health and the human body is essential for promoting well-being and understanding personal growth. Learning about the body empowers young children to develop healthy habits and fosters a sense of body awareness and self-care. For preschool health, I used Early Bird Body starting with my third child. The workbook includes three colorful storybooks along with fun activities that provide age-appropriate practice of language, math, and fine motor skills. Topics covered relate to the body, growth, and health. Engaging language, math, and alphabet card activities develop fundamental reading and math readiness skills. Through age-appropriate exercises and playful learning experiences, preschoolers can begin to grasp the fundamentals of health and bodily awareness in a fun and accessible way.

Art

Teaching art to preschoolers is vital as it fosters creativity, self-expression, and cognitive development. Through exploration of various artistic mediums, children learn to communicate their emotions, develop fine motor skills, and cultivate a lifelong appreciation for the arts. For preschool art lessons, I used An Eye for Art: Focusing on Great Artists and Their Work. 180-page full-color book introduces children to more than 50 great artists and their works, representing a wide array of artistic styles and techniques. Each chapter provides biographical and background information on a specific artist followed by fun activity ideas to expand on the lesson. The book is further categorized into themes ranging from studying nature and observing everyday life to breaking traditions and telling stories.

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