What to Teach Preschoolers

With my oldest daughter, I couldn’t wait to get started with preschool.

We made little books about seasons, numbers, colors, and animals.

We played matching games with animals and their moms.

We put together puzzles and did all kinds of art projects.

Sometimes we cooked and Katie Beth helped me measure.
I continued to play games, cook, visit the zoo, and put together puzzles with my children but didn’t have formal preschool lessons with the rest of my kids. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but life became a blur of pregnancy, nursing, potty training, schooling older ones, and managing the home. So I focused on the important things and they sat in with all the older ones, often drawing, cutting out shapes, or putting together puzzles at our feet.
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So, what is listed below are the essentials. This is not the limit of what you can do—the sky’s the limit with teaching preschoolers, but here are the things that will lay a foundation for the school years that follow. 

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Photo (c) Joshua Nolette/Used with Permission

Bible & Character

• Listen Old & New Testament Stories
• Pray Before Meals & Bed
• Obeys Authority with Respect
• Greets People, Shares with Others
• Completes Chores

Colors & Shapes & Sizes

• Recognizes & Names Primary Colors
• Recognizes Circles, Triangles, Squares, & Rectangles
• Sorts Objects based on Color, Shape, & Size
• Understands Up & Down, In & Out, Front & Back, Over & Under, Hot & Cold, Fast & Slow, Top & Middle & Bottom
• Identifies Body Parts, Animals, Animal Sounds, & People

Pre-Reading

• Listen to Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, Children’s Classics, & Bible Stories
• Recognize that Words are made of Sounds
• Break Words down into Sounds
• Say Sounds for Letters
• Blend Sounds Together
• Understands Stories Read Aloud
• Retells a Story or Real Life Incident
• Follows Simple Directions
• Repeats a Sequence of Sounds or Numbers
• Uses Left to Right Progression
• Can Repeat a Sequence of Sounds
• Pretends to Read to Self and Others (including toys)

Pre-Writing

• Writes own Name
• Traces Objects with Finger 

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Pre-Math

• Counts Orally at least to Twenty
• Counts Objects, Makes Sets of Objects
• Understands: Empty & Full, More & Less, Big & Little, Long & Short
• Sorts Objects according to Size or Color or Kind of Object
• Understands Day & Night
• Knows Age & Birthday & Address & Phone Number
• Understands Concepts of More & Less & Same and Subtraction & Addition
• Measurement in the Kitchen using Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Identify & Name Money

Motor Skills

• Runs, Jumps, Hops, Skips, Marches, Walks a Straight Line
• Traces Objects with Finger
• Throws a Ball
• Claps Hands
• Zips a Zipper, Buttons a Button, Ties a Bow, Ties Shoelaces
• Cuts Paper with Scissors
• Draws, Colors, Pastes
• Builds with Blocks, Completes Simple Puzzles
• Brushes Teeth & Hair, Dresses Self
• Finger Plays, Puppet Play
• Sing Songs
• Dance to Music
• Clap in Time to Music

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What a delight to teach our little lambs about the world around them!

If you are looking for practical advice about homeschooling, you will love Joyful and Successful Homeschooling available at Amazon. The E-book is available at PayHip and Currclick. Full of tips, practical wisdom, and family stories from a family that's been homeschooling since 1991, Joyful and Successful Homeschooling has been a blessing to many homeschooling families with help on management, how to teach, educational philosophies, family dynamics, learning styles, how to keep your home running smoothly, and help to teach each subject with curriculum suggestions. 

Blessings to you and your family! 

Warmly, 
Meredith Curtis ​

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