You are homeschooling your pre-k kid. Are you looking for some kind of framework and appropriate content so you know you are on the right track? Maybe you are thinking of developing a curriculum for this purpose and wondering if you should do so or not? How should you decide on what to include in your homeschooling agenda? and how would you know if your child is doing well and is performing according to reasonable expectations? and what are those exactly? Generally, you need some input and advice on how to get started and what to do down the road.

We discussed some of these issues in our previous posts, especially the topic of expectations from homeschooling the pre-k kid, and the topic of homeschooling pros and cons, and you should probably read them if you did not do that by now. This post is about the dos and don’ts, some advice, and insights regarding teaching your pre-k child language skills.

The significant learning pre-k kids will usually achieve in the area of language skills are mainly recognizing and identifying the alphabet letters by name. Please keep in mind that most children will remember the uppercase letters first, and much more quickly, as compared to lowercase letters. They may also learn and know the sounds of letters.

You can practice and reinforce alphabet letters and language skills in different ways, but what you especially would need to do, and is key in this stage of your child’s life, is all about stimulating awareness and make him or her more conscious of the meaningful part of letters and language in our lives. Do not think too much about a curriculum yet.

Use letter refrigerator magnets, sing songs such as the “ABC song” or anything that keeps your child’s attention. the biggest thing at this age is probably reading with them and socializing with other kids their age – so look into story groups at the library, playdates outside – maybe at the park, museum or the local zoo – any place you can integrate new and familiar vocabulary and use it in high stimulating environment – your kid will remember words better if he or she can associate them with positive emotions such as excitement and enjoyable experiences.

You can even start some sight word flashcards once they get the above. Other types of flashcards that include animals, items and other pictures with written letters and words are nice. Use our DIY ideas for letter flashcards and coloring pages. Using them will improve the fine motor skills by holding a writing implement properly, and give the child the opportunity to learn how to cut straight with scissors. You can practice writing their name and some simple short words (such as mom, dad, and dog) by tracing on paper, and please chat and sound out words. Over time your kid will learn the fundamentals of reading which he or she can apply as they get older.

And if you really want to diversify you can also integrate activities from books, good interactive online resources, youtube videos, and apps. You can find activities with rhyming, blending and segmenting sounds, consonant sounds, short vowels, action verbs, plural nouns, adjectives, position words, antonyms and literacy skills and so much more – all for the level of a pre-k kid.

If you can get all that in, your pre-k kid is probably doing better with his or hers language skills than some kids in kindergarten.

Have anything else in mind? Please comment below. Thank you.

Enjoy your Family Time About.