What is Preschool Prep?

Do you have a young child or two who has outgrown Tot School and is ready for Preschool? Have you looked at all the free online choices during your preschool preparation? Does thinking about preschool curriculum make your head spin? Well, I know that the amount of free “Letter of the Week” and “Themed” curriculum is astounding.

I am creating the Preschool Prep series to help other moms and caregivers out! I have spent lots of time researching and planning for Preschool for Lil’ Red and I want to pass on this wealth of knowledge and resources to my readers!

I plan to share a variety of ideas and ways to prepare yourself, your environment, and your child for preschool in a multi-part series. I could create a super long and over whelming post with tons and tons of ideas, but I do not want to add frustration to your Preschool Prep situation. I want to share ideas for learning letters, numbers, colors, shapes, name recognition, character studies, etc. I will share with you very simple activities you can create yourself or some items you could look for during garage sale season. I am hoping to lessen your time and the amount of money you spend by sharing what I am doing.

 

(Disclosure: There may be affiliate links within this post. The links provide a way for us to support our site and provide great ideas and content to you!                                   Thanks for your support.)

Preschool Prep: Learning Letters

Learning letters can mean a wide variety of things to each and every parent or teacher. You may want to focus on why your child needs to learn their letters. The obvious to recognize their name. The not-so-obvious to allow them to feel the sense of accomplishment in learning something new!

One Way to learn via hands-on: We’ve had a foam alphabet puzzle out on our preschool shelf for a while that Lil’ Red calls a game. He took great pleasure in popping out the letters and putting them back in. Then one day his Papa came over and it changed the whole game. Lil’ Red asked Papa to play with his puzzle. They put a few letters in taking turns and Papa began to ask, “What letter is this? Do you know what sound it makes?” Some Lil’ Red knew the letters and most he did not know the sound of. (This all being right before he turned 3! I will have to put a disclaimer saying we really had not focused on a letter of the week or been through the alphabet. We were not really working on the alphabet as we could have/should have been!)

We also bought wooden pattern blocks after seeing them used on Confession of a Homeschooler and printing off her free Alphabet Block sheets!

One Way to learn via video: Step in LeapFrog’s Scout & Friends movies on Netflix! Oh, my goodness does my boy love those movies! He  now signs the A,E,I,O,U song and what sound’s the letters make after watching LeapFrog: Phonics Farm over and over. It is super cute to hear him say, “B, b. B makes the buh sound.” He goes around the house and spots a letter or goes back to that same foam puzzle! He even remembers the animals that go with the letters and sounds from the movie. So every once in a while you just might be called a “Sad Seal” or “Whiny Walrus” or “Noisy Newt”!

Tons of Letter Activities Offered:

 

Making Learning Fun -dot-to-dot, assessment, highway abc’s, writing pages, coloring pages, magnet pages, geoboards, pattern block cards, etc.

A through Z Lap-n-Note from Homeschool Share

Letter Recognization:

 

Uppercase and Lower Case:

 

Letter Sounds:

 

American Sign Language:

Homeschool Creations Sign Language Cards

 

Letter Formation:

Moms Have Questions Too-Learn How to Write Letters with Sensory Activities

Confessions of a Homeschooler- Pattern Block Printables

 Hands-on Learning:

 

Games and Active Activities:

No Time For Flash Cards- lowercase crafts & uppercase crafts

See Vanessa Craft- Alphabet Balloons

Things to Make:

Buggy and Buddy- Stuffed Felt Letters and Letter Stones

Check out other posts within the Preschool Prep Series:

Preschool Assessment

Preschool Prep: Curriculum

Preschool Prep: Art and Music

Preschool Prep: Science and Nature

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How do you plan to teach your child their letters? What is your favorite alphabet resource?