Homeschool preschool activities do not have to be expensive. They do have to be fun. Each week when my children were little it was my goal to have a little bit of fun, and little bit of quiet time, and a whole lot of learning. Both settings are good for children. Movement is important and so is self control. Too much of either is an unequal balance if you ask me.
My next goal was to make the learning affordable. We did not have a lot of money back then because I wasn’t working. So, my toddler in tow I headed to the store or browsed the internet for ideas on what to do. Improvising became my best friend. When I tell you we did not have a lot of money, that included printer ink. I could not afford to buy ink frequently so I had to write down my ideas.
Letter J Homeschool Preschool Movement Activities
Since I had very active little boys (all of them) movement was very important. This was the first way that set up our homeschool preschool. Movement first, self control second. Then using other parts of the brain for new ways to learn. Using this method helped with my planning activities. I tried to use an up for moving, down for quiet, up again, down again. Within this parameter I added my subjects.
Movement was always a homemade game. Bouncy balls were used in this game and how we learned the letter J was to run down, grab a ball, then run back to mom. When my preschooler arrived back to where I was sitting, I would have a few (maybe 5 ) letter cards in my hand. He had to find the letter J and say the sound it makes. Needless to say all of them loved this game.
Letter J Quiet Time Activities
Quiet time activities took the place of bingo robbers, laminated sheets with letter matching, I spy activities, drawing and painting. There are several ways and no wrong ways to incorporate letter learning into quiet time. Sensory boxes are another great way to learn letter activities.
One way that my kids loved was to cut out pictures from a magazine. As we sounded out the letter of the week, which in this case is “J” through the magazine we would hunt for the picture. As soon as a match was found that was cut out. Occasionally I would add cutting and glueing to the curriculum by giving them a piece of paper to add the pictures onto.
Homeschool Preschool Letter J Recitation
Reciting and memorizing are very affordable ways to teach and learn. Kids’ have a crazy good memory and to make use of it is important. We did just that because I feel it is a tool that has to be exercised. Learning is part recitation and many things that we never forget is because that information is permanently engraved into our minds. For instance, can you remember your childhood phone number? I can. Many other crazy facts have found their way into my brain. I like to use recitation in homeschool preschool to build the blocks needed for future recollection.
Recalling the abc’s, math facts and other sight words is important as children get older. Singing the alphabet is a very fun way to teach and work the recitation. Both with and without visual aids. When using the visual have the letter J circled or use a pointer to make it more fun.
Easy Letter J Recognition
Letter J recognition is where I always wound down our preschool time. It was right before lunch and they have had a full hour of learning and playing. Sit down, grab a book to read. As the homeschool preschooler sits on your lap, next to you or draws have them help you point out letter J’s in the text. Another part to this quiet moment is they really can’t see the letters unless they are close to you.
As my kids were older they played with legos while I read, but having them sit and read with me was always a treat for both of us. Now that they are teens I look back fondly because they don’t sit on my lap anymore, but they do still love to see pictures if there are any.
Piecing together a good hour of learning activities isn’t hard. Creating activities on a budget is not the easiest thing to do. Remember it is not the learning tools they love, it’s the time with you while they are learning. For more tips on how to teach homeschool on a budget sign up for my newsletter.
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