We Learn Through Play at Home
At Hawkins at Home, our preschool homeschool days are far from rigid schedules or worksheets. They’re slow, playful, and grounded in the belief that curiosity is the best curriculum. If you’re looking for a gentle approach to teaching your little one at home, I’d love to invite you into how we do it — filled with fresh air, puzzles, story time, patience, and play.
1. Learning Through Play Is Enough
There’s this quiet pressure that creeps in when you decide to homeschool — especially with preschoolers. You might feel like you need to “teach” constantly or have a curriculum printed and prepped. You don’t need to have it all figured out, keep focused with developmentally what preschoolers need to learn, it’s play.
But truly? Play is learning at this age.
When my daughter stacks wooden blocks or pieces together to form the letter “E,” she’s not just having fun — she’s learning spatial awareness, fine motor skills, letter recognition, and confidence.
We keep it simple:
- Letter and number wooden puzzles
- A basket of blocks, nature treasures, and play dough
- Pretend play setups (a blanket fort becomes a reading nook or a grocery store)
2. Reading Is Our Core Curriculum
Preschool learning doesn’t need to be confined to a table. In fact, our most beautiful “lessons” happen outside.
A few favorite outdoor moments:
- Counting pinecones on a nature walk
- Naming colors of wildflowers
- Building “bird nests” from sticks and grass
- Running, jumping, and falling — building coordination and resilience
Unstructured outside time is our daily reset.
3. Reading Is Our Core Curriculum
We read every day, many times a day.
It’s the heartbeat of our homeschool rhythm. Whether it’s cuddling on the couch with a stack of picture books, or bringing stories outside on a picnic blanket, reading is how we explore the world.
We read:
- Alphabet books with simple repetition
- Nature stories like Miss Rumphius or The Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook
- Bible stories
- If I’m behind on some important “mom stuff”. Turning on favorite stories on YouTube has been so helpful
I don’t quiz or “test” comprehension. We just enjoy the story and talk about what we notice.
4. Puzzles and Patience: Quiet Learning Tools
Wooden puzzles — especially ones with letters and numbers — are my favorite learning tool.
They build:
- Focus and patience
- Letter recognition (she’ll call out “That’s an M like Mama!”)
- Hand-eye coordination
I keep them accessible and rotate them often. Some days she’ll do one puzzle 5 times. Other days, she’s uninterested — and that’s okay too.
Trust the slow days. That’s where connection grows.
5. A Rhythm, Not a Schedule
We follow a loose rhythm instead of a strict schedule.
A peek into our gentle preschool day:
- Morning: Quiet playing while I make breakfast+ a story
- Late morning: Snack + puzzles or painting, park playdate or river play
- Afternoon: Free play, baking together, more reading, creative play
- Evening: Backyard time, farm chores, singing songs, watch a tv show or part of a movie, bedtime stories
No alarms. No curriculum pressure. Just presence and play. Each day can be so different when you have little kids, but keeping some important goals in mind is what makes a rhythm more doable than a “schedule”. Above, is loosely what we do every day. Some days we touch on 3 of these things, and other days we do it all. Our family’s non negotiables are reading and outside time every day. As the kids get older, that list will drastically increase.
Final Thoughts: Preschool at Home Can Be Simple and Sweet
If you’re feeling unsure about homeschooling your preschooler, let me remind you: you don’t need to replicate school at home. Your child needs your attention, time to explore, and access to stories and nature. That’s it. So take a deep breath gather some puzzles and books, and step outside. You’re already doing enough.
Julia