Do you or someone you know homeschool? Or maybe you keep reading about homeschooling in the news? We’ve been paying close attention to those homeschooling trends here at HeidiSongs! We created some new offerings with our HeidiSongs at Home guide and designated a specific homeschool liaison to help anyone with homeschooling questions. This way, anyone can use HeidiSongs, whether inside or out of the classroom walls!
Homeschooling Statistics
Homeschooling is in the news regularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many parents made hard choices about what type of education worked best for their children at the time. This meant a shift from computer-based distance learning to homeschooling curricula and programs as an alternative. While some families re-enrolled their kids in public schools since then, there are still up to 4.3 million children being homeschooled in the United States per the September 2024 U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey. That doesn’t even include all the students who are a part of Non-Classroom-Based (NCB) homeschool programs that some public charter schools offer! That’s a lot of kids! And there is a good chance you know one of them – in your family, friend group, and community!
Introducing HeidiSongs at Home!
With that knowledge, we created a program for homeschoolers and anyone else who has a TK-aged kid and is searching for an educational program (talking to you, teacher-moms of littles!). Heidisongs at Home: TK Edition! is a new and improved version of our old pacing guide that includes direct links to each song or activity suggested, which are either free or can be purchased for an additional cost. We broke it down week-by-week for easy access and usability. We specifically created this guide to use in an at-home setting. But, we encourage public and private school teachers to browse through for pacing ideas and fun resources in their classrooms too! The only major difference is that we focus here on activities that don’t need a larger number of children. We also removed activities that require manipulatives that might not be found in the average home.
We welcome users of all kinds! Those looking for a foundational guide to use for your home learning journey, or those looking for a companion to resources you already have. Feel free to adjust as needed so it works best for the children in your care!
Play and Exploration First!
At HeidiSongs, we believe the most important parts of early childhood learning are play and exploration. So even though we created this pacing guide focused on videos and activities, we first and foremost recommend a daily minimum of 60-90 minutes of unstructured, uninterrupted indoor play. Additionally, a daily minimum of 45-60 minutes outside is recommended if weather permits, and you have access to a safe outdoor area. Play is essential to early learning, especially at this TK age!
Independent Play
If your child is not accustomed to playing independently, this may take some practice. Some people find that starting play with your kids is effective. Set them up with an idea and play with them for a short time. After they are into it, you should be able to walk away with a quick excuse. “I’ve gotta go switch the laundry over. You keep going”. You can also try getting them started by saying, “Get busy doing something, I’ll be there in a few minutes to check on you. I’m excited to see what you come up with!”
One major thing to keep in mind with either of these scenarios is you need to be okay with a big mess. The way children combine materials and toys creates a special kind of magic if you give them the space to be messy. If you can, consider allowing children to leave a play area set up over multiple days so it can build on itself. Playing with an adult, sibling, or other peers can also be valuable, but it’s not a necessary element to learning.
Reading after Play!
Another fundamental element of early childhood learning is reading. Read with your child, even if you have an independent reader. As you read together, it’s okay for children to comment or ask questions. But be sure to reinforce times they need to sit still and listen without verbalizing the thoughts in their head. This is different from a bedtime read-aloud. Your child should be engaged and listening. They should be able to answer questions about the text upon finishing. They should be able to wait until the end of the page or book to ask questions. This is good practice to refrain from interrupting, just as expected in a classroom or library storytime setting.
If your children struggle with this, consider implementing a read-aloud time at the breakfast or lunch table! You may see a higher level of focus when they are motivated by mealtime. Be sure to also give them time to engage with books individually – like setting out a book-basket on your table for open exploration. This is an important element of early literacy, especially for children who are not yet reading independently (most of them at this age). Looking at a book, the words and the pictures both, before and after reading it alongside an adult, is a valuable and rich experience for all little ones.
Playing ✔, Reading ✔, but what’s in the Guide?
In this guide, you’ll find 37 weeks of material. Each week is packed with a language arts concept, math concept, aligned videos, and some optional worksheets or activities available for an additional purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers, with our videos on HeidiSongs.tv. These are not required, just something you can add if you’d like to expand on any one topic.
Daily Repetition
It is important to find time to rote review letters, sounds, and numbers each day, even if it’s not listed explicitly in the guide. Daily repetition is your friend. Flashcards are perfect for this! Number games like bingo or counting toys or other small items you have around are a great way to review math ideas, even if not explicitly listed on the weekly concepts. It is okay and even encouraged to repeat the same games and review strategies over and over again. Remember, children thrive on repetition and predictability. Once your child has mastered a concept with one game, then you can switch things up.
Writing and Fine Motor Practice
Writing letters and shapes is a completely different skill set, and should be approached as such. There needs to be room for both in your daily practice. In addition to your rote memorization routine, include lots of chances for building fine motor skills through targeted play, as well as letter and number formation. We recommend printing worksheets or practice pages to keep in sheet protectors. Reuse them with whiteboard markers. Utilize blank sheets of paper, a notebook, or even the backs of coloring pages for practice with freehand writing. Use a variety of writing utensils for varying levels of resistance.
If you have a child who is younger or has difficulty with writing activities, start with prewriting and fine motor play. Delay formal writing until they are ready and have built up more skills. This can look like lots of Play-Doh, modeling clay, coloring books, copying lines and shapes with increasing difficulty. Start with straight lines, then curved, then diagonal, and other complexities until your child shows readiness to start with letters and numbers.
Music and Videos!
Of course, we wouldn’t be HeidiSongs without some fun music to add to the learning process! Use your Heidisongs.tv subscription for all things music and movement. We’ve directly linked videos to letter of the week, number of the week, high-frequency words, shapes, crafts, and more, all included in the HeidiSongs All-Access Subscription! We recommend showing videos on a computer or pushing them to your television or other dedicated device. Avoid playing videos for your child on a cell phone, unless you really find yourself in a bind!
Suggested Daily Schedule
We’ve included the below suggested schedule for your daily learning. But, you should do what works best for your family and all of the nuances that make up your home. Finally, as with all content your child consumes, we encourage you to preview it beforehand. Just swap out anything that does not align with your family’s goals and values. We worked hard to create a well-rounded and diverse program, but you can make changes as you see fit.
With playing, exploration, reading, daily repetition, fine motor practice, and of course our HeidiSongs music and videos, you’ll be set for full mornings of TK learning with your kids! And this is just the start of what we have to offer under HeidiSongs at Home. Be on the lookout in the future for our read-aloud list, our Kindergarten pacing guide, and more! And if you have any questions about how HeidiSongs could work best for you at home for your kids and their homeschooling journeys, feel free to reach out to our Homeschool Liaison, Allison, to chat via support@heidisongs.com! We’re so excited for more kids to be able to learn and move with HeidiSongs, no matter whether they learn inside a classroom or at home!
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