— May 1, 2024

Oftentimes 3-5 year old children find themselves left out of structured learning time. However, there is enough time in the day and week to create structured time for them even with older and younger siblings. My current three year old has an older brother in kindergarten and a two year old brother. Using this curriculum and strategic time management allows my three year old to have his own lessons. Beginning early with these educational foundations is important for setting the expectation of lesson time at home. 

You can disperse a preschooler’s lessons throughout the day, our week’s schedule exemplifies this. In the morning your preschooler can read and review, then complete a coloring page and an activity later in the day.

The line up for this week’s activities are all about eggs from Playing for Hours’ Letter of the Week: Ee is for Egg. Get the entire curriculum for free by following the button below. Whether we’re cooking in the kitchen or playing a game in the living room, you will captivate your child’s curiosity. The book and poem suggestions include educational and whimsical options. I encourage you to check out both types from your local library to entice your child in different ways.

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If you enjoy this week’s activities then you’ll want to check out the rest of Playing for Hours’ Letter of the Week. I provide sample schedules for each letter to inspire you to carve out time in your day for structured learning time with your preschooler.

A Sample Schedule for Ee is for Egg

Monday highlight: Letter “Ee” from the Train Wall Display 

Almost every day my three and five year old complete their morning basket. I read my preschooler’s books first in case he loses interest during my kindergartener’s lessons. The selected readings for the week were Nesting by Henry Cole and The Nest That Wren Built by Randi Sonenshine. These came from our local library, and the poem Nest Eggs by Robert Louis Stevenson, I read from our copy of A Child’s Garden of Verses. 

After our morning basket we gathered around the table. I introduced Mick, my 3 year old preschooler, to his new letter “E” by giving him the new train car of the wall display printable. You can find that printable as well as more themed alphabet displays here. I have him trace the letters with his finger and repeat the name of the letter after me. Then he can color inside the lines before we hang it on the wall with the previous letters. 

Now we sing through the alphabet. Sometimes, depending on the Monday, we end here keeping it very simple. Other times, like this week, I chose to work on his math with the Apple Math printable. 

We did not complete the Apple Math until late morning to complete during his 2 year old brother’s nap. This kept him from interrupting our focus. Find the Apple Math printable for free with step-by-step instructions by clicking at the button below.

Tuesday highlight: Egg dissection & quiche

Themed books during the morning basket began our morning as usual. Immediately after we sang his alphabet pointing to the different letters from the train wall display. 

After his little brother went down for his nap I gave Mick the first coloring page for the letter “E” and asked him to color it. While he was preoccupied with this I assembled the ingredients to make a quiche for dinner. 

He finished his coloring page and joined me in the kitchen, along with his 5 year old brother. We then proceeded to dissect an egg for each of them. To get the free printable and read how to do the activity check out the post, How to Dissect an Egg. After the science activity we cracked more eggs and made a quiche for dinner.

Wednesday highlight: Who lays eggs?

We began the morning as usual, on the couch reading. Immediately after we had appointments to attend and so we did not complete the rest of my preschooler’s lesson until that afternoon.

My 2 year old fell asleep on the way home from the appointments. He finished his nap while we ate lunch and then completed Mick’s lesson. We quickly reviewed the train wall display so that way I could dedicate more time to the sorting activity that I enjoy turning into a game of hide-and-seek. To read more about this awesome sorting activity and get the free printable go to the Who lays eggs? post.

After that activity, my youngest was still down for a nap. My eldest began his math so naturally Mick wanted to do math as well. I brought out the Drum Patterns printable from last week and gave him a few to complete the patterns of. You can find that printable here at Dd is for Drum.

Thursday highlight: Life cycle toys and printable

Since Friday is reserved for nature group, Thursdays are the last day of our scheduled letter of the week activities. Thursday’s schedule was similar to Monday and Tuesday. We began by reading and then transitioned to review. This day we had plenty of time to dedicate to his alphabet puzzle. I only supply him with letters “A-E” to keep the review focused. As he places a letter I help him name it and then we sing the alphabet song. 

Mick wanted to continue letter of the week but I had other chores I needed to complete early that morning so I gave him the last coloring page. It wasn’t until that afternoon I was able to sit down with him and talk about a chicken’s life cycle. I left him with the printable and life cycle toys to play with.

Structured learning time in your homeschool is possible.

I hope you feel inspired to plan structured learning time with your 3-5 year old. I encourage you to check out the Letter of the Week curriculum that Playing for Hours offers completely free. Each letter is themed and includes activity ideas, free printables, coloring pages, and book suggestions. 

The sample schedule I provide here is for inspiration and guidance purposes only. I encourage you to adapt the order of activities to fit the season of life your family is in.