Toddlers are at an age where they primarily learn through play. Anything you are planning on teaching them should be made into a game. Below are some of the best methods to homeschool your toddler and teach them a wide variety of concepts.
Sing a Song
You can make up your own song or pick a nursery rhyme or other song to teach the concepts and topics to your toddler. Songs are a great way for your toddler to stretch their memorization skills. Also, once they learn the song, they will be able to sing it to themselves and continue teaching themselves.
If you want someone else to sing the songs for a change, your local library might have programs available for you and your toddler to attend.
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Draw a Picture or Color
Your toddler will be able to draw things that they see in everyday life as well as the things in their imagination. It is always great to let your child foster their creativity, as when they grow up they will be able to use it in their jobs and everyday life no matter the situation.
Letting your child play on their own while you get chores done or tend to other children is one of the best parts about being able to homeschool your toddler. Your child doesn’t pick up on any undesirable behaviors from other children that they are regularly exposed to at daycare or preschool.
There are many coloring books that you can buy or coloring pages you can print, that can help reinforce concepts you are teaching your toddler. The pages they color don’t always have to be of cartoon characters, they can be educational too.
I Spy
This is a great game to play while you homeschool your toddler no matter where you are. Even if you are driving, you can call out something you see while driving to test your toddler’s quick thinking skills. If you are just looking at an I Spy book at home, you can make the game more challenging and test their memory and counting skills as well. Here are two of our favorite I Spy books.
Building your own I Spy board is a great craft to do with your toddler. Building things yourself and being creative are great lessons to teach while you homeschool your toddler. You can take a picture frame and put little figurines, pieces of pasta, beans, magazine letter cutouts, handwritten letters on a piece of paper, or whatever else you want in the frame. This is a great and cheap option if your child loves I Spy and needs a new image often.
Board Games
Toddlers should learn how to follow rules, take turns, and not be the best at something. Board games are a great way to introduce all of these concepts to them in an easy to understand and unimportant manner. It is easier to deal with your toddler’s tantrum about losing or it not being their turn while you are at home than out in public. You can even let your child help you pick out new board games for you to use while you homeschool your toddler. Games like Chutes & Ladders, Hi Ho! Cherry-O, and other classic kids card games
Technological Skills
Some parents don’t want their children to have much screen time because of the various studies that have have read. There are other studies that say different things about screen time, particularly about how doctors that have grown up playing video games are generally more skilled at working the DaVinci and other similar medical surgical equipment.
As much as we want to educate our children, we should be well aware that we need to prepare them for any possible future that they will encounter, including a future that is very technology based. I have realized that when you homeschool your toddler, you should allow them to practice using technology as well as do things manually. You never know when you might be without your devices and will need to do or know something on your own.
My son loves Khan Academy Kids, and I love it because it is a great learning tool that allows him to hear something other than my voice or a YouTube video. It had interactive games that progress based on his skill level. I can also assign him lessons to complete on his own based on what I’m teaching him. You can also see what curriculum standard each lesson aligns with so you can be sure that you aren’t missing any topics while you homeschool your toddler. Your child can redo any lessons, listen to storybooks and color in the app as well.
I enjoy playing on the app and listening to the stories with him because I’m able to elaborate and clarify things for him if need be. I try to let him answer everything on his own so that the app understands what he knows and doesn’t know.
Arts and Crafts
You don’t have to spend a fortune at a crafts store in order to have crafting materials. Anything around the house, but especially things that would otherwise be thrown away, is fair game when it comes to making crafts. I have learned that keeping things simple is best when you homeschool your toddler.
All you really need is some liquid glue, glue sticks, an old magazine or newspaper, an empty shoe box, random bits of paper, stickers, toilet paper and paper towel rolls. There are a wide variety of crafts your child can make with just these things. Liquid glue, glue sticks, and stickers can all be bought at your local dollar store, but these links are probably a better deal and they will be shipped straight to your door for free.
Playing Outside
Toddlers need plenty of exercise and playing outside is a great way to satisfy that need. They will be able to enjoy nature and see new things while out there. It is also a great opportunity to play catch with them so you can work on their hand-eye coordination.
My son loves this water table, he plays with it every summer and it might last him one or two more summers before he gets bored of it. I make sure that whenever we go outside, I dress him in loose shorts, a t-shirt, and water shoes. I learned the hard way how difficult it is to pull soaking wet shoes, socks, and jeans off a toddler.
Keep a Schedule
The best way to make sure that you are homeschooling, going outside, and doing whatever else you want, is to make and keep a schedule. Kids like consistency, if they know that every day at 1PM they get to go outside, they will look forward to it and will help you stay on track. You will be much more productive in general if you are able to keep a good schedule while you homeschool your toddler.
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Cleaning and Other Everyday Chores
Toddlers need to see you clean and even help with cleaning. There are kid sized cleaning toy sets that work well to help your child help you clean. This set allows your child to sweep, mop, and dust. It is appropriate to ask your child to sweep their room. Just be aware that your child might sneak and use your dog’s water bowl as a mop bucket and mop the floor…..ask me how I know. 😉
It is also a good idea to teach your toddler how to sort their clothes in their hamper. This will make life easier on you now and later when you are teaching them how to do their own laundry.
You can also teach your child to feed your dog or cat. Our toddler is able to open our airtight dog food container and feed the dogs when we ask him to. This is another great chore to help teach your child responsibility and taking care of others.
When you homeschool your toddler, you don’t have to give them just schoolwork. You are able to really prepare them for the real world, no matter what that means in the future.
Play Money
You should give your toddler a depleted gift card to “spend” so that they understand the concept of money. You can even let your child “pay” with their gift card while you finish paying for your purchase at a store.
You can also make a “Treasure Box” at home and allow your child to spend fake money to get items out of the box. You can give them money for good behavior, doing their chores, and any other behavior you see fit. I’m doing this because I realized that when you homeschool your toddler, it is best if you prepare them for the real world better than the school can.
I’m definitely making educating my toddler about finances a fundamental part of our curriculum. I wish that I was able to learn more about finances and good financial health while I was growing up, so I have tried to teach it as much as possible.
Cooking
You can allow your child to help you cook your meals by allowing them to mix ingredients together in a bowl at the dinner table or some other place away from the stove, oven, and other dangers. They can also help by grabbing ingredients that are light and in their reach from the fridge.
Be prepared for them to make a bit of a mess. Things can go sideways quickly while you are homeschool your toddler. Especially because they will watch you cook and do other chores all day and they will think that they can do them as well, but they don’t yet have the proper coordination to do them well.
Other “Real-life” Toys
Toys like this cleaning kit that help your child understand things that they will eventually face in real life are also a great option. Toys such as a baby dolls, mechanic kit, workbench, kitchen, and a grocery store are a great way to help your toddler learn how to care for other people, fix things, clean, shop, and use their imagination.
Summary
Don’t feel shut in a box while you homeschool your toddler. Make sure that homeschooling works well for you and your children, that is all that matters. I hope these suggestions gave you some ideas on how you can homeschool your toddler.
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