The preschool years are a precious time, not only for children but their parents as well. It is a time of wide-eyed wonder, discovery, gaining independence and learning life skills that will help one survive the sometimes-stormy years of adulthood.
It is no wonder then that for many parents, sending their children off to preschool during the tender years has been replaced with another option: to homeschool preschool, or, in the words of homeschool preschool mom, writer and advocate Susan Lemons : “homepreschool.”
Quoting from Jane Claire Lambert, founder of Before Five In A Row, a homeschool preschool “gentle learning” curriculum:
“Now is the only early childhood you will ever be able to share with your child. These are golden years. It might be worthwhile to once again thoughtfully consider how you really want to spend your time. What could you put off until later in order to maximize and preserve these few precious years with your child? Your sacrifice today will mean a stronger academic and emotional future tomorrow. Your love, time and attention mean so much. In a child’s world, there is simply no substitute for you!”
If you are considering homeschooling your preschooler, let me tell you now based on my own experience, it may be the best decision you could make for your young one! (Check out some of the benefits here).
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Here are some tips to get you started:
1. It may sound cliché, but the first step most parents usually take when they’re making the decision to homeschool is to pray. In fact, most homeschooling parents I know would say that “homeschooling is a calling,” so it’s not for everyone. However, it is something I believe that parents should really think about and explore doing, especially if their kids are preschool-age.
Ask God's guidance regarding your desire to homeschool and especially for mutual support and understanding between husband and wife. If your main concern is living on a single income (because homeschooling entails one of the parents to be their child’s main teacher), offer that up in prayer as well.
Although homeschooling is more known to be something Christians do, you should know that there are homeschoolers of different faiths, including Muslims, and even some atheists! There is also such a thing as secular homeschooling.
2. Do your research. Find out what your child’s main interests are. It will also help to distinguish your kid’s learning style, as well as your own.
This will help you determine the type of homeschooling program or method you will choose. Generally these are classified as follows:
• Traditional
• Classical
• Independent
• Charlotte Mason
• Unschooling
• Eclectic
• Unit Studies
• Homeschool Online
• Christian Homeschool
• Catholic Homeschool
Read up on the different styles and methods of homeschooling, curricula you may be interested in using, and other helpful homeschool-related subjects. For useful links to homeschool preschool resources, you can also check out this writer’s blog (links are in the header and on the right side).
Click here to read more.
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3. Decide what your goals for the year are and try to come up with a plan on how to achieve them. It would help to have a homeschool philosophy or mission statement of your own, which will help keep you grounded, especially during difficult days. You can also use forms and planners available online.
4. Determine the daily routine you desire for your homeschooling. It need not take up the whole day – most preschool lessons take 1 to 2 hours maximum, with breaks in between, and lots of time for free play. Remember also that learning is an ongoing process, and need not be confined to the walls of your home.
Establishing a routine will help you achieve your daily goals, and will help give your preschooler a sense of predictability. Remember, young children take comfort in the familiar things.
5. Read aloud to your preschooler every day. In the words of Susan Lemons:
One of the most important things you can do to help your preschooler learn is reading aloud to him. When you read aloud to your child, you are teaching language, vocabulary, speech, pre-reading skills, pre-writing skills, and more. Reading aloud also builds your child’s attention span, and of course, teaches him about the world.
If homeschooling your preschooler seems a daunting task, parents can take comfort in the fact that by simply taking time every day to read aloud to their kids, they are already instilling a lifelong love of learning and reading in them.
Here are more helpful tips from other homeschool moms:
Karen Cabezon, housewife and homeschool mom to 6 year old Lujean, is currently expecting her second baby. Their family has been homeschooling for 5 years. Their curriculum for preschool was made up of the following:
• Following God (Bible, Math, Science) from ICI Ministries
• Sing, spell, read and write
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Mommy Karen shares her top 3 tips for homeschooling preschool:
1. Pray – “Always ask God for guidance and wisdom. A morning devotion routine really helps a lot. Begin your day with God's word.”
2. Prepare – “Even small kids would know if you are not prepared, and they can sense if you know what you are teaching or not.”
3. Patience – “Yes, you need to be patient with kids - especially preschoolers because they would ask lots of questions that you think they wouldn't ask....and if they enjoyed an activity, be prepared to do it again and again for a week!”
She also advises parents to remember that “lessons are learned best through play!” Based on her experience, “the floor is the best place to have your class and not on a desk.”
Karen also recommends getting your child involved in playgroups, as “your kid not only gets to interact with kids his or her age,” but “parents also get to spend time with other parents.”
She also emphasizes the importance of reading: “Read, read and read to them even if you think they wouldn't understand.”
Being a good role model is also essential. “Practice what you teach - preschoolers are good copy cats. They learn better when they see you do what you say,” Karen explains.
It also helps to get them to help around the house. “Kids are never too young to be introduced to chores. In our family, we don't call them chores but rather "acts of service". At a young age, I have taught my daughter that when you do things for people you live with, you are really doing it for Jesus and that makes Jesus happy!” this Christian mom shares.
Meanwhile, Catholic homeschool mom of three and writing company proprietor Blessie Adlaon (who also blogs about homeschooling at www.teacherblessie.blogspot.com and www.nanaynotebook.blogspot.com) shares her tips for homeschooling Josh, 7; Bea, 4; and EJ, 2. She used to be an independent homeschooler but is now currently using the Kolbe Academy’s classical curriculum.
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“First, set realistic expectations. Research what a four-year-old NEEDS to learn before you create your curriculum. Consult the experts and don't just depend on what you WANT your child to learn, as that is often based on comparison with neighbours and cousins, and that will inadvertently create unhealthy competition, which we want to avoid; that's why we're homeschooling, right?” Mommy Blessie says.
She also says that parents must face their motives. “Why do you want your child to start schooling so early? Albert Einstein did not learn to read until he was nine. That did not stop him from being a genius,” she quips.
Just like Mommy Karen and the writer of this article, Mommy Blessie also recommends that parents start “with teaching a love for reading. A child that loves books will be more motivated to learn to read than one who does not like books. A child that loves to read can be left to learn things all by himself.”
Blessie also says that parents shouldn’t be discouraged “if their kids don't seem to be learning as much as their schooling counterparts do. If you are doing your job right, your children are learning as much, but in different areas: spiritual values, proper socialization, respect for elders, diligence and helpfulness.”
“It's just too bad that we don't have flash card contests for these things, but these are the skills that will spell real success in real life. When your children are young and easily impressionable is the time to start training them for these skills intensively while protecting them from negative outside influences,” she further explains.
Mommy Blessie goes on to say:
“Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and the people who win marathons start slow. If, through homeschooling, you are able to teach your child how to learn and how to love learning before he actually begins studying facts formally, you will have helped him learn more easily in adulthood. Remember that people become successful because they have firm values and solid life skills, not because they learned to read at 3.”
In fact, many homeschool parents actually go by the Moore philosophy of education – that “better is late than early.” This school of thought generally advocates delayed formal education for children, usually starting at 8 or 10.
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Whatever philosophy you go by, probably one of the most important things you should remember when it comes to homeschooling your preschooler can be summed up in this quote from Tammy Drennan, a homeschooling mom and advocate since 1985:
One of the most important decisions you'll ever make is who will educate your children.
Education is not just learning to read but learning what to think about what you read and how to choose worthwhile reading material. It's about learning to discern truth and falsehood in what you read.
Education is not just learning the facts of science but learning why they matter and how to apply them ethically.
Education is not just learning dates and events from history but learning to apply the lessons of lives well lived and lives poorly lived -- and how to tell the difference.
Who will teach your children the meaning behind the facts?
Photo by Chiot’s Run via flickr creative commons
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