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Deciding to Homeschool Your Young Children by Cheryl Lewis |
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Deciding to homeschool your Preschool or Kindergarten child is not a decision to be taken lightly. Homeschooling or even unschooling is a commitment. If you are going to homeschool you need to consider the degree to which you can truly commit to meet this need for your child.
A lot of parents start talking about establishing a homeschooling curriculum for their Preschooler only to come to the conclusion that they aren't a teacher and they probably can't do a good job. Wrong. To put that argument into perspective you only have to look at the parenting job you have done so far. Did you help your child learn to drink from a cup? Did you help your child learn to use a potty? Have you helped your child learn how to talk? Surprise! You've been homeschooling since the day you brought your bundle of joy home from the hospital. You probably didn't realise it, but that's the simple fact of it. Now you probably realise that yes, indeed, you can homeschool for preschool and kindergarten. Your next question needs to be "how much time can I devote". Consider your other responsibilities that must be met. Housework, cooking, church or social activities, older children, etc. How organized are you? Can you meet all of these responsibilities without stressing yourself out? Keep in mind that preschool and kindergarten do not have to be all day, every day courses. Two, three or four days per week for one to four hours per day, depending upon the age of your child is a pretty accurate timing period. You should consider a rather set schedule though. Your young child will come to expect their schooling time. At this age they will be eager to learn and have fun learning. Keep in mind though, that young children can often have a difficult time sitting still for a long length of time. Plan for break times when you consider scheduling. You'll also need to consider curriculum. Do you want to purchase a boxed set curriculum or do you want to make your own? In either case you should have a good idea of what your child needs to strive towards at each age. I recommend the skills lists at Abecedarian Academy. They have skills lists for Two's, Three's and Four's written by Michelle Lewis. Please keep in mind that there is not any "set" time limit for learning any one skill. You could have a big list of skills written by the most well known childhood educator in the world and it would still only be a reference point. These skill lists by Michelle Lewis are the most comprehensive and easy to understand skill lists that I've found to use as such a reference point. If you are going to consider a boxed set curriculum, print out these lists and check with as much information as you can get your hands on for each set to insure that the curriculum is going to meet those needs. Consider that there is also enough information available to make your own curriculum for far less money. Purchasing some quality Early Childhood learning books at your local Parent Teacher Store. Use the web to find tons of free activities and printouts. Just keep in mind your reference points and ultimate goals. Support is another thing you need to give some consideration. There will always be those who want to tell you that you're crazy for homeschooling. You need to be able to let that roll. You're not crazy, you're a loving concerned parent. However, you do need to consider getting some "Mom Time". Find a Co-Op, join a play group, plan for 30 minutes a day to slow down and take a breath. Hopefully you'll be able to find support rather easily. If not, create it for yourself. The most important thing is to determine and make up your own mind to enjoy your child. That's the best part of homeschooling your young child. For more homeschooling information visit my Homeschooling Preschool and Primary web page. © 2002 Cheryl Lewis. All rights reserved. Re-printed with permission. Originally published on Suite 101. |
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 A homeschooling mother of four, Cheryl Lewis has nine years of professional preschool experience and is currently the Dean of Education at Suite University and Managing Editor of Education at the Suite101.com web site. She also contributes at Bella Online and is the Host there for Early Childhood and the Moderator for the Early Childhood Forum | ||
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