Homeschooling your preschooler is an amazing experience! If you’re on the fence about homeschooling, this may encourage you! I also want to say that I completely understand if homeschooling is not something that works with your family. These are just some benefits that I see with homeschooling preschoolers.
1. I know exactly what my child is being taught and where they are at educationally. I get to choose their curriculum and be a huge part of their education.
2. I am able to modify the curriculum to fit the needs of my child. I think this is huge! As a former public school teacher, I know how much a teacher has to divide their attention between 25-30 students. It’s very hard to meet the needs of EVERY student. Yes, there are many teachers who do a good job modifying the curriculum for students (especially gifted and special needs), but I just love that I can teach my kiddos at a pace that works well for them.
3. We can save money! I would love to send our kids to a Montessori or private preschool, but that is just not in our budget. Since I stay at home with my kids, it makes sense for me to teach them preschool at home.
4. There are more opportunities to do “messy” sensory activities. We don’t have to share a sensory bin with 15 other kids. They can get messy and then take a bath afterwards.
5. We have a more relaxed schedule. We can go on vacations or appointments without interfering with the school schedule. Of course we wouldn’t abuse that and take a vacation from school two-thirds of the year, but it’s nice to have a more relaxed schedule.
6. My children can build strong sibling relationships with each other. They have a lot of time to work and play with each other. I think you definitely can still have this without homeschooling, but it is enhanced when they’re at home with their siblings most of the day.
7. We can be involved in a homeschool coop. Coops are great for developing social skills with kids. It’s also fun to get to know other children and for them to learn how to work and share with one another. I highly suggest finding a homeschool coop in your area! Many of the coops do art, music, PE, crafts, or field trips together.
8. We can teach our faith-based values to our children during school time. There’s no restriction on what we can teach our children in our home.
9. I can correct unwanted behaviors in the home right away as opposed to dealing with a problems later on.
10. We can stay in our PJs during school time! We don’t do this every day, but it is a nice perk!
What about you? Do you have anything to add to this list?
If you’re looking for tools to effectively teach preschool at home, check out my curriculum, Home Preschool Made Easy. I even offer a course that teaches you everything you need to know about home preschool! Check it out here.
Great read!! Thanks for sharing such a great blog.
There are who lot of benefits in homeschooling children. Though, if it is not properly planned and scheduled, it may not work out. Thanks for the list.
I love that my children have a phenomenal relationship with each other! It always makes me sad to see other families where the children don’t get along. Great list!
Penny recently posted…10 Ways I’m Being A More Intentional Mom
My favorite benefit is watching them learn new things and being there as they master new skills. They get so excited and proud of themselves and it’s priceless to be able to share that with them.
Emma recently posted…Child-led Neighborhood Walk
I find #9 to be key in the proper development of children. As parents we are to discipline our children and be consistent. That is very difficult to do when you are not around them.
For me it’s also about the choice of staying at home with my kids. I personally did this so I could spend the time with them. You miss out on so much when they are gone.
I also find it a lot less stressful not having to run around my little kiddo every day. We can take things slow or fast as needed. Even if you have early risers being rushed out the door in the morning can start to take it’s toll on a preschool aged child. I personally do not like to add more stress to my life.
That being said, even though I love to keep my kids at home for preschool, when they are 5 I ship them off to school. I’m not great past that age at teaching.
Leah Johnson recently posted…TRAVEL WITH KIDS – PART 1: ACTIVITIES
I love, love, love the freedom. My kids are of school age and did go to school but not for a year and a half.
1) you can fill their days with so many experiences – we are reading the Famous Five (ok, we live near Corfe Castle in the Uk, it is fab). We went camping to a local farm with no electricity and cooked over a campfire. They were a lot of hands on farming activities as well. We just upped and went on a school day! We are growing yeast to make bread, have made paper, soap, no end of craft projects and they clean the chickens out for me.
2) We deliberately holiday out of school holidays as it is quieter. We have more holidays and we take our work with us. Recently we went to a caravan and they happily sat in the sun with their geology lap-book.
3) Mine are adopted and it gives a great opportunity for closeness and for an appropriate attachment to take root.
4) I am learning lots. Through the medium of cutting and sticking.
5) My kids pick topics. They are learning what they are interested in, which means they are interested in learning. It is fun.
6) I love having them home. Selfish and not why we took them out of school but, nonetheless, my kids are wonderful.
7) They know less people than if they were at school but they have deeper friendships and great relationship skills, for their age.
Sorry, stopping and calming down, off to Ancient Egypt now…..
Love your list, Gina! So good to hear your perspective. I agree with all of those! I love that the kids can pick topics to learn. Makes school so much fun! Thank you for sharing!
Something I’ve heard parents say (and which I myself have to be careful of considering my kids go to school beginning in kindergarten) is, “We don’t have to do that at home. They get it at school.” This is not always true, but it’s an assumption parents can make about many things — learning certain basic skills, doing certain activities, etc. If parents are the teacher they know exactly what their kids are or are not learning and can then take responsibility.
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That is a good point! I’ve head that one before, too. We, as parents, still need to take responsibility to make sure our kids are learning skills, even if they are sent to school!