Homeschooling

A great way to get a head start on a child’s education is through preschool.  Whether you do this at home or send your little one to a licensed preschool, the child is sure to benefit immensely.

What is the right age to begin preschooling?

Some people would have you believe that you can start “formal” education at age 2.  While this is possible, perhaps people do not realize that at age 2 a child’s full time job is learning about the world around him or her.  A two year old can easily begin helping with simple chores, dressing themselves, and practice good manners.  There is much debate about whether or not you should push penmanship at this age.  While coloring with large crayons, markers and pencils is very age appropriate, it can strain little muscles to try to early to grasp a small pencil or crayon and can possibly make very hard to break habits.

Typically most licensed preschools will not start children until 3 or 4 year of age.  Anything before this age is considered babysitting with a few activities thrown in. 

Which curriculum should I use to homeschool preschool my child?

There are many great programs out there for parents.  There are also many great free resources online such as free worksheets.  Below is a short list of some programs that may be of interest to you and you preschooler:

• Hooked on Phonics:  Letter Sounds, Get Ready to Read
• K12 preschool curriculum
• Hands on Homeschooling
• Sonlight (Christian homeschool method) preschool curriculum
•  A Beka Book (Christian homeschool method) curriculum, you can pick and choose subjects.

How do I start a preschool group?

If you are a stay at home parents you may want to start a preschool co-op.  This is a great way to help your little ones development as well as his and your social life. 

• First get other parents to get in on the planning.
• Have a meeting to discuss, activities, curriculum, treats, and the where and when of the co-op.  You also need to set parameters (how many children do we want in the co-op?).
• Make sure you have all of your supplies for your activities and curriculum before you ever try to start.
• Also, make sure you always have enough support.  A main cause of co-ops of any kind failing is that one or two people in the group feel like they are doing all of the work which negates the “co-op” philosophy.