It always baffles me when people say that they are home schooling their child instead of sending them to preschool. It baffles me because despite what many people think, learning does not have to occur in a school or even a setting that is like school. You do not need to follow a regimented “home school” plan for preschool. Children at this age are natural sponges and will soak up everything they interact with.
If in these early years, you focus on letting your child explore and allow your child to develop a natural curiosity for things–your child will excel regardless of whether or not you decide on traditional schooling or home schooling in later grades.
So how do you cover things like letters, numbers, shapes and colors? The absolute best thing that you can do for your child is read. Did I say you should read? What I really meant to say, is YOU MUST READ to your child! Have great books available in your home. Make them accessible to your children. Read things that are at their level. Read things that are slightly above their level. Don’t be frustrated if they won’t sit through a whole book. That’s fine. It is valuable still to sit with a book and look and talk about pictures with your child.
Secondly, let your child explore. Let him explore art by putting out supplies and letting your child play with them. Let him explore outside by getting dirty, wet and everything in between! Let him explore by letting him out of the stroller to walk around. Let him explore by taking him to different places like the zoo, a different park, or a museum. Try making bread together and letting your child punch the dough. Talk about what he’s seeing, touching, feeling, and smelling.
Finally, listen for what your child wants to learn. It is fine to spend the year talking about animals or anything else for that matter. You do not need to worry about teaching letters, numbers and so forth; unless your child really wants to learn them. In fact, there is a growing body of research that even indicates that kids who learn to read later, learn to read better in the long run.
So when you think of keeping your preschooler at home, don’t think of “home schooling.” Think of it more as “playing with a purpose”!