I am a stay at home mom. I love working with my son and teaching him. We do 2 mommy and me classes a week and visit museums, parks and lots of fun stuff. We try to have weekly playdates but since we are new to the area we only know a few people and don’t have any family around other than my husband and I, our son is very clingy and wants to be with us 24/7. Our son is well adjusted but loves being with Mommy & Daddy and had never been separated.
He is excelling with all we have taught him (tons of cards, alphabet, shapes, numbers, beginning reading…etc.). So our biggest concern is separation. He is a November baby and doesn’t make the 3 year cut off for preschools so if we were to send him this coming fall 2012, he would be in a 2yr program going for 2.5 hours 3 days a week. The only reason we are even considering this is because we feel he needs to hang with some other kids and learn more of sense of community and work on his social skills. I don’t think it will interfere with my teaching him at home since he will only be going for 7.5 hours a week.
My questions are these:
What are other people doing for a late birthday baby and handling separation along with teaching at home?
How do home schooling parents handle separation?
How do preschool programs effect at home teaching?
Both of my children are on the older side for their (eventual) grades. I have been fortunate so far with the school we chose (it’s Montessori).
I’m not really sure what you are asking with “how we handle separation”? Do you want to know if they attend pre-school (or toddler programs) or how they adjust to them or something else?
My oldest started at 3.5 (for his first year of two years of preschool before kindergarten). He didn’t adjust well at first, but I believe that to be his temperament more than anything. I believe he would have benefitted from attending the toddler program.
“How do preschool programs effect home learning”? For us, it’s been a wonderful compliment. I also find myself actually doing more during school days then during breaks because it forces us to be in more of a structure.
Not all preschools are equal, so you’ll have to see if there is one that will compliment your family’s style.
I have so far chosen to not want my children to be put ahead of the state’s age brackets. I have personal reasons for not wanting early graduates. With that said, if we had to, one grade skip wouldn’t bother me since it would really only place them a few months younger than the youngest in that grade. I’d be more likely to pull them and homeschool if the school could not accommodate them while leaving them with similarly aged children. But, we plan to send them to Montessori school until high school, so it’s unlikely for that to happen. And, my reasons are more personally significant than scientific.
My children are homeschooled at the moment. My DD 4.5 years old has a great deal of trouble separating from us even despite the fact that she now attends Sunday School and art class and Kids Club and I have a woman looking after them both two mornings a week in my house while I work. Despite all that practice at separation (and she went to preschool from 2-3.5 years old) she still sometimes cries when I leave, gets very clingy when I drop her off at all of the above activities.
I think these days we expect a bit too much of our children as far as separation goes simply because so many parents work and so so many children are in day care. When I was younger it was expected that many children would cry on the first day of grade 1 when leaving their parents. These days most children have had years of practice at separation from a very early age. I think all you can do is send the child where you want him to go and see how it goes. Most children do settle down after a few minutes of crying and are fine til you return. It is harder on the parents than the children in many ways.
The preschool my DD went to did not affect the early learning at home - we just did it in the afternoon. Some of it was even solidified at the school and she learnt a few things I had not yet taught her.
The only reason we are even considering this is because we feel he needs to hang with some other kids and learn more of sense of community and work on his social skills.
I have nothing against preschool, but if you don’t find a program you like or if you feel a little unsure about it you could look into joining some play groups to practice social skills and to meet other moms where you live. Here is a link to one mom’s group that is supposed to be international. So maybe they have a group near you. I am sure if you did an internet search you might find others.
You sound a lot like me a year ago. Although my son doesnt have a November birthday (he is 2/16), he missed the birthday cut off for a program that i was considering by 2 weeks. He woud have been in the 2s class instead of the 2 1/2 to 3s. I opted to keep him home with me another year. I didnt feel comfortable placing him in an environment where he knew everything that was being introduced.
This fall, i am placing him in a Reggio-inspired school where all the preschool teachers are Montessori-certified. He will attend three mornings a week for 3 hours each day. I think he needs to be with mixed age groups, and at this school, they have several “special” classes like Spanish, music and fitness (which helps me because i have been taking him to Spanish, music and Little Gym at different locations). Plus, since they have some children already reading in this class, i really feel that this school will serve as a complement to all we have been doing at home.