Parent Resources

Home School

Homeschooling for the pre-schooler

For many parents, home schooling or caring for and educating their children for an extended period is often the preferred option. This method of childcare has proven to be quite positive and provides a continued connection between parent and child for a longer period (well after maternity leave). Homeschooling also offers a greater opportunity for parents to guide and monitor more closely the child's development, especially in those formative years from birth to age 5. Teaching from home is usually tailored for the individual child and the child's idiosyncrasies and strengths as well as challenges are taken into account. Usually, the parent and the child are less hurried and more comfortable in the home environment. One may notice that in this setting, the child gains more confidence in his/her own development. This often results in a more enjoyable learning process and this sets the tone for future years.

While this is so, it must be emphasized that indeed, no two home-schools are alike. In fact, the experience of each child within the same home will even be different as a parents' approach to each child will largely depend on the birth order as well as many other external factors including inter alia the number of siblings, parents' health before during and after childbirth, work schedules of the second parent etc .

Needless to say, homeschooling has become a much debated subject - with the debate ranging from "what really is homeschooling ?"  to the methods and content of an ideal home-school. The simple definition of home-school is:"the teaching of a child at home by his/her parents instead of within a formal school or institution". In Canada, there is no age limit on homeschooling a child except where Federal or Provincial laws require that children attend an educational institution by a certain age (usually age 6 in Ontario) in which case, the home-school may need to meet certain requirements. Some parents choose to get help from trained professionals/certified teachers to supplement the home curriculum and in addition to content, even some of the "traditional" teaching methods used at school are adopted eg. rote learning/repetition, a set timetable etc.

As previously mentioned, no two home-schools are alike; the approach to homeschooling almost always differs from one home to the next. Parents create or use a curriculum that they believe best suits their child. Still, many favour the structured curriculum with rigid themes and set benchmarks which do not necessarily take into account the interests of the child. With this practice, learning is not always enjoyable or intriguing. Many parents however, take a more natural approach to teaching, using the events of the day or activities or conversations to which the child is naturally drawn - very much like the Reggio philosophy. This method of homeschooling is often referred to as "un-schooling" - where the learning at home happens naturally with the child at the centre of the process in a very "unschool-like" way. Unschooling is not institutional in its physical make up or delivery nor are there any set guidelines or timelines to learning. Instead, unschooling is primarily focused on the child's specific interests and their progression in an emergent manner - uncovering them, protecting them and feeding those interests. Learning naturally becomes the joyous result ! For parents, the educational development is quite straightforward especially if you consider that the child knows what he/she wants to learn and as educated parents we are able to help them to learn it.

Things to look out for ...
Like many worthy endeavours, homeschooling has its challenges. Three most commonly faced by parents are:

1. The confidence that the child is indeed learning
2. Finding the time and skills to maintain the child's interest and measure the learning
3. Ensuring that the child's social needs are being met

Parents are encouraged to take the time to research the most suitable methods of homeschooling to determine and set achievable goals for parent and child. A home-school's emergent curriculum is not to be mistaken for a chaotic, "free for all" with days leading to months lacking direction. Parents should ensure that the child is provided with toys, material, books and objects which provoke thought and wonder - giving rise to questions and piquing curiosity. Parents should also prepare themselves in order to be able to answer these questions or to help/guide children in finding the answers for themselves.

Learning will not be optimized in an unsuitable environment. Equipping the "home classroom" requires much creativity and imagination. While this is so, parents must note that not every invented device or educational tool is necessary to assist a child in developing his/her intellectual and physical skills. The home is often already full of unique and fun equipment to get the programme started, however parents can make careful purchases to enhance and complement these things. For example, something as simple as putting brightly coloured buttons of different sizes on an old sweater and using it for "dress up" can help the child learn colours, fine motor skills and independence all in one shot.

Rates of learning are different between boys and girls and for varying age groups. In general it is important to closely observe a child's changing reaction to his/her environment and development of communication skills. In the absence of an educational professional, developmental issues may get overlooked although as parents, we tend to know our child best. However trained educators are very capable and experienced not just with one but sometimes with hundreds of children.

The second concern, finding sufficient time to stay on top of the learning process can be difficult especially at the start. There is usually a fair bit of research required to examine all the options and then make a choice on the exact approach (some curriculum, no curriculum) that would be best suited for a child. Once the decision is made then it ought to be implemented carefully and slowly, taking care to be involved in the process to ensure that the next phase of learning is well thought out before approaching it.

Finally, and of particular importance for the pre-schooler is the issue of social interaction, particularly in single child homes. Learning social graces, how to wait in line, wait one's turn, sharing attention, learning to help other children with tasks they are comfortable with when possible are crucial to a child's overall development. For the homeschooled child, these opportunities for group social growth are fewer and finding the adequate and sustained social interaction becomes a challenge. It is true that some children need less social interaction than others based on specific personality traits or socialization. However, some parents soon realize that brief drop-ins at playgroups or birthday parties or the visits with cousins may not be sufficient. Sustained and regular social interaction encourages greater independence and helps a child to be confident in group settings thus preparing him/her for school and the wider world.

Many children struggle upon entering formal school. The adjustment period often depends on the support from the new school, the child's level of self confidence and social maturity. The social element of childhood therefore not be underestimated. To address this, many parents choose home-school while enrolling the child in a part time childcare programme.

To facilitate this option, the Glebe Reggio Centre offers some part-time spaces to support the home-school method. The GRC believes that homeschooling together with regular attendance at an emergent curriculum based childcare Centre such as ours, is likely a perfect fit, providing "the best of both worlds."