Preschooling at Home: My Thoughtsby Lyn Newton | More from this Blogger 17 Jan 2008 04:19 PM As many of you know, Valorie is our homeschool blogger here at Families.com. While she prefers the home education setting, I am into the public school setting. Although the two of us have some differences when it comes to how to educate our children, we also share many similarities and beliefs. If you have read previous articles from Valorie, you likely know that she is not for formal schooling of children under six years of age. I suppose that I differ. My daughter is in preschool. However if I did not work a full time teaching job, she would receive her preschool education from me at home. While keeping up with Valorie's homeschool articles, I noticed she had written about preschool. Knowing her views, this interested me. In Valorie's article she discusses how to educate your preschool child at home. She also comments that her article is from a homeschooling and not academic stand. However she is right on target academically speaking. The four things suggested in her article were: turn off the television, talk, read, and play. These things are exactly what children need to begin school. I can say this because I am a kindergarten teacher. I can tell when children have been read to, talked to, and played with by parents or other adults. Although Valorie's idea of not sending children to school until the age of six is a nice thought, it is also very idealistic. If the parents in the world would take the time to do the things that Valorie suggested, preschool would not be needed. However, most parents do not. Therefore, many children receive their only enrichment for the day from preschool. Many parents had rather pay someone else to talk to and play with their child. Other parents are like me. They cannot be with their children during the day due to work. Their child has to stay with a sitter. Most sitters have more than one child and do not interact with the children as much as they need. The parents feel that if their child has to stay somewhere, it might as well be in an educational setting. Learn more about Lyn Newton  Lyn is a kindergarten teacher and mommy to a girl and a boy. In her spare time, she enjoys informative and creative writing. Relevanteducation tags User Comments Beckard (151) 30 Mar 2009 04:04 PMI too feel that it would be ideal for a child to receive their early education from home under the condition that the parents are following recommended "teaching/play" strategies. I too an a huge supporter of preschool. I think that if the student to teacher ratio is low, and the program offers a cognitive learning aspect, preschool can be very beneficial for children. I am taking a child and adolescent development class and have recently examined the recent research studies examining the effectiveness of preschool. Through my research I found that preschool programs with a low student to teacher ratio and a cognitive component are actually successful at boosting children's immediate test scores, as well as increasing their chances of continuing education (evident through the completion of high school and college). Although it would be most parents' wish to stay home with their children, finding the right preschool program may be just as effective. Discuss this article
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