Going to preschool then hs

[lulalu]

What could be some downsides to doing a preschool then homeschooling? Does it make it difficult for kids to stay home then? Any issues with the change? We have an option to do preschool where the local language can be worked on as well as a third language, but want to think things through.

[Kiara.I]

Some kids might do poorly with it. Both of mine were fine with it. They knew ahead of time that we'd be homeschooling. And once I'd realised how much "Rah rah school!" messaging was in all the books and shows, I'd started to do some counter-programming.

 

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[Calizzy]

We are doing preschool this year for my 3yo ds. I am homeschooling 3rd and k/1st grade and it's just really hard with a happy, full-of-life 3 year old running around. I plan to use preschool for him for 2 years and then homeschool him. Our preschool is a lot of paining and playing. I don't anticipate any problems.

[Meadowlark]

I sent 2 of mine to preschool last year and they'll be home this year. I don't anticipate any problems. They liked school but always knew they'd be home.

[Dinsfamily]

I sent all of mine to Pre-K and it worked out great ( or I wouldn't have kept doing it). The biggest help for me was allowing the preschool to set the "school mindset" so that they were prepared to do school when they came home for K. I am very relaxed with my little ones and structured with my school-age kiddos so it would be quite a shock to go from "everything is optional" to a structured school day. Also, our pre-K has amazing teachers who loved on my kiddos and wonderful in-house specials/field trips.

 

The only complaint I ever got was from my oldest who wanted to go to PS Kinder. After talking to him about it, he thought it was going to be just like Pre-K and he'd get to ride the bus. When I explained that we lived too close for bus service,K'ers only get 20 mins of recess and Miss Maria wouldn't be his teacher, he decided that hs'ing was a better idea. We had a great year!

 

The pre-K was 3-4 days/week from 9-2. First 3 went 3 days. #4 went 4 days.

 

The only downside was the price. I got a big raise this year when ds#4 graduated!

[Carrousel]

Both of mine did 3 and 4 yo preschool and then were home for K.  No problems with transitioning to homeschool for K.  Younger had been going to co op and field trips along with preschool, so he didn't want to give up those friends for unknown K friends.  May have helped that the kids in his preschool class went to 5 different elementary schools, so they weren't all moving together.

[abcmommy]

All my kids did preK before homeschooling.  All were private preKs with no connections to local schools or any of this kindergarten visit and prep described above.

 

Mine were multi age 3-5 classrooms.  2 were center based NAEYC accredited and the 3rd was a "montessori" program.  I preferred the center based by far.

[HS Mom in NC]

I didn't send mine to preschool but I know lots of homeschoolers who did and it was just fine.

[EmilyGF]

A friend of mine sent all her preschoolers to Montessori school then unschooled. It worked well for them and in many ways.

 

(Wishing I could afford Montessori preschool. :-) )

Emily

[Targhee]

My dd did a performing arts preschool (vs an academic preschool) and we had no issues.  

 

Potential problems I could see are missing friends they see regularly, and if it is an academic/preparatory school your child may gain a measure of anxiety about doing things "right." 

[SeaConquest]

All my kids did preK before homeschooling.  All were private preKs with no connections to local schools or any of this kindergarten visit and prep described above.

 

Mine were multi age 3-5 classrooms.  2 were center based NAEYC accredited and the 3rd was a "montessori" program.  I preferred the center based by far.

 

Ditto. Mine go to preschool from 2 years on. No issues with homeschooling. To be honest, I cannot imagine homeschooling with a toddler underfoot. I can only homeschool my older because younger is at preschool. I know others can manage the toddlers around, but it's not for me.

Edited July 29, 2016 by SeaConquest

[Janeway]

One preschool I sent one of my children to made such a huge deal of going to the big school, and made it clear that going to home school is not the same as going to the big school, that I ended up having to put my child in the big school because he was so upset and humiliated. The teacher actually told the other kids that he was not going to go to school. She refused to even say he was getting to home school. She literally would, when discussing the next school, always tell the class this child is going here..that child there..and my child is not going to school. 

 

My younger children are in a far better preschool. But this is a huge drawback that can cause tons of problems.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Janeway

[CanadianAlison+3boys]

My oldest did preschool before coming home for kindergarten and it was really good for him at the time. He was in a class with kids he already knew several of from before preschool started, which allowed him to feel at ease. He got to have time building some skills he needed and I got a bit of a breather that allowed me to take a nap with my 1 year old and newborn.

 

The other two didn't need it but I'm not sorry at all we did it for DS1. :)

[Loowit]

All of mine went to preschool.  I wasn't planning to homeschool when my oldest went.  It wasn't a big deal for the transition to K at home.  She missed her friends, but she wouldn't have been with them anyway.  All the kids went off to different schools in the area.  My boys knew already that they would be homeschooled and we had no problems at all.  They all did a tour of the Kindergarten at the private school the preschool was attached to, but none of them really expressed much interest in attending there.  We couldn't have afforded it anyway.

[SebastianCat]

Both of mine went to preschool, then began homeschooling in K.   For my oldest, preschool was a social outlet and a way for him to enjoy messy crafts that I didn't want to do at home, because I would have been tempted to push academics too soon with him.    For my youngest, preschool was a social outlet and a way to minimize distractions a few days per week for the oldest, who had begun homeschooling by then.   

[Insertcreativenamehere]

My daughter did three years of a play-based preschool. She LOVED it. When the time came for kindergarten, we decided to homeschool. Halfway through the year, she decided she wanted to try the school down the street because she wanted to play with friends and ride the bus. That lasted two weeks. We lived too close for the bus and she hardly had any time to play with friends because the class was so highly structured. She's very happy homeschooling now. I consider her foray into public school a good experience because it showed her that homeschooling has many more benefits than she thought. 

[misty.warden]

DS went to a preschool from age 3-5 because I was working at the time. I hated him having such long days at that age but the school did a lot of play-based activities and combined age classes at the end of the day. He misses his friends (they would've all gone to different schools anyway, we lived in another district and moved to another state when he was 6) but it isn't an issue.

 

The only carryover to hs'ing is when he would occasionally rebel against my teaching style or scheduling with "that's not how (Pre-K teacher) did it!" But that's a teachable moment about different teaching styles.

 

I had always planned to homeschool.

 

 

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[busymama7]

It wouldn't work for me here because of the focus on academics in preschool. I believe more in children have extended periods of time for free play and for them to learn to work along side a parent for the running of the household. I also homeschool for many reasons but a big one is the family centric model. Sending preschoolers off would not fit in that model for our family. Of all the times that kids need to be home, early childhood and elementary are the most important. It makes more sense to me to send an older child to high school than a young child to preschool.

[MotherGoose]

I sent one of mine to 2 nd 3 k, and one to only 3 k. They are still such babies then. I think it helped that we went to a hs coop for 4 k so they avoided all the school prep really. And after doing 5 days of VBS this past week, I'm glad we did! I guess you get into a routine of school but wow I'm glad the schedule is over. They only went tues Thursday which gave us a break. Will do preschool with baby too.

Edited July 30, 2016 by MotherGoose

[Tiramisu]

My one very sensitive child had a very, very hard time going from pre-school to hs. I made sure not to take that path for my next one. Not that it has to be bad, but the experience with that one dc traumatized both of us. It was that painful of an adjustment. At the same time, being able to send her off for three hours a day, two or three times a week was a lifesaver at the time. Nothing's simple, is it?

[foxbridgeacademy]

After doing preschool DD begged to homeschool.  She tried PS for 1st grade, made it through to November but ended up sick and nearly hospitalized due to ear infection and general fatigue. So we HSed again.  In 5th grade she was sure she wanted the "socialization", she made it 2 weeks before the fatigue and misery set in.  For 6th grade we got her on ADD meds.... after 3 weeks she realized that the other students were about 1-2 academic grade levels behind and significantly more when it came to maturity. She now wishes she could Homeschool College but will accept staying home through H.S.

 

 

 

[lulalu]

Thanks for the thoughts. I will have to think through these.