Homeschoolers: Did your DC go to preschool?

[lmwbasye]

DS1 is 4 and has always been in a daycare type setting since I've been teaching. This year was my first year home and with DH deployed, we decided to keep him in preschool until he got home. Anyway, we have a move coming soon and I'm starting to look into preschools and think about kindergarten the following year (2010). As a former kindergarten teacher, I'm less than thrilled with the idea of a traditional school setting for my DS for various reasons. I'm beginning to consider homeschooling since I've met a lot of Army spouses who do this.

Anyway, next year DS would be in a pre-k program (2 1/2 hours a day) and was wondering if I should even send him if I'm considering homeschooling him (although not certain on that at all). I was wondering what other homeschoolers have done and how has it worked out for you.

TIA!

[Melaine]

I was homeschooled from birth-highschool. My mom says that preschool and kindergarten are the easiest ways to learn if homeschooling is right for you. It's a very natural progression from teaching your baby to walk, to say "please", not to bite, to hold your hand in the parking lot, etc. then on to learning letters, numbers, colors, shapes, (all the things you have probably been working on already).
My parents were both public school teachers, which is why they chose homeschooling for us. It's amazing how many homeschooling parents were also once teachers....I think you should go for it!

[mamicka]

We have started homeschooling this year & its turning out to be a really good fit. I did send DS1 to 4 year-old preschool & a half-year of public K. DS2 is in a 3year-old preschool program 2x a week for 2 hours (4 hours a week total) & I intend to send him to 4 year-old preschool next year. To me, homeschool & preschool aren't mutually exclusive. I feel like for us, preschool is such a minor time commitment in the grand scheme that it is more of a structured playdate for the kids & a break for me. The reinforcement of the letters & following directions & all the other stuff they learn is just gravy.

Best of luck to you - homeschooling has really been a blessing for our family.

[brittone2]

DS would start K in the fall if going to public school. He has never attended preschool, etc. We plan to continue homeschooling.

He's learned everything he would typically have learned in K already (he's reading, writing, counting, adding, subtracting, etc.) without any formal lessons, etc. We never missed doing preschool. (eta: and we have plenty of kids of all ages in our neighborhood that he plays with...he has friends from age 4-14, and sees them all regularly. We're also starting to get networked in with the local homeschooling community, so there are tons of activities, park days, etc. if we want to get involved with those events too.)

[hellokitty]

I have some friends who homeschool who do preschool, b/c they think preschool is, "fun." However, most that I know don't send their kids to preschool if they plan to HS. I have mixed feelings. I started out wanting to HS, we did one yr of HS preschool, it was ok, but very isolating, b/c I didn't know anyone else who was doing it and felt like a freak. I enrolled my son into preschool this yr and he is going to be in half day K this autumn. I still may consider HSing later on, I'm not sure. As for preschool, my son is very indifferent to it and is a bit of a loner at school, so it's not like he is making a bunch of friends or anything and getting anything, "socially" out of it. I think that getting into the, "mode" of school has been beneficial to him, in that he will be in K next yr and it's been his first time away from me since he was a baby. However, if we were for sure going to homeschool, I would not send him to preschool. I would focus more on finding a group of other homeschoolers with kids my age as a source of socialization and support. Unfortunately, we don't fit in with the homeschooling crowd in our area, my religious and political views are the polar opposite of the HSing crowd and there are NO secular HS groups in our area. They are all super religious and you have to profess your faith type of thing... that is one reason why I changed my mind about HSing, due to lack of local support. If there was a big secular HSing group in my area, I am pretty sure I would just HS my kids.

[AngelaS]

Nope, none of mine have gone to preschool. :)