Homeschool Preschool

Updated on October 13, 2010
J.S. asks from San Jose, CA
13 answers

Hello Moms!

I am looking into homeschooling my twins for preschool, and was hoping there a a few moms out there that have done this and can give me some advise/support. Is there any one going through the same decisions I am?

If I do homeschooling I am planing on doing Montessori teaching. My biggest hang up is being able to teach both of them at the same time. I do not have a teaching background. My other issue is we are planning on getting pregnant later this summer and I'm concerned about the amount of energy required to do this. I was so tired with the first one!.

Also, if anyone has any great resources for homeschooling that would be great. I have found a few things out there but its always good to get home info.

Thanks for you time!

~J.
mom to two beautiful twin girls 19 months.

5 moms found this helpful

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So What Happened?

OH my Goodness!!

I feel so blessed by everyone's comments, support, and resources. All of you have really helped a lot!
Riley J., Mommy, Martha R. Deborah T., Marda P. Kimberly V., Thank you for this information! I have passed this information to other moms that have the same questions.

Julie C., Nanaglena, Kari F. Than you for your kind words and support

Kimmie G. THANK YOU!!! you did it twice! gives me hope that it can be done!

a side note. I am heavy involved in several playgroups so my girls do get plenty of social interaction though that. Thank you for your concern.

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D.T.

answers from San Francisco on

We just got some info from Oak Meadow. And remember, you don't teach like traditional teachers. Life is teaching. And preschool is all about watercolor painting, reading, making bread together. Fun stuff! I really love the Oak Meadow info. We are going to homeschool preschool with their materials. Good luck!

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K.G.

answers from San Francisco on

I'm currently homeschool preschooling my little twin girls. They are nearly 4. We do't' stay to one specific curriculum. It's too much to do that much structure with little ones. We play games, sing songs, role playing, cooking, baking, painting and practice writing letters of the alphabet. They are such smart cookies. They don't know they are learning they just think it's playing. Don't try to make it too school-ish, check out unschooling. The beauty of homeschooling is that it's not like school. I also homeschool my other twin girls who are 11 years old. It's fun. It's a joy. It's such a blessing.

Also, you do have a teaching background. You are their mama and have a background of teaching them since they were created in your belly. A parent is the best one to teach their own child. You can homeschool for their entire lives without having state required teaching experience. You know them best, you love them and you know better than anyone else how they learn and when they learn best.

My hats off to you. You are giving them such a wonderful gift.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Columbus on

Hi J.,

The good news is that Moms have been home schooling preschoolers for centuries. All you really need to do is enrich their environment. Talk, sing, go to the park. Tell them what you are putting in your grocery cart. Read, read, read. Go to the library. You really do not need to get any program or spend any money. Join a play group so that they learn some social skills outside of their twin bond.

I work as an educational advocate, and the data is really clear. You can try to advance your kids, but it won't stick unless they are going to get there anyway. They all even out by third grade for the most part, and will be in about the same spot by then (if they get a good k-3 education) and in many cases, the early advancement is misleading for parents and kids too, especially if it slows down (parents espcially, can be very disapointed when this happens.)

What you can do is to instill a love of reading and learning at home, and make sure that they know that it is a life long pleasure, because that never fades in terms of development. Preschool is not necessary for good education, they will do fine without it!

M.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Portland on

I think it's great that you're thinking about teaching your twins and considering various parts to doing it. I like the Montessori method, the little about it I know, anyway. I suggest that you don't need to do formal home schooling. Just being aware of how you want your twins to learn and finding some materials to use is enough. Many children enter kindergarten without having been to preschool. I'm guessing that most of them have a start on learning numbers, colors, the ABCs but some don't. In my granddaughter's kindergarten class there were students who could neatly print their name. But most of them scrawled their name in large uneven letters. She praised everyone of them, even those whose name was not legible. She then taped each name that they had written to their assigned desk.

The teacher told us that it was not important that students know certain things when they started kindergarten. What was important is that they had been exposed to the basics. She also said some children are not ready to learn any of what we seem to expect them to know at age 5 until they're older. Some things, like printing, they're not able to do neatly until several grades later. So much of what we learn is dependent on both physical and emotional maturation as well as exposure.

My granddaughter was in preschool from the time that she was 3. At 3 they did very little formal teaching. They spent more classroom time at 4 but still the focus was on providing toys/objects for them to learn informally. One of the important learning opportunities for many was how to get along with other children and in a somewhat more structured setting.

You can do this without having any teaching experience or formal material. You've been teaching your twins already. I think Montessori emphasizes learning opportunities. My daughter was in a Montessori Summer school after the first grade. The room didn't seem too different from any other large day care to me. The room was organized and contained many different sorts of opportunities. I worked full time and didn't take the opportunity to observe. I do know that they had a lot of free play time and that it didn't seem that they taught "standard"academic subjects such as numbers, alphabet, colors. For my daughter the focus was on learning how to get along with others and increasing her sense of security and self-confidence.

Your twins will learn from any experiences that you give them. Going to the zoo, the Childrens Museum, the Science Museum, having play dates with others their age, Playing with dried beans, water, clay, anything to encourage sensory awareness. Having crayons, markers, paint, paper of different colors and textures. Putting together blocks. Playing make believe with anything available. A box can be a house, a store, a boat.

My grandson is in a home day care/preschool. She purchased curriculum from the state. It felt mostly like craft projects with a learning focus. They did work sheets (how boring). Cut out objects from colored paper. This seemed fun. Drew pictures. The curriculum provided for 1 hour of instruction/day. Each day, the child had something to take home.

My grandson was in a half day therapeutic preschool at the time. He did sometimes have something to bring home but not most days. Their focus was more on play and learning thru play. Many 4 yo's are unable to sit and do something. My grandson did not fit in a regular preschool with a classroom size of 20 and 2 teachers and a couple of aides Home schooling is a wonderful way to go. You can provide personalized learning opportunities.

My grandson has never liked work book type learning. My granddaughter didn't like work books until she was in the first grade. The school that she attends uses a lot of black and white work sheets and she seems to find them boring. I bought several colorful and fun looking work books from Fred Meyers and The Learning Palace because I had enjoyed them as a child. My granddaughter worked on them while we were driving or at a restaurant but wasn't interested in them any other time.

I think it's especially important to not have a set schedule but to provide experiences based on what else is happening at home. Be sure to allow yourself to only do what you're able to do on any given day. Be careful to not set all of you up for a sense of frustration or failure because you weren't able to accomplish certain goals. I hope that you can mostly relax and have fun with your children. You are their best teacher just by being their mother who is interested in their learning.

I think it's often easier to teach when there are two children. They will learn from each other. They excite each others imagination. You can have them both coloring or playing at the same time or if one doesn't want to do what the other one wants to do have them each doing something different. One can be playing alone while the other is doing something with you. It should all be informal and manageable from your view point. You don't need to do anything difficult. Just being aware that you want your twins to have various experiences and then providing them is a good preschool experience.

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H.C.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi, in my opinion (and only my opinion) I think there are many good reasons for sending your girsl to preschool outside of the home. First, it is important for them to socialize with other kids. Second, I think your concern about being tired for 3 months is very reasonable and this will not necessarily be in their best interest. Third, when your new baby comes, you will probably be grateful for those hours when you can focus all your time on the new baby and get a bit of a break. If money is an issue there are co-op preschools in our area (Sacramento) that require a time commitment but are also cheaper. I also think pre-school can wait until 2-2.5 which would help if money is an issue. Good luck on your decision.

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R.J.

answers from San Diego on

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/playschool6/ is a Montessori Homeschool Message Board on yahoo groups that's really amazing. They do MM homeschool across the age spectrum, but there's also another sistergroup specific to preschool aged kids... but I'm not on that board, so I don't have the address.

Another worth checking out is MontessoriMakers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessorimakers/ which is specific to making your own MM materials.

Both groups have been extraordinarily helpful in my own journey. :) :) :)

Both are also moderated... so if you don't have one already, you would need a YahooID (free), and then it takes up to about a day to recieve approval to join.

My favorite Montessori HS Resources:

http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2009/07/montessori-links.html

http://www.blog.montessoriforeveryone.com/the-ultimate-po...

http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/

http://www.montessorimaterials.org/index.html

http://www.freemontessori.org/

http://www.nienhuis.com/index.php

http://www.montessorird.com/index2.php?cPath=1&osCsid...

So too, if you like Maria Montessori... you'll also probably really like Charlotte Mason. (We do a 40/40 split between MM & CM in our house, with the remaining 20% being wildly eclectic). Here's some more info:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlo...
http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/started/charlotte-...
http://www.amblesideonline.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SecularCM/ (there are religious CM groups... but as we're secular -CM is simplicity to secularize- this is the group I know best)

Cheers!
R

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J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

HI, just wanted to encourage you. It's not that hard overall, esp at that young age. Just keep doing what you've been doing! Children learn so much just up to the age of 5, think about everything you've taught them -- how to walk, talk, etc, and just by being with them, talking to them, reading to them, and taking them places. It doesn't have to be that formal. I mean kids at that age can only handle small spurts of sitting down and doing anything, like writing letters, so just keep it short and simple. We've been duped into thinking we need some kind of special training to teach our children, but who can teach their children better than their parents, and then you can teach them exactly what you want them to be learning, not what someone else thinks is best? When they get to be older, you may have to get help for difficult subjects like calculus(!), but until then, you don't need to worry as long as you can read and write, you can teach your young children; algebra is a ways off!

Joining a homeschool group can be helpful for the support, and resources it provides. Some meet one once a week, and then you can exchange resources like books and other tips. Best to you! Take care,
J.

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K.V.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi, I am so glad that I found your post. When I first read it I thought, wow, really? Montessori at home? Can that be done? Now I'm gonna go check out the links from a previous poster.

I DO have a teaching background and have taught Kindergarten. Right now I'm trying to open my own home daycare and stay home to "homeschool" my daughter and others. I am a big fan of experiential learning and letting them do lots of hands on things while keeping up a running dialog. As well as reading reading reading. I'm not a big fan of worksheets they will get plenty of that when the start school.

Speaking as a Kindergarten teacher, you can tell the difference between children who went to preschool and those who didn't at the beginning of Kindergarten, but you can also tell the difference between children who have a fall birthday and those with a spring or summer birthday! However, as long as you are actually WORKING with them at home they should be fine. Some of the kids who I taught that didn't go to preschool I'd swear they were barely even spoken to at home ( I had one who didn't recognize her own name, looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to get her to count and only knew the color pink, she had EVERYTHING done for her at home so she didn't even want to try at first and she started the school year two months late! Poor thing was VERY behind by the end of the year, but was too big to be held back in Kindergarten.)

So, I guess what I'm saying is that even though there are some great sites out there for Pre-School curriculum, some even free http://www.letteroftheweek.com/index.html , you don't necessarily need them. Let your girls choose which color cup they want, help them count the stairs as you walk up them, read daily, give them opportunities to hold a pencil, crayon, scissors, talk to them about the world around them, and I'm sure they will do great! But, I WOULD urge you to find a way for them to have some social time too, whether it's a play group or a babygym class a couple of days a week they need to be exposed to other children and learn to play with or near children other than each other.

Good luck momma!

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M.W.

answers from St. Cloud on

Thanks for asking this!

PS> The socialization issue is a joke to me. Most of the homeschool families I know have the most polite, adjusted, outgoing, and social kids I know!

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A.D.

answers from Philadelphia on

More an answer to your unschooling than home schooling, but read Rachel Carson's A Sense of Wonder and any other Rachel Carson books. Enjoy the whole process!

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D.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Hello J.: I am cheering you on!
Being the mother of 5 and now having grandchildren I understand your concerns for homeschooling. We tried it and was fine as long as I kept to a schedual and theme and didn't let chores,other people, or anything distract me. I found that I let the elementry school know that my phone would be off the hook or turned off during the hours of 9-12, so if they needed me (we were 6 houses away) they had to come get me (happy to say it never was a problem). I find that I still do with my little ones have a color,theme,letter,and animal of the day & they get to enjoy it. We did homeschool a teen and that was much more of a challenge to keep up with things and not let anything get in the way. But you can always pick your hours, then make any appointments after that time, or do what ever errands you need done. I can promise you that with another child it will be more difficult but mothers have been the main source of teaching for hundreds of years and done it well so don't let that get in your way. Good luck and keep in mind that your children are all of our hope of things to come. NanaGlenda

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K.F.

answers from Salinas on

Hi- You may be overthinking this a bit. Both my girls went to preschool outside the home but we did not put them in "pre-kindergarten" or a preschool that formally taught any academics at all. I personally do not think really little kids should be doing worksheets, math or writing much at all. You may already be doing what some of the best preschools do. My girls did tons of art projects, listened to stories, learned about nature, played outside and in, used water and sand tables, sang, danced and basically played. The only thing that your children will miss doing these things at home is the socialization. I personally think this is the most important part of pre-school, most good Mom's already do lots of the other stuff. Be sure they are in some type of kids group or class on a regular basis before kindergarten so they develop those super important skills. I would think with twins it will be even more important as they may tend to stick together. There are co-op preschools that are really inexpensive and they could attend just 2-3 days a weeks after you have your hands full with #3. Good luck and enjoy this age, it goes by quickly!

M..

answers from Orlando on

For us we love,

www.schoolzone.com

They have wonderful software that goes with the books. Not all books come with software so make sure that if it is something that you really want make sure that it comes with the book that you want.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you think that you want to homeschool your children when they get older, visit this site

www.connectionsacademy.com

It is a free virtual school and it is great.

I homeschool my two oldest children with Connections Academy and I homeschool my 4 year old with School Zone.

Have fun and God Bless.

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