Pre school question

[brendenseth]

My daughter is 23 months old, and we were going to homeschool her because of the lack of Catholic schools nearby. My parents and grandparents keep on saying I should bring her to a preschool like the one I attended. The question is should I allow her to go? I have reservations because it’s at a methodist church.

 

[bilop]

My daughter is 23 months old, and we were going to homeschool her because of the lack of Catholic schools nearby. My parents and grandparents keep on saying I should bring her to a preschool like the one I attended. The question is should I allow her to go? I have reservations because it’s at a methodist church.

I never went to school before Kindergarten. My Mom tried to take me to nursery school, and I walked out.

I personally see no reason for a 2 y.o. to be in “school”. As long as she’s exposed to other children regularly to socialize, she’ll get far better care from you.

God Bless

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

My daughter is 23 months old, and we were going to homeschool her because of the lack of Catholic schools nearby. My parents and grandparents keep on saying I should bring her to a preschool like the one I attended. The question is should I allow her to go? I have reservations because it’s at a methodist church.

It depends. We homeschool but a year before kindergarten we put 2 kids in preschool. It was Lutheran. It was a great experience and the theology was so basic that it was not detrimental to their faith. But I would be cautious and study up on the preschool. Most likely the grandparents are saying this because of the “Socialization” argument but that had nothing to do with us choosing it. It was that the kids liked it. That being said, our preschool was phenomenal and I only wish the Catholic community in the area had something half as good. We have since moved from that area and will probably not put our other kids in preschool before we start homeschool.

 

[Evania]

If you have reservations, then don’t do it. As a parent, you know what’s best for your child. Just work with her one on one.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

If you are thinking of homeschooling, research the homeschool support groups in your area. If there aren’t any Catholic grade schools, there will hopefully be a thriving Catholic homeschool group. That group may have regular playdates or preschool level activities. You could also offer to start a play group that meets during a time that older kids are also doing a group activity (science labs or whatever).

Your daughter will get play time, you will be making new family friends, and hopefully getting good advice and ground work for actual homeschooling when you start.

You can also plan rounds of library story hours or park programs to substitute for preschooling.

Like a prior poster, we did send our kids to a 2-day a week preschool. They loved it. We started with our oldest to give me a bit of quiet time with the new baby. (Totally not *necesssary *I know, but it was nice to have and dd loved her school time.) It was a Lutheran school but we liked the program and the people who ran it. There was no odd theology going on - just Bible stories and “Jesus loves me” type songs.

There is absolutely no need to send a normally developing child to preschool. However, I obviously don’t think it is always a bad idea. I do think it is a decision each family should make without outside pressure and might make differently for different children.

In fact, all schooling decisions should be like that: made with the dynamincs of that particular child and current family situation in mind, with much prayer, and totally without outside pressure (asked for advice is different). We made different decisions for each child and revisited them every year - not to change them necessarily but to confirm that everything was going as planned.

 

[robwar]

Is your child fully potty trained? Most pre-schools require that. If you are truly going to homeschool and your child isn’t going to be sitting in front of the TV, then you shouldn’t worry about what the Grandparents think because they probably are not going to understand homeschooling anyway. I’ve seen arguments both way and by parents on both sides. Usually preschool isn’t everyday and preschool can help if your child is experiencing anytype of delays. I think when parents dismiss preschool, thinking that they will “do it at home” end up not doing that much. You should also realize that there are now much more academic things required of children in K than ever before. Now in K, children are expected to actually start to read and do math not just learn the alphabet and numbers. I think that pre-school did help my 3 but then that was the right decision for us. As one poster said, don’t do something if you are uncomfortable with it and ready for it.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

I think that it is nonsense to think that a two year old needs or benefits from preschool. You should have the greatest reservations about putting your child in a Protestant program of a any kind. Your homeschool idea is the correct one. If there is no Catholic homeschool group on your area, perhaps you could start one.