When determining if preschool at home is something you want to do, and something you are capable of, consider the following:How many days a week do you want to do it? Typically preschool is two to three days a week. Sometimes those days are three hours or so. When deciding to do preschool at home, it is important to determine how long you can actively teach your own child without going crazy, and determining if you can do that enough hours to benefit them. So, basically, if you need to get between six and nine hours of structured learning and kindergarten prep in a week, are you going to do it in two days? Three days? Five days? What kind of schedule can you commit to doing preschool at home? Can you even commit to a schedule? It is best when doing preschool at home to set days and times that are consistently the same week after week. Granted you can adjust if need be, say your child naps longer that day, or something. However, consistency is a key part of enrolling your child in a preschool.
How many hours a day? Most preschoolers do not last more than two or three hours at a time, so for the most effective learning, it is best to spread your pre-schooling out some. Many kids prefer a block of structured time to trying to fit in time here and there during the day. How many hours you choose primarily depends on how many days a week you are going to do “preschool”.
Plan your curriculum. Try to plan several areas of learning, and learning activities that only take ten or fifteen minutes to complete. Their attention span is very limited. Most preschool age kids can’t keep focus on something for more than ten or so minutes, so planning an art project, then a science, then a letter, etc. where they get to change and you aren’t trying to keep their interest for too long, but continue learning throughout the whole block is smart.
Where do you plan to get your activities and information? There are a number of online resources for activities and learning projects for preschool age kids. However, additionally, you can usually visit home school and school supply stores to get workbooks, etc. to use. You can use them to get ideas, or as part of your lesson plans. Some supply stores provide whole curricula for preschool.
When you do preschool at home, it is important to commit, get yourself organized, and have a plan so that your child gets the experience they need, and the learning they need to be prepared for kindergarten. One important aspect of preschool is social interaction, and learning how to have a social and educational environment combined. So, if possible, when doing preschool at home, consider structured social time, or combining your efforts with other moms and switching off days that you teach, etc. so that kids have that chance to interact.