Homeschooling with a Preschooler

Is there anyone out there who feels guilty about not doing as much with the younger kids because they are busy homeschooling the older kids? Homeschooling with a preschooler can sometimes seem like the preschooler is always getting the short end of the stick. It’s easy for the day to focus on the older children’s needs. When my two oldest boys were younger, I took them to places like the zoo, parks, libraries, and the children’s museum. I genuinely enjoyed doing those activities with my kids. These days, I stay home a lot in order to homeschool and get naps in.

Homeschooling with a preschooler has its challenges, but it also has some really rewarding experiences. My three-year old daughter does interrupt our schooling, but she also joins in and learns with her brothers. No, she’s not being offered preschool activities necessarily, but she jumps in and learns anyway even if it’s a bit above her. I don’t see this as a disadvantage or her being neglected. It’s just our family adjusting as the children get older.

One way we have adjusted is how often we get out of the house. We do get out of the house, but it looks different than it did a few years ago. We homeschool four days a week and leave one day for getting out and doing something fun.  Structuring our week like this helps me know that my daughter is getting out and having some of the same experiences as her brothers. Since it’s so much work to get four kids ready to go out, I often times go out on the weekends when my husband can help. When I wasn’t homeschooling, our outings were in the morning. Now I like to reserve the morning for school (because no one wants to do school after lunch). This means getting out is sometimes shifted to times of the week where I have more help, or it’s reserved for a day when we aren’t as busy as home.

Life Skills

Something I recently noticed about homeschooling older kids with the younger kids is that the littles learn more life skills. Instead of doing a sensory station with rice or sand, my daughter digs in the garden and helps pull weeds…and sometimes the plants by mistake. She helps me bake cookies and scoops the flour. Most of it ends up in the bowl. She has watched her brothers put their clothes on hangers. Now she can do the same. She can help unload the dishwasher. Washing the dishes with me is also a favorite. She likes to bring in the groceries and organize the pantry. My older boys were not doing this many chores at her age. I actually didn’t think children could do all those things at such a young age. I was wrong.

Read Alouds

Another benefit is the read alouds. I read picture books to her before nap and at bedtime. Otherwise, a lot of the books she’s listening to are above her comprehension, but it still benefits her to hear everything. In fact, if the baby is awake, I bring him close by when I read aloud because I want him to hear the rich language as well.

Conclusion

Families change as more children are added, and my days don’t look the same as they did a few years ago. I don’t feel guilty that my daughter has never gone to story time at the library. Maybe she will someday, but for now it doesn’t work with homeschooling. I read and sing to her a lot. We have friends come over to play. I know she’ll be fine without all those extra experiences. Her preschool days are different than her brothers’, but they are also richer in other ways. She spends her time playing with her brothers, being outside, coloring, and making tents. For her, home is a wonderful place to be.

God gives each family the children he wants them to have. When homeschooling with a preschooler, I think it’s important to know that each child has a place in a homeschool day, whether they are ten months or three-years old. They can be included in activities with older siblings and still pick up skills they need to learn.

Also, it’s not the norm to parent this way. Lots of children are in daycare or preschool very early on. If you’re like me and that wasn’t what you wanted to do, then I think it’s easy to feel like you’re doing something wrong if you haven’t presented your young child with an array of preschool activities. Homeschooling is an extension of parenting, and it’s what I love to do. It’s living your everyday life alongside your children.