So, everyone knows I homeschool my children. I have homeschooled the older kids from the beginning. Lindsay went to a Mother's Day Out program for most of one school year because I thought it would be good for her (and I knew the teacher). She was 3 at the time. I'm really not all that big on having my kids away from me for an entire day (don't get me wrong, I like my breaks, my time alone or away, just not on a regular basis for long periods of time) and I honestly consider it more of a hassle than it's worth to have to get them all ready, load everyone up and go drop 1 of them off for a couple of hours. Ok, so here's the thing: I might have an opportunity to send Haley off for a day or so each week to a preschool thing a friend of mine is doing. I totally trust her with my child, that's not the issue. It just seems "wrong" somehow to keep my older kids at home and homeschool them but send the 3 year old off to learn.
To make the case for why it's a good idea: she is a very high maintenance child and is L-O-U-D. I'll bet you've guessed by now that this does not help the older kids to focus on their work. We are not as structured as I would like lately (you know, in the past 3 years). It seems that we always have some level of chaos going on in our school room (Haley clears her desk about like an earthquake would clear her desk and often yells "HEY" at everyone to get our attention. I don't like to use tv a lot to occupy her (although now that she finally sits through Barney and Blue's Clues and a few others it's very tempting at times). So, if I were to send her to my friend's pre-school (very small by the way-only a few little ones) she could get a bit of structured time with other children her age (which I'm totally not opposed to-she does well with that in Sunday School and church anyway) and we could get a little bit of time (with only Nathan, who is a little easier to quiet as a rule) to focus a bit better on the older kids' work.
3 comments:
Do it. I think she would enjoy it. It would give her an opportunity to have a world outside her siblings. Plus give J & L a break too. Look at it this way, you're not sending her out to learn, you're sending her out to be taught how to listen in a classroom environment. Maybe a change of pace is what she needs to understand what you're trying to do. I'm not sure if the point I'm trying to make is actually coming through or if this just sounds like idle ramble, but I swear I do have a point LOL!
I think this is a winning situation all around - she will get more time with kids her own age in a comfortable environment, and you and the older kids will get more quality school time. If she is being "difficult", everyone's stress level increases and she feeds off the negativity. So removing her from the situation for a while would be productive for all concerned. I assume this will not be an indefinite thing, and that she'll come back to homeschool with you at some point.
I think it's a great idea. Haley has always been loud and boisterous and exciting. That's just her, and that's a good thing! My friend is a huge homeschooling proponent (has honeschooled her four children) and from the beginning all four children went to 1-2 years of pre-school.
It started off with the oldest b/c she didn't realize homeschooling would be part of their life. With the second she did it because she wanted him to have the same experience as his older sister. By the time the 3rd and 4th came along, it was as much about the "quiet time" for the older siblings to learn as much as it was about the experience for the younger ones.
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