It's a big decision choosing to put your preschooler into childcare when you plan to home school. There are many Pros and Cons and you have to decide on what works best for you and your family.
When I was pregnant with Ladybug I decided to put Rocket Boy in the local Kindergarten where my friends also had their children. The Pros for me was, time to myself to rest while pregnant, Rocket Boy got time with this friends, it was in walking distance which was important as I didn't drive back then, and it was what everyone I knew did, after all when your child turns 3 they start kindy - at least in my circles they do.
Unfortunately the Cons started appearing thick and fast after Rocket Boy started, the staff didn't understand of seem to accept my decision to home school Rocket Boy, and put a lot of emphasis on going to school when you turned 5, and when I decided to pull Rocket Boy out at the beginning of the term break, rather than the 2 weeks after the 2 week holiday when he turned 5, the staff refused to allow Rocket Boy a birthday celebration.
After our experience at this Kindy I put a lot of thought into if Ladybug even needed to go to a kindy, and if I did where would she go?
I was pregnant with Jellybean and needed time out during the day just to rest, also time to have one on one with Rocket Boy to attempt some kind of school work, although I wasn't pushing this until Rocket Boy turned 6 (which happened after Jellybean was born)
I knew I wanted to try a center for Ladybug but it had to be a philosophy that worked well with continuing into home schooling, to me this meant Montessori or Steiner.
From Wikipedia
Waldorf (Steiner) education is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Waldorf pedagogy distinguishes three broad stages in child development, each lasting approximately seven years. The early years education focuses on providing practical, hands-on activities and environments that encourage creative play. In the elementary school, the emphasis is on developing pupils' artistic expression and social capacities, fostering both creative and analytical modes of understanding. Secondary education focuses on developing critical understanding and fostering idealism. Throughout, the approach stresses the role of the imagination in learning and places a strong value on integrating academic, practical and artistic pursuits.
The Waldorf approach has achieved general acceptance as a model of alternative education.
Montessori education is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori and characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological, physical, and social development. These elements are essential in a Montessori classroom.
- Mixed age classrooms, with classrooms for children aged 2½ or 3 to 6 years old by far the most common
- Student choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options
- Uninterrupted blocks of work time, ideally three hours
- A constructive or "discovery" model, where students learn concepts from working with materials, rather than by direct instruction
- Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators
- Freedom of movement within the classroom
- A trained Montessori teacher
To be honest at the end of the day the decision between Steiner and Montessori came down to location, Montessori was closer, Ladybug started at the beginning of 2013 and there's been no going back. She has moved from her first center to a closer center and her confidence has increased in many ways. Simple things like using a glass to drink out of rather than a plastic cup and doing up buttons which why may seem so little they are huge development milestones.
I'm very happy with the results of the decision to try Montessori for Ladybugs early childhood education and I'm now looking at ways to continue her education at home following the Montessori approach.
No comments:
Post a Comment