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My youngest child just misses the kindergarten birthday cutoff by three weeks, and even though she’s eager to join her older siblings in big-kid school, she has another year of pre-k ahead. This year, due to necessary COVID precautions and my work-from-home schedule, I opted to homeschool her. Not only does homeschooling save us money and energy, but it also provides us with valuable one-on-one time.
This isn’t my first experience with homeschooling. Three out of my four children have been homeschooled at different stages of their education. Each child is unique, and we adjusted our approach based on their needs. I’m excited to embark on this year’s homeschooling journey with my newly five-year-old. To ensure I was on the right track with her pre-kindergarten skills, I decided to consult a kindergarten teacher.
One evening, I sent the teacher a detailed message outlining our situation. While I felt confident in my decision to homeschool, I was seeking validation. After all, preschool is often considered the norm in our society. I knew my daughter would thrive with homeschooling, including the all-important socialization aspect—she has three older siblings and a host of friends. I had no worries about her developing social skills.
In my message, I detailed what I planned to teach my daughter this year. From my experience with my older kids, I know that fine motor skills are crucial for kindergarten readiness. We’ve been focusing on cutting, gluing, and practicing writing letters and numbers, as well as tracing shapes and lines. She’s also been tackling age-appropriate jigsaw puzzles.
I understand that gross motor skills contribute to fine motor development, so we’ve been engaging in plenty of outdoor activities like climbing, which helps strengthen her hands. We’ve also been covering the days of the week, months of the year, seasons, the alphabet, and counting to twenty. (I can’t help but chuckle when kids invent numbers like “leventeen.”) Some days, we enjoy games or creative activities like painting. If you’re considering homeschooling a preschooler, it’s really quite enjoyable—it’s play with a purpose.
After sending my message, the teacher’s prompt response amazed me. (Teachers truly are fantastic!) To my surprise, she said, “Just enjoy her. I’ll teach her what she needs to know when she gets here.”
“Just enjoy her?” I admit I wanted more—a curriculum suggestion or a checklist of skills for her to master before next fall. However, the teacher’s wisdom was exactly what I needed to hear.
In today’s world, there’s immense pressure on parents to ensure every activity is educational. The fear of our kids falling behind—especially after the pandemic disrupted schooling—is palpable. We often become overly focused on grades, awards, and attendance. This mindset can jeopardize our children’s mental health, and we must allow them the space to simply be kids. Unless there’s a specific need for skill development, especially for children with special needs who require additional support, we should ease up and take a breath.
Over-scheduling our children with structured activities isn’t necessary either. While classes like ballet, basketball, or STEM club can be valuable, why must we insist they are always learning and excelling to keep pace with their peers?
Remember, kindergarten serves as a preparation phase for first grade. If I pressure my child to master everything now, will she find kindergarten dull? Moreover, am I robbing her of her last carefree year before school? Kindergarten has its own purpose, and perhaps I need to allow it to unfold naturally.
I wasn’t an academically driven parent with my older kids. I didn’t push them with flashcards or fret over teaching them colors and shapes. In fact, such pressures make me roll my eyes. Every parent believes their child is exceptionally smart, but kindergarten primarily levels the playing field for typically developing kids. Perhaps I’ve lost sight of this with my youngest, who is approaching a significant transition in her life.
I love teaching through play, and the guidance from the teacher reminded me to dial back my homeschooling intensity. It’s perfectly acceptable if my youngest doesn’t have a “well-rounded” education at home. If our day consists solely of jumping rope and enjoying a snack together, that’s more than sufficient. Some days will be more productive than others, and that’s perfectly fine.
I cherish these moments with my youngest and am grateful to the teacher who reminded me of what truly matters—our time together.