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15 Feb 2014

What happens when you do not send your toddler to preschool?

Homeschooling Miss Delightful has not been the route we would have chosen this time last year.... Although she bears some similar traits to her brother (naturally), she is also different, in many ways. I therefore had no doubt that schooling her would be a normal choice for us. In fact I had no clue this time last year, that I would be considering anything else, that we would think about 'choices', in terms of Miss Delightful's schooling. So what has happened during then and now?

I have watched Miss Delightful grow and develop. Like all mothers watch their children in awe, the magical transformation of their milk feeding baby, to the solid eating infant, to the furniture clambering toddler, to the independent youngster who knows better than mummy and screams " but I want..." !!!

September was now here and so was the time to start preschool. Miss Delightful however stayed at home. Mama was not convinced that it would be in her best interest to attend, as she was requesting to be homeschooled. She is neither awfully shy nor fearful of new situations. Mama decided that Miss Delightful will neither be homeschooled nor attend preschool, but rather, her entry to school was to be delayed for the coming year, that is September 2014. Mama holds a lot of weird beliefs. One of these weird beliefs, is that children should be free to develop, at the pace intended by nature, neither hurried nor held back. Like I said, Mama  is weird!

So Miss Delightful stayed at home. 
Mama is a fan of the Montessori method and has used a Montessori Inspired Home Environment with Mr Curious from toddler hood and with Miss Delightful from infancy. The natural course of progression for Miss Delightful's  'preschool year' at home has been a mixture of unschooling and Montessori inspired, including manipulatives and toys, picture books and art materials and unguided play and free time to day dream and wonder....

                                           

During this time, Mama has watched Miss Delightful 'teach' herself the sound of the alphabet (phonics) , learning to count (not rote counting but understanding the relation between quantities and the written numerals), cutting and pasting, painting and colouring, writing shapes, a few numerals and alphabets, 'reading' picturebook, decoding words, playing independently, doing chores like sweeping, hoovering ( with a small hand held hoover ), unloading the dishwasher, loading the washing mashine, folding clothes... 

Mama has watched Miss Delightful grow into a confident but cautious child, independent and capable, sensible and contented, friendly and caring. She is under no pressure to measure up to expectations. There is no hurry to master skills her peers are champions at or no excuses to hold her back on her abilities. Like all children her age, she is typically curious about her world, inquisitive and loves to explore. She is free to follow her intuition. 



Mama looks on in amazement, as Mama had the misconception that unless children were 'taught' they would not learn. Miss Delightful's entry to school has been postponed until further notice.

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