Preschool Drop-Off

We are homeschooling only W, who is 9, for now. His school situation was what drove the decision to homeschool. M, who is 4, loved her preschool last year and loves it this year. While I know there are people who homeschool their preschoolers, I think really this means, or should mean, letting them play. I think it's better for her to play in preschool with peers her age than be on her own half the time at home if I was trying to juggle her needs and interests with those of a fourth grader. We thought it made sense to focus on how to homeschool one child, especially for our first year.

M is such an introvert. She says nothing in many new situations, yet she takes everything in, talks about it all animatedly afterwards in the comfort of our car or home. She takes time to warm up to a place, to join in. Having two years, not just one, it turns out is a special perk of preschool for kids like her. We feel she really benefits from the social skills focus of preschool. She is finding certain kids she gravitates to. (She told me one afternoon, "Mommy this is C. I just love her" as they went in circles down the slide and up the ladder together.) Her preschool does a great job with some early literacy stuff and they have their priorities straight with getting the kids outdoors multiple times each day, talking to them a lot, and focusing on play. They go on little hikes, they putter at the edge of the brook, they paint with apple halves, play dress-up and kitchen, and have circle time.

One of the many bonuses of homeschooling is that I get to drop off at preschool. I never knew what it was like to do that. Last year, and back when W was in preschool for his two years, I almost never dropped off because the timing just didn't work with my teaching job. I usually picked up, but that was at the after school program. M was in the care of a kind older woman with a few other preschoolers by that point in the day. I literally never saw the teacher or daytime staff. Unless something major had occurred I didn't get any messages regarding how her day had gone. I could attempt to send messages through my husband, who dropped off and might get to speak with the teachers each day, or I could email. I felt a little distanced from her preschool world and I didn't like that, but I didn't know how different it would feel to me to actually be there during normal hours till this year. I get to have little chats with all the same parents each day at drop-off and pick-up. I see the teachers and school staff every morning and get to see firsthand how M has grown up and actually responds to their greetings with her own "hi!," which was a long time coming. I get to help her read the morning message as she taps the chart paper with the sparkly pointer, a very big to-do in M's mind. (We frequently have "morning messages" being written and read to us on her art easel at home.) I get to hug her goodbye and see who and what she settles in with as I walk out. I get to see her interactions and actually can match the names with faces of all her classmates now. W and I "volunteered" one morning recently and I did a little drawing activity with the preschoolers; M was beside herself with the thrill of our being there in her class. I pick up at 3 and get 30 seconds every day in the hubbub to check in with the teacher about bathroom accidents or funny stories or new playmates. I get to hear M talk about her day when it's fresh. I love being there to bookend her preschool days, and now I feel like I'm missing an important part of my day on the occasions when I am not the one to drop off or pick up.