Pre-school home education - does it exisit?

[McDreamy]

I wasn't sure where to write this but as I want the experience and advice from Home Educators I thought here was best.

Our PreSchool has been shut since the beg of Dec and is not re-opening yet! (A whole other story) Anyway as DD has now been off for the equivilant of a summer holiday and we do not know when it is reopening I wanted to know if there was anywhere I could find some information about home educating her in preparation for school in Septmeber. I'm not sure it even exists!!

Finding another PreSchool is unfortunately not an option.

you could try talking to the school and ask them what wouldbe useful things for you to do with your DD in the intervening months.

Good idea. I have found a couple of interesting sites that I can use too.

have a look at the excellent 'Muddle Puddle' site
www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/
written by home educators for home educating families with children under the age of 8

ok, as someone who workd in a preschool, can I just say that

1. many many children start school without having attended any preschool/nursery. It's fine, they do not need to know stuff.
2. Some preschools are 'learning through play' venues ie the children are not formally 'taught' anything but pick up the rudiments of counting, letters etc through the stuff we all do at home with our kids.
3. IMO the most important things you should be teaching your child in preparation for school are things like recognising their name, sharing and negociating, learning when it is ok to run around and when it is neccessary to listen and be quiet, dressing themselves, dealing with coat zippers, packed lunches etc.

Just play with your child, take them interesting places (from supermarket to museums, provide social ooprtunities for them, take them to the library , sing with them, dance with them, read to them. Enjoy this time

I agree with FMV (FMF is that you? )
Play, play and more play.
Chat with her, talk to her and answer her questions.
Take your DD to the library and let her choose lots of books for you to read to her.
Let her draw and paint and scribble etc.
Let her count things in your day to day life eg: pennies, items on her plate etc.
Invite friends round to play; go swimming; feed the ducks etc.
Personally I wouldn't do anything 'formal'.
Most importantly, IMO, have fun together!

Hi HC, it is FMF, flirting with a new name for the new year

Well, I taught my son to read before he started school, because he wanted to and found it easy (he is a September baby) but we all teach our children from the moment they are born by singing to them, reading to them, playing with them etc
Let them paint, colour, play with their toys and read to them. They don't need 'home education' in any formal sense.

My mother decided to keep us at home until "big school" started. She was an infant school teacher. She taught us all to read at home and we did a lot of the things most of us do at home with our under 5s or do in nursery school.