Any fun ideas to introduce the idea of HSing to a preschooler?

[mags]

We will officially be starting our HS journey this autumn. The only problem is my preschooler still equates the idea of school with riding a bus, having a backpack, going to a building, etc.. Like many kids his age, he is very enamored with the idea of school right now. He has never been to daycare of preschool before. Unfortunately, he's gotten these ideas from books, tv and other ppl. Did any of you have a fun way of saying, "ok, we are going to start HSing now" to your preschooler to kick off your homeschooling yr?

[RedWine]

This may be a bit evil, but it unintentionally worked for us...

The local preschoolers do not have their own playground. They use the public local playgrounds (the same ones to which I take my kids).

My kids have watched the preschoolers come down the street, all attached to a long rope. Then they see those kids being fussed at for a) picking up sticks, b) jumping from a low wall, c) trying to go up the slide, d) wanting to swing on the swings (they're not allowed to). They've seen these kids be confined to one corner of the playground at a time. They've watched as the kids leave a short 30 minutes later.

Dd1 thinks all of the above is terrible, and has ZERO desire to go to "school." She equates it with not being able to do much of anything, and of having to be away from her mama.

As for the backpack, lunchbox, etc. -- you can still get those things for your son. We use our lunchboxes when we go out for the day. You can also ride a city bus around and around and around and get off wherever the mood strikes. This may take some of the mystique out of the school supply/transport issue.

[LilyGrace]

I read of a first day of school tradition in Germany (?) where kids are presented with big paper cones filled with all sorts of goodies from their parents. That might be kind of exciting for your little one.

Or what about starting off with a field trip? A special decorated room unveiled that day?

[Pinky Tuscadero]

We spend the first day of public school at the beach playing and then go out for ice cream. I remind my kids that if they went to school we would not be able to do that.

[mags]

Thank you for all of the great ideas! My DH thinks it would be cool to make the first day of school something really fun, like a trip to the zoo or science center.

[grahamsmom98]

By all means, buy him a backpack and lunchbox and school supplies! Why not?! He can most certainly use them.

Explain to him that the school he will go to is not like any other school in the whole world. It's unique and especially for him. He can name it and help decide what and how he will study (and, that none of the children going to regular school can do this). Explain that in his school, he can wear pajamas (and, so can the teacher!) and that he doesn't have to ride the crowded bus everyday. If he is safety-conscious, explain there are no car seats on the bus, our son is horrified about this! In his school, he can keep studying something that is really fun ALL day, and that in regular schools, they can't do this.

How about having him decide on the name of his homeschool?

Design a logo for the school (maybe, if you have a pet of some kind, it could be the mascot) and have the design put on a couple of t-shirts (you could do it on the computer and do those iron-on transfers yourself. You could put this on a piece of wood and hang it next to your front door.

He can help design a school calender with bits of what you'll plan to do each day. At pre-school level, these could be accomplished with stickers (an "ABC" sticker means you'll work on the alphabet, a "123" on numbers, an animal sticker means nature study). Things like that.

Have him help organize your "classroom" area (let him paint a bookshelf with your school colours!).

Make him his own school pass (on the computer, with his photo on it and then laminate it).

He could even help compose a school song (set to a favorite tune like "Row, row, row the boat": "Learn, learn, learn to spell, part of every day. ABC to XYZ that is what I'll say! Learn, learn, learn to count, part of every day. 123, it's easy, that is what I'll say!" You get the idea!

Look though catalogues (do you have the great one from Rainbow Resources???) and go to educational supply stores together and talk about what things would be of interest to him to start "real" studying. This way, he has some "control" on subjects special to him: dinosaurs, space, rocks, bugs, etc. Any of these can be incorporated into a curriculum. We did dinosaur math, science, history & spelling when we first started hs and it was a great way to have fun, engage our son and appeal to his interests. It worked for everyone!

[Roar]

Personally I'm not a fan of dwelling on the school is bad stuff. I think it promotes a negative attitude and won't be socially helpful as your child interacts with family and friends who attend school. Also, I think there is an element of scare tactics and dishonest to it.

I do think it is great to do something fun like take a trip to a museum or go to the park to mark the school year. Also, I would encourage you to check out your local homeschooling community. It makes a big difference for both parents and kids. Many areas have not back to school type of parties or events.

[Lillian J]

I'd make sure to get him to lots of fun outside group play activities so that he can begin having little playmates to play a lot with right away. The better preschools that are purely play oriented can actually be great fun - and he senses that. A young child has a huge drive to play imaginatively with other children, and I'd see that as the very most important part of any preschool experience, home or otherwise. Here's a page where I've listed annotated links to articles - preschool/kindergarten - and beneath the box of articles is a list of annotated links to websites that have fun and creative ideas for activities with little ones. You could initiate and plan fun play days with other homeschool families where some of these things are incorporated.

Have fun! Lillian

[rainbowmoon]

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[maciascl]

DS talks about going to school alot & isn't always thrilled with the reply of you have school at home So this thread is very helpful. Keep the ideas comeing...