Homeschooling for Early Years Learning - The Way Ahead

When the pandemic and lockdown hit us last year in March, preschools and formal schools alike scrambled to put systems in place to ensure that learning and education did not suffer. We had done a post on online preschool in India-pros and cons to elaborate on the various modes of distance learning, and the pros and cons associated with each mode.

Now, almost one whole year has passed since the first announcement of the lockdown. Online learning systems have stabilized where done well, and there is tremendous learning for all three parts of the triad - the child, the parent and the educator. Parents have been active participants in their children's learning, educators have adapted to and thrived in a new mode of learning, and children have proved as always that they can adapt to any situation that is thrown at them. Unlike adults, they are not so rigid in their ways, which works in their favour.

Online preschool in India, or even formal online school, has also evolved enough to now give rise to structured homeschooling. And it is that time of the year when parents are seriously contemplating and trying to understand homeschooling for early years learning. Is this not what conventionally worked in India so many decades ago? Children only stepped out of their homes to join a school when they were 4 or even 5 years old. Times evolved, and this gave rise to preschools in physical spaces which met a specific need of children and parents alike. Yet we seem to be going back to a format which our parents and grandparents lived with.

So what is the place of homeschooling for early years learning today?

How Early Learning Programs Have Evolved into Homeschooling Format

With schools across the country remaining closed, learning modules evolved to ensure the education did not suffer. Different sets of parents had a different approach, especially when it came to preschooling. Some chose to engage their children themselves, being very clear that they would not expose their children to screen time. Some went ahead with app-based or recording-based learning. And some others chose to enroll their children in live modules which were being conducted online.

Irrespective of the mode, the bottom line was one - children required age specific stimuli for holistic growth and development.

Many learning programs, while initially they were just trying to adapt to meet this requirement, ended up evolving with complete structures in place. This enabled parents to access this structure while effectively homeschooling their toddlers.

Benefits of Homeschooling for Early Learning

While children, parents and educators alike adapted to these new formats, the benefits of homeschooling started coming to the fore.

1. Parent Involvement - For the first time, the parents were active participants in their toddler's learning, not just passive spectators. They understood the importance of different kinds of stimuli, and got effectively trained in executing that stimuli at home. They were also directly able to influence their toddler's learning while being able to give specific feedback to the educator, where learning was live and interactive.

2. Two-way input for the child - In cases where parents opted for a live learning module, like the online preschool in India offered at Morning Glorie for homeschooling, children were receiving inputs from both ends, the parent as well as the educator. While ensuring that this input was not too heavy for the children, they actually ended up absorbing much more concentrated learning when it came from two sources who were aligned with each other. This also converted passive screen time into active screen time.

3. Sense of Ownership and Routine - This was a very important need for the child, which could have been easily neglected in the past year. However, whichever mode of homeschooling was followed, children ended up not only following a daily routine, but they also proudly took charge of their "me time". Parents and educators were engaging with the children during this time at their level, on their terms.

4. Safety and Health - With homeschooling, toddlers can remain in a secure and healthy environment, till the time they are old enough to handle themselves.

Where Homeschooling Lacks

The major aspect where homeschooling may considered to be lacking is the learning which happens on account of peer group interaction - making friends, developing social habits, inculcating a set of group values like caring and sharing, and all round social development.

This can be addressed in part when children join group programs which are live and interactive for homeschooling, but the learning which happens with proximity does not happen in full.

However, it is possible for parents to arrange playdates in a more controlled environment to meet this specific need.

The other aspect of physical preschool and daycares for working parents is to leave their children in a safe and secure environment while they are at work, while ensuring age specific learning. Many organizations are now encouraging work from home, the need for daycares is likely to witness a change at parents may look for shorter duration support or even choose to find help at home. This may well become the normal format for times to come.

Live and Interactive Modules for Homeschooling

Parents primarily send children to preschool to achieve three main motives -

1. Social Development

2. Access to adults other than family

3. Peer group interaction and learning associated with that

Other learning milestones and age specific stimuli is very essential and requires a structure too, even when it is unstructured and activity based to look at. 

Live and interactive modules to support homeschooling address all these requirements to a large extent, while being devised by experts who understand what a toddler needs in terms of stimuli. This forms the new mode of learning which is likely to be the new normal for times to come. It is also a more futuristic way of early learning, with children now gaining access to a peer group and educators across boundaries and cultures. As parents, you are also involved every step of the way with adequate feedback mechanism to  ensure that learning is done right.

Morning Glorie's early learning program, which is experiential and personality centric in nature, has also evolved to provide homeschooling support to parents of toddlers through the online learning format. Parents can now relax with a readily available structure to support them with homeschooling, while ensuring that peer group interaction and facilitator feedback is not lost.

Up Next - Choosing the Right School for Your Child - Aligning Your Philosophy