Why Are We Home Educating? Part 1: Nursery and Preparing for School
Everyone has their own reasons to home educate, so I wanted to share ours. I realised I had quite a lot to say, so I decided to split this blog post into 2 parts. This first part is about nursery, and preparing our children for school.
Nursery and Relationships
As soon as we had our children, we wanted to protect them. Protect them emotionally, physically, and provide them with the best care and opportunities we possibly could. Our eldest son went to nursery for a short time, and even though he was only there for a couple of days a week you could see his behaviour change, and it would take a few days to settle back to normal. Children observe other children, so we could see the influence the behaviours of others were having on him.
In the end we made the decision to take him out of nursery and I took care of him at home. We believe that he has grown in confidence by being at home with us. He seems very secure and content in himself. He isn't shy or apprehensive meeting new people, he will chat to anyone, whether it's a child or adult.
The University of Cambridge (October 2023) found that children who had a closer bond and experienced warm and loving relationships with their parents at age 3 displayed higher 'prosocial' behaviours. These behaviour's benefit others, such as kindness, empathy, helpfulness, generosity and volunteering. We believe we are already seeing these behaviours in our 3 year old, and as this research found, it may be because we have spent so much time together. One of the researchers noted that how much time parents are able to spend with their children, and respond to their needs, matters massively.
Standardised Education
Neoliberalism has been a driving force for education reforms. It focuses on standardisation, accountability, a push-down curriculum (academic subjects taught in higher year groups are now seen in early years), with children being viewed as investments for the future labour market (Sims. M, 2017). Consequently, the purpose of the education system is now about creating individuals who have vital skills to be productive in the economy (Sims. M and Waniganayake. M, 2015). I want the focus to be on my child now, not on what can they provide for society in the future.
Brown et al (2015) argue that readying children for school and employment is emphasised above children's own strengths and ideas, promoting the neoliberal approach of standardisation. This demonstrates how neoliberalism can neglect the rights of the child, as resources and focus are placed on fulfilling government agendas (Brown. C et al 2015).
School Readiness
This is why the government want children to attend nursery. To make sure they are "school ready". This is exactly what that pre-school year is for, to begin the journey of ultimately preparing children for the labour market, and to also keep parents working. As a result, the "school ready" year does not prioritise children's ideas or strengths (Brown et al 2015).There is however, much more to a child than this. Going to nursery and school exposes them to certain opportunities, but being at home will offer different experiences whilst providing security too. I agree that children need to be able to do certain things, and know certain things to develop, but children will learn these if they are given the opportunity to, wherever they are.
Our Experience
We have always encouraged our son to be independent. To eat using a knife and fork, to get his own snack, to get dressed himself. Now he wants to do things on his own, like zipping his coat up. He loves to read books and is now telling the stories himself, and is excited and encouraged to do so. It is important to encourage children, to give things a go and it doesn't have to be perfect or right straight away. We are spending time counting and learning letters and phonics. If he was at nursery I wouldn't necessarily have a chance to see these things or do these things with him.
We had children to be with them, to be part of their development, experiences, and life. Maybe it would be different if I was in a career I loved. But after having children the enjoyment was no longer there. I yearned to be taking care of my son. The early years of a child's life are the most critical in terms of their development, building foundations that will reach far into their adult life (Anderson.L.M et al 2003). I love being with my children, and in being with them at home, I'm able to have a positive influence over these crucial years.
In Part 2 of this blog post I'll be discussing the challenges with primary education, and how that fed into our decision to home educate.
Anderson, L. M., Shinn, C., Fullilove, M. T., Scrimshaw, S. C., Fielding, J. E., Normand, J., Carande-Kulis, V. G., & Task Force on Community Preventive Services (2003). The effectiveness of early childhood development programs. A systematic review. American journal of preventive medicine, 24(3 Suppl), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(02)00655-4
Brown. C P, Lan. Y & Jeong. H, (2015). Beginning to untangle the strange coupling of power within a neoliberal early education context. International journal of early years education, 23(2), pp.138–152.
Moss. P (2006). Structures, Understandings and Discourses: Possibilities for Re-Envisioning the Early Childhood Worker. Contemporary issues in early childhood, 7(1), pp.30–41.
Sims. M (2017) Neoliberalism and early childhood Cogent Education 4 (1), pp. 1-10 DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2017.1365411
Sims. M & Waniganayake. M, (2015). The performance of compliance in early childhood: Neoliberalism and nice ladies. Global studies of childhood, 5(3), pp.333–345.
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