Structure

When people talk about structure and preschool, one thing that may come to mind is the public schooling structure, where children get very little time to play freely. However, most people planning on homeschooling their preschooler know that this is too controlling for preschoolers, and know that play is learning for toddlers and preschoolers.

At the same time, the decision to "homeschool" our preschoolers implies an intention to add some academic structure that we didn't use with our infants. There are three areas I see parents structure when they decide to homeschool: Time, activities, and spaces. Each of these is a continuum. Families can be at various levels of structure on any of the continuum, and can also be at different levels of structure on the same continuum with different children.

Note that these are my own thoughts, and I am not an expert on child development or education or anything. But still, maybe this will give you some food for thought about what schooling really is and how you can expand or simplify your child's schooling.

Structuring time: Schedules and routines

Structuring time is when a parent sets aside some time to do something with her child. Highly structured time is a schedule, moderately structured time is a routine. Parents can even eschew structuring time for school purposes altogether. For example, a mom can just do activities with her child whenever the mood strikes her or can focus on child-led play by creating a good environment and following her child's lead.

Reasons for structuring time include:

• The parent prefers schedules or routines
  
• The child prefers routines, or doesn't adapt well to changes in routine
  
• If homeschooling duties are split between parents (e.g., one parent plans and the other teaches), then schedules or routines can help keep communication coordinated
  
• If older children have their time structured for homeschooling, structuring time for preschoolers can simplify the parent's work and thinking during lessons
  
• The parent has a philosophical preference for schedules, such as the belief that the ability to follow a schedule is important for even young children

Reasons for not structuring time include:

• The parent dislikes schedules or routines
  
• The child doesn't care about a routine, or "acts out" if things become too "routine"
  
• A family is going through a lot of transitions or one that does not have a clear daily routine may find that structuring time can be very difficult
  
• The parent has a philosophical preference for unscheduled time, such as a belief that the best learning happens naturally as a part of daily life

Structuring activities:

Structuring activities is when a parent decides in advance the activities that she will do with her child in advance, maybe preparing some materials ahead of time. Again, there is a continuum here. On the more structured end are curriculum, which usually also structure time with a daily or weekly schedule, and which may themselves be more or less structured. Also at the high end are activities like crafts, lapbooks, or unit studies - which can be very structured activities or lightly structured, depending on the specific activity. In the middle are activities like games, gardening, and cooking that are flexible but still have a "right" and "wrong" way to do them. Then there are even less structured free-play activities like texture trays, play doh, and trips to the park. Note that structure for activities can come either from a creative parent, or from a third party (like a curriculum), or a parent can even combine their own activities with others that they pick-and-choose from a third party.

A family might choose to structure very few activities. For example, a mom might schedule the hour after breakfast to be "preschooling", but might simply spend that time living normal life attentively with her child by talking about what they are doing. Alternatively, she could set up an environment designed for learning, with books, blocks, posters, and more, and just follow her child's lead whenever her child became interested in something. However, most parents structure at least a few activities when they decide to homeschool, such as outings to museums.

Reasons for structuring most activities include:

• The parent loves to plan or come up with activities
  
• The child loves to do activities and is able to focus well on one thing for a period of time
  
• The parent isn't confident about teaching, doesn't know what kind of activities might work well, or wants another expert involved in teaching her child (these parents can benefit from curricula)
  
• The parent doesn't like to stay "on guard" looking for learning opportunities
  
• The parent wants to direct her child's learning
  
• The parent wants to target a specific developmental area, maybe because a child is lagging behind a little or showing greater-than-normal interest
  
• Some fun activities just require structure (such as setup, or following directions)

Reasons for structuring few activities include:

• The parent doesn't enjoy planning or following a structure
  
• The child doesn't enjoy one activity long enough to justify planning it
  
• The parent doesn't have time for planning
  
• The parent is confident that her child will develop and learn without specific educational activities
  
• The parent prefers child-led learning philosophies

Structuring space: Learning environments

Structuring space for schooling means setting up an environment where learning happens naturally, even without much explicit teaching from parents. A highly structured environment may include lots of books, access to safe kitchen tools, facts posted all over the house (the ABCs, numbers, and shapes would be appropriate for preschoolers, as well as simple words), dress-up clothes, blocks, sensory play equipment, craft supplies, and indoor garden, cleaning supplies for kids, and more. Such a home may also have places for active play, indoors or out. A highly structured environment may also have fewer negative influences. Perhaps there will be no TV, for example. Even children enrolled in a school will benefit greatly from an environment structured for schooling at home, as a lot of the value is in the always-available, child-led nature of a structured environment.

Reasons for highly structuring spaces for learning include:

• The parent enjoys creating an environment for learning
  
• The child strongly enjoys independent play
  
• The parents have an irregular schedule and do not always have predictable free time for teaching their children hands-on
  
• The parent has a desire to round out structured learning with easily accessible unstructured learning

All parents, homeschooling or otherwise, should have at least light to moderate structure for learning in their children's environment. For example, there should be some books and some toys that use creative skills (like blocks, dress-up, or safe kitchen tools) where kids can get into them.

Reasons to limit structuring spaces:

• The family lives in a small space and doesn't have room to go all-out
  
• The parents don't want their home taken over by homeschooling
  
• Structuring spaces takes time and/or money
  
• The child is learning well with the current amounts of structured space, possibly through scheduled teaching time or activities.

So . . .
How do you structure your homeschooling? Do you structure time, activities, or spaces?

Our family is funny because FatherBear and I tend towards very different teaching styles, and MonkeyGirl and FairyGirl have very different learning styles. FatherBear prefers to have lesson plans handed to him, and to use a routine. When he is the primary parent (when I work full-time), we go light on structuring spaces and I create a lesson plan and schedule that he can implement (moderately structured activities, highly structured time). When I am the primary parent (like at the moment) I use moderately structured spaces, only lightly structure our time, and moderately structure activities.

Since FairyGirl likes routine and doesn't need a lot of stimulation to be happy and learn, she thrives when FatherBear is primary parent, but I need to take special care not to overwhelm her. MonkeyGirl, on the other hand, can get bored and will act out frequently with FatherBear if he doesn't break the routine occasionally for her (such as by having her take her nap in a new part of the bedroom every few days), but with my style she is excited, engaged, and very well behaved.