The Benefits of Home-based Early Childhood Education
When choosing an early childhood education provider for your children, it can often be a difficult and overwhelming process for many parents. We all want the very best for our children in terms of happiness and education so how do we make the decision? Many ask what exactly does home-based education involve and why choose it?
Home-based education is quantified and monitored as is every other early childhood education service that is licensed by the Ministry of Education. It is required to meet safety standards, training standards and provide a quality curriculum based on Te Whāriki, our early childhood curriculum, just like any other licensed education service; however, that is where the similarity ends, and the true benefits of home-based education begin to sing out.
In home-based education each child will be in a ratio of one kaiako (educator) to four children in their home-based environment. In addition to this, each educator is supported by a visiting teacher trained to support and assist with planning and implementing a learning curriculum based on authentic knowledge of each child, including their needs and interests. Each educator’s home-based service has access to regular large group settings of planned learning activities where each child’s learning is boosted by interacting and playing alongside other children (and educators), both older and younger than themselves. Home-based learning fosters experiential learning, which means being out and about in the community, experiencing nature, the environment and opportunities that children in typical early childhood spaces cannot experience regularly. Imagine the magic of a child experiencing through all their senses the learning that nature can bring, building connections with their community and the time to become themselves in their truest sense.
It is not questioned that research has shown that children with a strong sense of attachment and security in their learning setting will blossom. Feeling secure and building strong attachment in a smaller child to teacher ratio means children will not be stressed during their day of learning and therefore can optimize strong brain connections that assist academic development. Having the variety of experiences that occur in a home-based learning environment means that children’s learning styles and needs can be adapted for, allowing learning to be optimized rather than each child being forced to conform to conventional methods best decided on economy of dealing with large groups rather than individual needs.
Learning to coexist with others is an important skill set that every child must learn. In home-based education, children learn to navigate relationships in their smaller setting before adapting those skills to larger group activities. There are many kaiako surrounding each child within the home-based community which becomes like an extended whānau or family, establishing this wonderful sense of whanaungatanga or community environment that allows relief care and transitions between care environments to happen in a remarkably happy way. Learning environments are peaceful where children have space to explore, imagine, investigate, discover and be joyful in a way that once you have a taste of, either as a teacher or as a child, you can never go back to center-based or kindergarten-based education and care. You are won over and entranced at this magic way of learning, being and doing.
Home-Based Education! The question is not ‘should you do it’; but rather, ‘why are you not already part of this inspirational way of learning’?