For us, preschool was just one of several fun activities we did a few times a week. We went to Kindermusik, the park, the zoo, out to eat, gymnastics, preschool, etc. We didn't have any huge expectations for preschool, just that it be fun. If it wasn't fun I wouldn't have sent them.
That being said, a few ways that I see preschool as beneficial, other than as a fun activity:
- Gets a child used to other adult authority figures. When you do playdates, you (the parent) are still the authority figure. When someone else is the authority figure the child has to measure and adjust their behavior and expectations, which is an important social skill. (This, of course, can also be learned in other classes where the parent isn't involved.)
- Encourages the child to be more independent in personal care. What parent hasn't jumped in a bit too readily when their child is taking too long to put on their coat or tie their shoes. A teacher is less likely to do that. Plus, kids learn that they can ask for help if they really need it but that they need to work hard at a task first (the value of hard work).
- Promotes a child's sense of themselves as an individual, separate from their parents. Yet, since it's just for a short period of time, allows the child to return to the emotional safety of their parents and home and experience in small doses their independence.
- Teaches children how to do school. Because I'm a person who likes structure, this would be important to me even if I decided to home school. Having had one child who entered K early and another who skipped K, I also know that elementary schools find preschool experience to be necessary to this type of acceleration.
