Preschool at Home: Avoiding Common Behavioral Problems

If you’re trying to create a preschool at home, or are supplementing your young child’s learning with online preschool classes, you’ll undoubtedly run into some behavioral issues.  Learning at home can be difficult for children, especially if they’d previously been attending in-person classes.

At Playgarden Prep, we do everything we can to help parents create amazing at-home environments for their children to learn.  Here are some of the issues we hear about most frequently, and some good ways to address them.

Overcoming Three Common Behavioral Issues During Preschool at Home

1 – Avoiding distractions

It’s very easy for a child learning at home to get off-task, or to have difficulty getting on-task in the first place.  Keeping them away from distractions such as TV or video games is paramount if they’re going to focus on their work!

Two tips: First, establish an area in your house that is explicitly for learning, and clear it of any other distractions.  Then, implement a school-like schedule with set hours your child is expected to be learning, so they can become accustomed to the routine.

2 – Not doing assigned work

When children are attending preschool at home, “homework” becomes a somewhat abstract concept.  They may have trouble with the notion of doing more work independently, or simply not want to put in extra effort.

Again, establishing a schedule will do a lot to help here.  Make sure there’s some time set aside explicitly for homework and assignments.  If they don’t have any extra work, turn it into study time.  Don’t let them dodge learning during set learning times – find something educational for them to do until it’s playtime.

3 – Distractions from siblings

If you have multiple children in your home, behavioral issues in one child can adversely affect the others.  When possible, and your children are of similar age, try to keep them on the same learning track.  If they’re doing the same work and assignments, one will be less likely to distract the other.

Or, if they’re too old to be on parallel curriculum, take an alternating approach.  One child is learning actively, while the other is working on an assignment.  Keep them busy on separate tasks, with enough space between them that they won’t interrupt each other.

Looking for a great option for preschool at home?  Playgarden Prep offers superior Montessori-style online classes!