Why Choose An Online Preschool
Online preschool has been a growing trend for over a decade, but social distancing concerns and today’s work from home requirements have made the benefits of online preschool very clear. With millions of Americans now working from home offices, virtual alternatives for many of the services we take for granted became crucial to continue our daily lives. Early childhood education is no exception – and once parents moved past their initial qualms about the virtual nature of what’s traditionally been a hands-on activity, interest in online preschool services soared.
Unlike daycare, which many have described as simply “warehousing” children while their parents are at work, preschool is a social and educational activity, and children continue to learn and grow in online preschool just as they do in a traditional preschool.
Online preschool is a time of discovery of children, where they learn basic skills, make friendships, and develop social skills. During Montessori’s period of the absorbent mind, which continues until around age 6, children soak up knowledge and benefit from as much educational and social exposure as they can get. Amity Montessori online preschool provides that enrichment, along with education in the four learning avenues of Montessori education, which include Practical Life, Sensorial Development, the Development of Language, and Early Preparation of the Mathematical Mind.
Here are some of the many reasons why you may decide to choose an online preschool:
- Safe Learning Environment: Online preschool allows children to learn from the comfort and safety of their homes, which reduces the possible exposure of both the child and family members to medical risk during the pandemic. Families struggling with underlying medical conditions may find more comfort in keeping their young student at home, where they can work closely to ensure the lowest possible risk for their loved ones. Despite the risks of the pandemic and social distancing requirements, children still have educational needs, and enrolling in an online online preschool helps to provide the social & educational benefits of preschool without the medical risk.
- Parent Participation: Because your preschooler will be learning from home, parents have more opportunities to work closely with their child and review the online preschool curriculum they are learning, which provides opportunities to assist and reinforce your child’s education.
- Parent–Teacher Communication: In addition to having more visibility into the lessons being learned, parents will also have better communication with the online preschool teacher. Teachers and parents communicate by phone, email, and in the online classroom – and teachers work closely with parents to make sure each child gets the support needed to learn and be successful in the online preschool environment.
- Social Development: Children have opportunities to socialize and build relationships with their peers inside the online preschool virtual classroom, which is an important part of fostering their social growth and emotional development. The parents of preschool age children can also be more selective about the activities their children take part in, which is especially important in today’s world.
- Flexible Schedule: Online preschool provides parents with the flexibility to spend time in the morning with their children as they work from home. Families are able to more easily adapt to the scheduling demands of today’s home-based environment, and parents aren’t tied to rigid driving schedules for preschool drop-offs or pickups.
- Convenience: Online preschool doesn’t require parents to drive their kids to a physical location, which means less time packing lunches or extra clothing, driving to the school and more. This helps parents to stay on track with their own schedules while being reassured that children are getting the education they need.
- Better Teachers: Not only can preschool students attend class from anywhere, so can teachers! This means that we’re able to find the very best Montessori-trained early childhood educators available to help your children flourish in the online classroom. Unlike traditional preschool, which is very much limited by physical proximity to the school, our online preschool sessions allow us to recruit top-tier professionals from a variety of locations to teach the curriculum and support your preschooler’s education.
- Lower Cost: Online learning is very cost-effective compared to the traditional preschool education, because the costs of running a brick & mortar school and large staff size aren’t a factor. Depending on the school and the program, online preschool programs may cost half the price of on-site preschool, and sometimes cost much less! When children learn from home, parents are relieved from the burden of paying for travel expenses.
- Accessibility: Many children are shy about interacting in class or asking questions in a group setting, but this is less of a concern with online education. The platform itself provides enough emotional distance to help children feel safe and comfortable expressing themselves, and chat features allow parents to ask questions quietly during the lesson without disturbing the class. Online learning programs are proven to help children build confidence, which is valuable to help them perform better in the classroom as well as in all other aspects of life.
- Complete Curriculum: The subject and course options offered by online preschool’s such as Amity Montessori encompasses the full scope of fundamental Montessori learning, as well as providing singing & dancing, children’s stories, and even tips on how to make cookies! Children are encouraged to ask questions & participate online, and discuss each day’s lesson with the teacher.
- Self-Discipline: Online preschool reinforces the Montessori Method by helping children stay disciplined and become self-starters. Interaction with lessons and follow-up projects is done by the child in their home, and presented to the teacher during online class. Self-motivation, responsibility and time management skills too all part of what online preschool begins teaching children at a young age, which will them succeed throughout school, into the workplace and beyond.
- Better Lessons: Traditional preschool curriculum is no match for Montessori education, which focuses on self-directed exploratory learning around the four avenues of Montessori learning. While traditional Montessori schools are limited in number and hard to get into, Amity Montessori provides a proven & trusted curriculum created by a MACTE-Certified Montessori staff. One of the biggest benefits of online learning programs is that kids’ get access to the highest quality curriculum available, developed by professionals – which ensures that your child is receiving premium quality preschool education to help them grow and achieve.
- Quick lesson delivery: Online learning programs offer quick delivery of lessons. Contrary to traditional classroom teaching method, e-learning lessons start and finish quickly, mostly in a single learning session. The learning time, if compared with classroom based teaching, is reduced to 25%-60%. Students also get a chance to skip topics they do not want to learn, thus making the delivery quicker.
Given the wide array of benefits that online preschool programs offer, it should be no surprise that more & more parents have been making the switch to virtual education. The healthy & safety aspects of online preschool are just one of many advantages that distance learning offers for early childhood education, and with Americans having better access to the internet than ever before, the time is now to consider online preschool.
With wide range of benefits, online learning programs are being appreciated and have become quite popular among students across the globe. However, there still are a large bunch of parents and kids who prefer classroom based traditional teaching methods. In the end, it all comes down to what your kid is comfortable with.
Preschool age children perform well online, and part of the reason for that is the flexibility and adaptability that young minds have. They’re better at adapting to new educational scenarios than many adults, and pick up new forms of online communication rapidly. The rapid growth of online programs in early childhood education is more evidence that young children are more capable of tackling complex topics than anyone had guessed.
In an online preschool program, your child has the opportunity to learn, grow and develop social relationships despite the health concerns in today’s world. They have the ability to exercise cognitive skills and develop critical thinking while they learn fundamental lessons about elements such as the four Montessori learning avenues. There’s no surprise that given the safety, convenience, cost and other advantages associated with virtual learning that more & more parents are turning to online preschool programs to help nurture their children’s education from the safety & comfortability of home.