The Importance of Play

My two oldest daughters never attended preschool.  It never even occurred to me to send them.  On the other hand, when my 11 year old was three, all my friends were sending their children to preschool.  I sent Laura to preschool because it seemed that everything I read and everyone I talked to stated how important it was.  Whenever I volunteered, I would wonder why I spent so much for preschool so that the children could spend a large portion of the time playing.  She could do that at home, right?

Well, part of that was right.  My daughter could have played... and do the learning activities... at home.  With my youngest, Megan, preschool at home has been an enormous blessing already.  Using Little Hands to Heaven, there is a lot of play scheduled in the program.  Play, very simply, is a major way that children learn.  Their imaginations are sparked, motor skills are developed, and children learn about their world simply by play!

Little Hands to Heaven uses Dramatic Play and Active Exploration in teaching children.  Megan does something daily that requires her to use her imagination or interact with something physical that reinforces a lesson.  Whether she is having her stuffed animals wrestle to show how Jacob wrestled with God, or building a tent as Abraham, or driving a toy car on a large letter taped to the ground, I am watching my daughter love learning.  Even the worksheet type stuff she does is interactive.  No boring trace the letters here.   Megan is gluing and painting and cutting and counting.

Every day is something new for my three year old.  She begs to do "her school".  Unlike my other children that have a preset attitude of how much they "dislike" school, Megan is the total opposite.  To her, this is just more fun and play.  She retains everything too.  She still does the fingerplay for "A" that we learned a month ago.  In fact, she remembers all the ones we have learned.  She knows the sounds of the letters we have learned.  This is phonics!  I was so nervous about teaching my children to read and letter sounds.  I thought it would be so hard.  But, learning this way, it's easy and fun and very effective.

Play is very important for a preschooler.  We are having a blast with Little Hands to Heaven.  It doesn't take much time, but the time is used wisely and packed full of adventure and learning.  Is preschool necessary?  I don't believe it is.  I think we push children sometimes.  However, I also believe children naturally want to learn.  I don't feel we have to have an artificial environment to learn.  For me, a program like Little Hands to Heaven lets me know what to do.  It shows me step by step, and I follow... watching my daughter learn and grow in the comfort of our own home.