5 Reasons to Consider Online Preschool While Living Abroad

I remember my preschool years fondly. I look back and think of stories on a felt board and singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I recall playing with the big colorful parachute and nap time on blue cots. I really loved gathering around my teacher on the big carpet for our afternoon story time. My preschool experience occurred in the 80s, but many of these practices are a part of daily routines in modern preschools as well. One might ask if the virtual preschool is capable of replicating the same experience online. The answer to this question is both yes and no. Some aspects, such as learning shapes and colors or listening to stories can occur in the virtual setting. Other aspects such as hand over hand support with writing first letters and smelling your teacher’s perfume when she gives you a hug can’t be replicated online. Ultimately, it comes down to which aspects of the preschool experience that parents value most when considering the choices of virtual or in-person preschool. Here are some reasons that parents might try the virtual route.

1. Virtual Preschool is a Form of Community

If you are around a vocal preschool student, you will likely hear their teacher’s name and the names of different classmates when they talk about their day. At a very early age, a child can name their peers and learn about their classmate’s personality traits. They see their classmates as a part of their community.

Many adults look to online communities when they investigate and ultimately move outside of their home countries. Facebook is overflowing with groups for expats and foreigners abroad. We take comfort in having people who understand familiar culture even as we embrace new cultures. Do our children not deserve the same sense of community that we as adults seek out online?

Online preschool allows children a learning community with other children who are also living abroad. Although a teacher plays a huge influence in learning, it is often peer modeling and peer interaction that motivates children to try new things or see themselves as capable of facing challenges. From the comfort of home, children will be able to interact with virtual classmates, learn new things, and know that they are a part of a class community.

2. Students Have Different Levels of Readiness

The beginning of the school year can be tricky for both children and parents. Some children are absolutely ready to spend 3-7 hours in a school environment without struggle. Some children require months of preparations and their morning farewells may still be tearful for days or weeks into the school year. As a teacher, I’ve seen plenty of parents walking away for morning dropoff in emotional distress as well. With life abroad, there may be additional factors of language barrier, cultural difference, and pricey school fees that prevent parents from being ready to try local school options.

For reasons listed above and a host of others, parents might not feel that their child is ready for schooling outside of the home. Some parents themselves may not be ready for their child to be away for a full school day. Online preschool classes are a helpful solution when families want to support learning from home rather than the traditional school environment.

3. Parents want to know what kids are learning

Schooling has changed over the years. Math lessons involve understanding why in addition to understanding how to figure out answers. Reading strategies such as 3-cueing which were popular for a full generation of Americans have been outlawed as primary teaching strategies in many states. It makes sense that many parents want to know what teaching practices are most current and what material is high priority for their young learners.

Online learning allows parents to remain within listening range of daily class activities. They will be able to know which weekly skills are being targeted. They may actually find that material that they assumed was too challenging is actually appropriate when explained well. Online preschool helps connect learning in the home environment so that parents can extend upon that learning with their child as they see fit.

4. Shorter Day

In many places around the world, the school day mimics the length of the average workday. This may be done to accommodate the schedules of working parents. It is not based on research for the optimal learning time of children.

Education does not have to be extremely time consuming. Many families who have embraced life abroad, have also begun to question if practices such as the 40 hour work week or 6-7 hour school day are best for their overall wellbeing. Online preschool offers targeted 30 minute lessons leaving families plenty of time for other things that they value each day.

5. Supplement to Homeschool

A lot of expat families have opted for homeschool since moving abroad. Some have embraced a lifestyle with more hours available to devote toward their children’s education. Others realize when visiting local private schools that the tuition and fees are outside of their budget. Some have students in local schools with local languages and homeschool to ensure that their children are equally proficient in English.

No matter the reason that families opt for homeschooling, it can be a big task to take on. Virtual preschool allows students to learn alongside peers, which can boost their interest in the learning process overall. Additionally, virtual preschool can supplement with the “cutesy” aspects of early learning including songs, fingerplays, art projects etc. that are not one of the parent’s natural strengths. Even when a homeschool program provides all the educational skills that one could hope for, it is still nice to have a group circle time that reinforces the learning that parents have worked to impart.

As you can see, there are many reasons to consider online preschool for your child. If you are ready to look further into this option, we at Lotus Literacy offer both preschool and kindergarten online group classes for expat families in multiple time zones. We hope to meet you soon!