I don't think online preschool is entirely a waste of money, for 2 reasons: first, I think it CAN provide some degree of structure and motivation if you or your child do better with "a kick in the butt" sometimes (similar reason as hiring a personal trainer), and second, it is definitely better than nothing if you're using it to teach your child something you absolutely can't--for example, a foreign language you don't speak. I definitely agree with the poster who said that lots of places just give you offline activities and you end up doing 70% of the work--so just watch out for that.

I actually found many online preschools--but most of them weren't exclusively online programs like ABCMouse, they were brick-and-mortar preschools that moved their instruction online due to the pandemic. Kids Language Arts in McLean is one example. PandaTree is all online and not a preschool per se--they do foreign language immersion for kids--but rather they have live instructors who use their in-house educational software.

Hope that helps!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ABC Mouse and/or Khan Academy Kids, and work on letters and numbers with him. First learning all of the names and sounds of the letters. Then work on sight identifying all upper and lower case letters, numbers 1-10, and concepts like bigger than and smaller than. Then if he masters all of that, eventually start on phonics and adding and subtracting 1-5 (so he can count on his hands). Read a ton and have him find an easy word on the page ("dog" if there's only one or two d words), then build from there.

That's what we've been doing with my 4.5 year old following approximately what she was doing in DC prek before it shut down.

My 2.5 year old can do this, is that not normal? I have NO idea, not a humble brag.

It’s normal, my kid could read before entering preschool. Just depends on the child. I think these people have no clue what they are talking about...

Children learn social emotional skills, counting, writing, reading skills, etc. These skills are expanded upon or re-taught in K and then mandated. Must be some utterly trash PK classrooms out their if all you need to do to replicate preschool is Sesame Street lol

2.5 year olds can memorize, but it’s (typically) not the same as understanding that letters are parts of words that represent sounds that combine to form a word. That’s what a real pre-k teaches, which is pre-reading, not memorization. Pre-k has a progression that builds in a specific way. And maybe OP’s kid didn’t memorize that stuff, who knows? Still the steps that need to be mastered before they can start combining constants with vowels and sounding out words.

And please recognize your privilege. MANY children do not enter kindergarten knowing those basics, that’s what’s required for kindergarten readiness and why universal pre-K is so valuable in the District, so that kids enter kindergarten prepared.

To answer your question OP, I recommend joining a PK pod if there is no hybrid schooling.
Or simply have your child’s pk teacher outline home lessons for you, there are also many free resources online, especially on YouTube.

If you have confidence in your personal teaching skills or ability to implement someone else’s lessons I’d go with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ABC Mouse and/or Khan Academy Kids, and work on letters and numbers with him. First learning all of the names and sounds of the letters. Then work on sight identifying all upper and lower case letters, numbers 1-10, and concepts like bigger than and smaller than. Then if he masters all of that, eventually start on phonics and adding and subtracting 1-5 (so he can count on his hands). Read a ton and have him find an easy word on the page ("dog" if there's only one or two d words), then build from there.

That's what we've been doing with my 4.5 year old following approximately what she was doing in DC prek before it shut down.

My 2.5 year old can do this, is that not normal? I have NO idea, not a humble brag.

It’s normal, my kid could read before entering preschool. Just depends on the child. I think these people have no clue what they are talking about...

Children learn social emotional skills, counting, writing, reading skills, etc. These skills are expanded upon or re-taught in K and then mandated. Must be some utterly trash PK classrooms out their if all you need to do to replicate preschool is Sesame Street lol

Anonymous wrote:ABC Mouse and/or Khan Academy Kids, and work on letters and numbers with him. First learning all of the names and sounds of the letters. Then work on sight identifying all upper and lower case letters, numbers 1-10, and concepts like bigger than and smaller than. Then if he masters all of that, eventually start on phonics and adding and subtracting 1-5 (so he can count on his hands). Read a ton and have him find an easy word on the page ("dog" if there's only one or two d words), then build from there.

That's what we've been doing with my 4.5 year old following approximately what she was doing in DC prek before it shut down.

My 2.5 year old can do this, is that not normal? I have NO idea, not a humble brag.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing I'd do is work on learning letters and numbers. Recognizing and writing them. Pick 1-3 a week and work on writing them a few times each day, upper and lower case. Once he's got that down, do review and add in some letter sounds.

Basic numeracy is a good idea and recognizing and writing numbers. If I have 2 and you have 1, how many do we have?

Let him color and draw and work on grip a bit, but don't sweat it. Work on his hand muscles (play doh, cutting, small thing play).

He will learn much better from you, without a computer screen. I would not pay for an online program. Plenty of free stuff.

Yes this too. They expect them to be writing in Kindergarten, so practice holding a pencil (crayon, marker, etc.) is good. Most kids like coloring and practice on their own, but my kid HATES coloring and legit forgot how to hold a pencil after a few months at home.

I would not sign up for an online preschool. There are a lot of things online, that you can follow for free. Tons of activity books on amazon. My DD goes to in person preschool, but we will have to switch to online if everyone has to stay home. Not our choice and I think it will be waste of money.

The only thing I'd do is work on learning letters and numbers. Recognizing and writing them. Pick 1-3 a week and work on writing them a few times each day, upper and lower case. Once he's got that down, do review and add in some letter sounds.

Basic numeracy is a good idea and recognizing and writing numbers. If I have 2 and you have 1, how many do we have?

Let him color and draw and work on grip a bit, but don't sweat it. Work on his hand muscles (play doh, cutting, small thing play).

He will learn much better from you, without a computer screen. I would not pay for an online program. Plenty of free stuff.

PP again here. And if you're in DC and not enrolled in DC prek, get on the list for any low wait list school. Prek in DC is super consistent across the District (we're at a very mediocre charter and doing the exact same things as friends at HRCS) and you'll get Zoom calls and a curriculum for free. Highly doubt he'd engage in any full time virtual preschool course, so anyone offering that is really just trying to make a buck.

ABC Mouse and/or Khan Academy Kids, and work on letters and numbers with him. First learning all of the names and sounds of the letters. Then work on sight identifying all upper and lower case letters, numbers 1-10, and concepts like bigger than and smaller than. Then if he masters all of that, eventually start on phonics and adding and subtracting 1-5 (so he can count on his hands). Read a ton and have him find an easy word on the page ("dog" if there's only one or two d words), then build from there.

That's what we've been doing with my 4.5 year old following approximately what she was doing in DC prek before it shut down.

It’s called Sesame Street, available on Amazon Prime.

Waste of time any money. The best thing you could do is find another family or two with a similar age kid and let them socialize.

That’s too young for any kind of online program. Use Sesame Street and things like that, read stories, play outside, learn songs, and build with blocks. Your child will not be behind the others whenever regular school opens.

Just homeschool. Any purported online curriculum will have 75+% offline with you teaching.

Could you guys recommend any online pre-schools or pre-K schools?
My little one is 4yrs and I am looking for online preschool/Pre-K program.

I guess the location does not matter since it will be an online class


I have searched around but haven't found one yet.

If you/your kids have a great online experience in last spring or summer at your school, please share the school name with me. I really need your help


Thank you in advance!