When's the earliest age you would start homeschooling following a method?

Question

I mean when would you start homeschooling outside of "this is how you color in the lines" etc...like when you should start buying some sort of books for learning. I know it varies some but I was wondering when you think you would start at the earliest?

Answer 1

I plan on homeschooling my kids for sixth grade and on.

Public middle and high schools are the worst places for kids, honestly.

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Answer 2

Well, a method could be valuable at any time past 3, but make sure you only do as much as you feel is appropriate and comfortable.  Yes, this is a precious time in which they are best not to be weighed down by "work".  I like that you recognize and value that.  Of course, if you're present and open to the boundless opportunities all around you, you'll never run out of teaching ideas, and everything you do with them will be a positive learning experience.

Do what feels natural.  And have fun!

Answer 3

Well based on the fact that I don't know how old your child is, I would say, you should always have some sort of learning material on hand. Start teaching them how to read at a really early age but be creative in teaching them so that it is fun. Then follow that with basics like addition and subtraction...if possible....maybe start with counting cookies or crackers or carrots....something you can do at snack time in the afternoon and by about age 5 you should start teaching phonics, and more deeply in the basics adding in vocabulary, more difficult mathematics, and maybe some fun scientific stuff like raising butterflies and the such. Once you get to that point you should be able to handle the rest of the home schooling yourself. But make sure to enroll your child in a good social setting such as boy or girl scouts and maybe some sport leagues so that he/she is receiving the external socialization that you don't get as much of if you are homeschooling.

Answer 4

Oh, about 12 to 14.

Before that they are learning the foundations, not just the basics but a love of learning, discovering who they are and what their passions are. Once they reach those teenage years, that passion will help them learn what they want and need much faster. We are exploring the world all the time, going places, doing things that are outside the norm. Library twice a week, zoos, museums, businesses and festivals...between this my children have learned sooo much, they are ahead of their age mates in school.

Likewise, I would never teach my kids to color within the lines....Rembrandt and Beethoven made a fortune and a legacy breaking the rules of their passions.

Answer 5

You teach according to your childs interests and ability. Using any particular method doesn't make any difference for infant through grade 2.

Answer 6

Well, there's Montessori and Waldorf stuff starting from birth. And Charlotte Mason has a whole bunch of stuff written about children under 6.

Typically, people start more formal stuff for whenever their child would be registered for kindergarten or grade 1. But you could start with Montessori lessons as young as 1 or 2 (we're talking really short lessons) and regular short lessons around age 3. But these wouldn't be in books.

Answer 7

At birth :D  Seriously, kids pick up on all sorts of tips from the start.  The learn from everything in the environment.  There is no age to begin or end.

Answer 8

I don't know I personally think you should not miss these precious years.

You want your 4-1/2 year old to be more interested in learning? Go to the park, listened to stories on tape, read books, went to the library, baked cookies, read books, planted seeds, read books, wrestled on the carpet, made dorky crafts, did I mention reading books?

Pace yourself;  Relax and enjoy that "light of your life." Don't be so eager for the carefree years to end.

Answer 9

Its really up to you.  Some people buy a formal preschool curriculum, and one major publisher has three levels of Kindergarten; K3 for three year old's, K4 for four year olds, and K5 for five year olds.  Other people subscribe to the idea that early childhood should be a time for play, and therefore choose not do any formal academics until the child is between 8 and 10 years old.  There are even some people who unschool in such a fashion that they never require the child to any work, no matter what age, unless the child shows an interest and wants to learn about it.

Personally I throw together my own stuff for preschool, teaching shapes, colors, counting plastic bears, introducing letters and sounds, and numbers.  Then, either at age 5 or 6 depending on when the child seems ready, we start a more formal Kindergarten curriculum.

The Kindergarten curriculum I like best is Horizons, it only focuses on Math and Phonics, but I add in lots of reading aloud to the kids, some science experiments (1-2-3 science is great!), and lots of art and music.

http://www.aop.com/horizons/

Answer 10

When the kid asks. It could be four, it could be 14 , it could be never.

Answer 11

Really it's quite a natural transition from toddlers to Kindergarten. Children start getting interested in reading somewhere around three and numbers. They also start enjoying games more and more. I found when my kids started fighting it was time to do something organized be it a craft or a reading lesson. I think the best advise is to keep it short and simple. You can a workbook and see what happens. Most kids take some styles of workbooks and not others. The key to preschool is learning how to learn and how to control attention. Then your child will be well prepared for elementary.

Answer 12

When it you and the child are ready....

When mine were very little I read to them a lot (with a wide variety of books both fiction and nonfiction), took them to interesting places, planted a garden, took walks, colored pictures, pointed out words on signs or in books, counted things, talked about the world around us, etc.  There was no plan.  We just worked on having fun and exposed them to new experiences, places, people and information.

When my son was not yet 3, I realized that if he wasn't getting enough mental stimulation, he got into more trouble.  So, I started planning what I was doing a bit more--picking a topic for the week and getting several books from the library on the topic and finding some related crafts or activities to do, worked more on things like counting higher, learning the sounds of the letters, singing educational songs, introducing the idea of adding, watching videos on science topics or careers or showing different parts of the world, etc.

By the time he was 5, it became clear that this wasn't enough for him for he was getting into more trouble again.  So, I bought some books to use with him--mostly ones that I read to him or that we did together, and we worked on learning to write letters properly,  to "skip count" (count by 2's or 5's or 10's or whatever), phonics skills, etc.  

By 5 1/2, we had started using more of a "standard method" of homeschooling.  We used more workbooks and did things more formally.  We were now much more consistent about doing "lessons."

But I took my lead from him.  I tried to pay attention to what he needed and enjoyed and when it wasn't enough.  That is important, I think.

Some children will directly ask for lessons.  A lot of them will not ask directly, but their behaviour will let you know when they need more mental stimulation.  So pay attention to your child to figure out when it's best for him.

I would suggest that if you plan on homeschooling, you should be researching now the different methods and figuring out which you'd like to use.  Get a few books or other materials to have on hand so that when your child seems ready, you'll have materials ready to go.  If you try using them for a few days and they seem to be too much for your child, put them away for a few weeks and then bring them out to try again.

Don't feel that you have to start by using the materials on a daily basis.  Instead, try using them a few times a week, for small amounts of time (not so much that the child is overwhelmed, enough to keep the child interested and little enough to keep him wanting more--mostly try to keep it fun).  If you start in spurts, using the materials for a few weeks and then not using them for a few more, don't worry.  That's fairly normal when they are very little.  Eventually, you'll ease into a more consistent schedule.

Have fun!