When and what is the best way to begin really teaching my son for homeschool?

Question

I knew before I even had kids I would homeschool, as I have been on both sides and know that the schools where I live are some of the worst. I know i'm starting research early, my son isnt even one yet, but thats my style. Because I know I'm homeschooling him, when and how should I start? I do not want learning to be a foriegn thing, or to just start suddenly...I will always teach him whenever I have the opportunity, so when and how should I transition it to a more school-like setting?

Any hints and tips would be appreciated, thank you.

Answer 1

This is a good time to hit up your library for every book there is on homeschooling.  I usually recommend starting with "So You're Thinking about Homeschooling" by Lisa Whelchel.  It is fun and informative with an overview of different homeschooling styles and an appendix with more information.  Then you need to think about what style will work best for your family and be willing to adapt it to your family's needs and lifestyle as the years go by.

Part of your decision of "how" will be determined by your goals for your children and the learning styles and temperaments of your children.  I would recommend resisting the temptation to do too much with your child too soon.  The idea of homeschooling can be very exciting for the parent, but it can also cause burn out for the child that is pushed too far too soon.

In the next two years, I would concentrate on character training more than academics.  This is the time to teach discipline:  following directions, obedience, and patience.  Past the 18-month mark, your son should learn to entertain himself for short periods of time.  

I would also limit television time as much as possible.  I'm not one of those people  who is anti-television, but it can shorten a child's already short attention span and keep them away from things that are more healthy and educational for them.  And remember that commercials can be even worse than show content.  Children can learn a lot from television (good and bad) and sometimes we all need that hour (or two) of quiet that television can provide, but too much really can cause problems.

Try to buy toys that do more than make a noise when a button is pushed.  The more toys you buy that do not require batteries the better.  Try to pick things that will grow with your child and encourage imaginative play and thinking skills:  building blocks, Little People, dress up clothes, and toy food.

Read, read, read!! Set aside time every day to read aloud to your child.  Let them see you reading and learning new things.  Follow your child's lead whenever possible; if he gets interested in castles find books, websites, play sets, or anything else about castles to feed his interest.  And look for teachable moments as they arise.  Point out things on nature walks and keep a running commentary of things that happen while running errands.

The way I transitioned was to set aside two roughly 30-minute periods a day of "mommy time" at age 3.  This was when I would take a break from household chores to play a game or something.  Then around age 4 we started doing a few pages of a workbook or other learning activity and then playing a game during the first "mommy time" period.  Now she is almost five, and we do thirty minutes of "school time" in the morning and have "game time" after dinner.

You'll have to figure out what works for you.  

Good luck!!

Answer 2

Actually, you started the day he was born!  There is no golden moment, or golden method.  By the time your child turns 5 he will have made the most important learning accomplishments of his life in the most natural manner.  Interaction with you, family and friends will teach him important social skills.  You will hold his finger and he will walk.  You will ask him to say Mom (and he might say Dad) and he will learn important language skills.  Formal education?  Well, why not just follow the same pattern.  When he says, "Mom, bug."  Say, "Yes, lady bug.  They eat the pests in the garden so we can have good vegetables."  When he says, "Why is the grass green?"  Tell him because the blades have chlorophyll.  If he has asks what chlorphyll is, just keep going.  If he asks something you don't know, teach him the most important thing of all, how to find the answer to his question.

At some point you may or may not transition to a school like setting.  Many homeschoolers "unschool."  This is basically just continuing to educate in the natural manner we did before the government said our children were of age to educate by professionals.  To avoid the 1st year jitters that most homeschool parents suffer, contact your local homeschool group now.  Tell them you plan to homeschool and you really want to interact with the community since homeschooling is a lifestyle so you can learn from the veterans before you actually get into formal schoolwork.  They usually have book fairs, field trips and other meetings that it would be easy to participate in.  You can get great information without having to do the total immersion at age 6 - which seems to be exactly what you are thinking!  I applaud you for that.  

In the meantime, enjoy him and keep up the research.  There are as many ways to homeschool as there are children.  That is the beauty of it all .  If I might add to your reading list, check out Raymond Moore's "Better Late than Early" and John Taylor Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down"  (actually, read everything Gatto, it will help you develop an idea of what your unique educational model should be by debunking the myths of our current publc education model). Here is online Gatto: http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/  I find that just as important as the actual education process is a firm foundation in your belief of what education is and its purpose.  

Best to you and your son!  Congratulations and wishing you great decisions.

Answer 3

You sound just like me, that's how I approach things, too! I started naming colors and shapes for my kids when they were 1 1/2 and just having them repeat them. By they time they turned two, they knew their basic shapes and colors. I know people don't advocate tv for kids that early, but they're watching what you are watching anyway, and hearing it. So, I keep the tv on Noggin all day. They watch shows like Dora and Blue's Clues, and I watch some if it with them and they learn a lot this way. Sesame Street is another good one. My youngest is 2 1/2, and I just started using  a big preschool workbook from Wal-Mart. I'm picking through things, we're working on same/different and just circling things. Sing songs with him, that is the best way for them to learn! Do puzzles with him, count things with him even if he doesn't say the words, he's watching and learning. Play with play-doh with him and fingerpaint. Don't be afraid to get messy. My oldest (5 yr old) is autistic, and I can tell you that getting messy and playing with them is very crucial to any child's development, it's never too late to start! He's not too young to give him a crayon and let him scribble on a piece of paper or a coloring book, just have to make sure he doesn't eat it! I've taught preschool to MANY kids, and have taught kindergarten to one of my nieces and just started with my son, so I can give you some ideas if you'd like. It's never too early to start. When he's 2 1/2 to three, you can sit down and do quick activities with him, but only for about 5-15 min. at a time, whatever his attention span can handle. I blog about our routines for kindergarten and preschool on myspace if you want to check it out. You'll see that I only pick on thing for preschool that is 'official' school, but I work them all throughout the day in every situation that comes up.

www.myspace.com/angielindsay

Answer 4

I applaud some of the answers on here and all I can add is that I am proof that 'unschooling' works.

My parents never sat me down at a desk and said "Learn", but I was the kid who taught the others why the sky was blue, what water is made of, and how to figure out the size of your bedroom if it's shaped like a rectangle with a triangle attached and a missing corner.

The best thing you can teach your child is that learning is not a chore, or a penalty.  I remember when I was about 7 and all my peers got this strange idea that learning was boring, annoying, and painful.  They would ask a question and I would start to answer and as soon as they realised they were learning they would gloan and say "Not now.  It's the weekend/summer/afternoon."

I surpassed my parents in math and science relatively early despite their education (mom is a university grad) but that didn't stop them from helping me.  All the town librarians knew me by name because I was the only kid taking out stacks of books every week.

One of my mom's proudest moments (at least she always reminds me about it) is when *I* taught *her* what the galaxy looks like and how it moves.  Don't let your own limits fool you into thinking you can't teach you own child.

One day I got the idea that I needed to go to school, to make sure I hadn't fallen behind.  My parents let me go, in Grade 9 (first year of high school)

It was the biggest mistake of my life, and while a learned a lot of things (mostly negative), the curriculum didn't catch up to me until Grade 11/12 and I spent that time doing homework on things I had learned years earlier.

My brother is the same way - still in high school and getting honours, and on his way to being a biochemist.

My advice for you is to START your child homeschooled and enter them into the regular system for either the end of High School, or University.

Universities specifically seek out homeschooled students because they are more able to deal with the self-motivated learning style of university.

Answer 5

You sound like me.  

Just read to him, talk to him, sing to him.  Let him color and do playdough and use his large and small muscle groups.

As he gets older, you'll see natural times when book work would fit in, like coloring or doing art to start with.  Later, have him dictate to you, so he can see his words on paper.  Read the stories back to him and don't edit them.  It's his work.  Let him do art to go with it.  When you have several, make it into a book and share it with family and friends.

Give him a writing kit in a year or so.  I use a tubby with pencils, pens, markers, crayons, highlighters, glue sticks, scissors, envelopes, sticky notes, and an assortment of paper.  Set up journal time each day.  Spend 5 or 10 minutes writing while he does his writing.  You can add a few minutes each month, until he's doing 20 minute stretches in a few years.  Add fun activities, like counting M&M's, stringing Cheerios, using a white board or a magnetic board.

You are already homeschooling him.  He is learning from you right now.  I'd try to avoid being too much like school.  It's nice to have some seat work, but while they're young (under 8 or 9) keep it to a minimum.

Congratulations on choosing the best for your son.  I'm sure you'll be a super homeschool mom.

Answer 6

You are already homeschooling him. You are modelling all kinds of things for him that he will learn. I'm assuming that you are verbally labelling things around the house so that one day he'll pick up on that and know the words for those things. There are all kinds of things that you will be teaching him over the next few years.

As for transitioning to a more school-like setting, some people never do that or just kind of let it occur on its own. Some people find it natural to start in preK, K or grade 1. If you feel the need at that point to have a more formal school time, then around gr. 1 would be the time to do it. But it'll depend a bit on your son as to how you'll actually work it out. Some boys that age are fine working for an hour or two; many are still in play mode!

I would suggest that you connect with a homeschooling support group in your area, if available. There is nothing like being able to sit and chat with other moms who are going through the same thing you are or have been there. Also, read all the books you can from your local library on homeschooling. It'll help you build a vision of what your homeschooling will be like.

Answer 7

I went to a normal school for preschool&kindergarden then my mom homeschooled me for 1st grade she'd use the books mostly and make me fill out the math problem sheets.And recite stuff (time-tables ect.)and wen she had 2 go 2 work or wen she took my brother 2 therapy i would work on the homeworks assisnments there.Then there were certain programs for home-school kids and they would teach u extras (i remember one for music). And actually @ my school we use the Saxon math books that are for home-school.

Answer 8

Well I must be geeky too! I'm started my research back when my daughter was just an idea :) I've decided to base my curriculum off "The Well Trained Mind," but will alter it to be a bit more Australian focused. I don't think you can start suddenly. Learning in a more formal way sort of morphs into being. The child's increasing fine motor skills makes you think of promoting their use. So before you know it, those little hands will be using their crayons to draw circles, then letters, then their name, and a bit further down the track, essays. It will become a more school like setting when your interactions with him become a bit easier to do at the table than on the floor. That's about it, I think.

Answer 9

My son is five we started a "classroom" type setting this year where he sits down to do his work but we have been teaching him since he came home at 2 months old. I learned a very important lesson during the next three years. We had in home therapies and office visits for that time through early steps. The lesson learned is that there is NEVER a time when they are not learning. Learn your child's style before you decide when to start a class. Does he want to learn to start writing at three? Does he have the patience to sit for five minutes? ten minutes? If he's truly ready then go to a retail store like walmart and buy a three dollar workbook to start him out. look for preschool ages. They have it for math and beginning reading. You do need to look into the home school laws for your area go to www.hslda.org to find them out. You can find out the laws for your state and when you have to start reporting that you are home schooling. And finally when you are ready to start a more formal education start looking into curriculum's like sonlight, abeka, ACE, and too many others to name. Good luck

Answer 10

Formally, I started when my son was 4 years. But everyday before that I helped him learn new things. At age two he knew the alphabet, both upper case and lower case (he could recite them as well). He also knew how to count up to 100 before he turned three (visually and verbally). He was reading by age four and could solve double digit addition problems. Since we were never able to have any other children, we sent him to school starting in first grade. I think this has slowed down his learning (way down). I still supplement through school breaks and weekend learning activities.

Find the ways that he loves to learn and build on that. Look for curriculum that fits his style. Don't make him sit for long periods of time. It makes children sleepy and could cause them to dislike learning formally. Children should be burning energy. We turn the radio off in the car and talk about everything. Make it fun.

Answer 11

You can start early on by just playing CDs that have ABC songs and counting type children songs... also there are DVDs like Baby Einstein, blues clues teaches a little bit... anyways buy learning type toys early on, like your kid pushes a button then it asks where a letter is at, or tells your kid a word that starts with that letter... but anyway Home School Legal Defense Association will tell you the legalities in your state. It is either HSLDA.org or .com but anyways, Good luck on your journey, it is sometimes stressful, but mostly fun because you feel really good about teaching them things and seeing them make progress! HSLDA can give lots of other info too....