At 21 months our son has a definite passion for books - if it was up to him we would read to him from dawn till dusk. Most people we know say they've never seen a child sit still and be completely immersed in a book for such long periods at a time. That is the main reason we've decided to begin homeschooling our child before the age of two.
Giving what we already do a title
I'm completely aware of the importance of free play - in fact, I think it's the most important activity of any child up until the age where they no longer care for free play in the same way. When I'm saying we're going to homeschool our son, then please don't imagine us doing workbooks for hours on end with him. That's not the point at all. Actually, we don't plan on changing much, besides the fact that I will now be even more deliberate to work on learning the alphabet with him.
We already sing the alphabet song almost daily, we read books, sing songs, read rhymes aloud, count just about everything we come across and talk about colours and shapes. We have no expectation of when he needs to have learned what, we simply desire to tap into his curiosity and love of books.
In all honesty, our son will probably never be homeschooled. He's out of a long line of public school teachers and chances are he'll go to one some day. The chances of me being a stay at home, homeschooling mum is next to none. I wasn't homeschooled either, however, that never stopped my parents from having a firm grip on my education and giving me extra work to do at home in the areas where I was struggling. While I've had a few wonderful public school teachers I owe the majority of my education to my parents and my mum is encouraging me to take the same control over my child's education even at this early stage.
How we plan to teach our son to read
Notice how I said how and not when. We are not at all concerned with when our son reads. If he doesn't read until he's 10, then who cares as long as he still has a passion for books. My husband was a late reader, but once he began he saw no reason to stop.
We are planning to work on the alphabet song, then we will connect the song to letters in a wooden puzzle. He will also have free acess to the puzzle, which can only be laid in the correct order, at all times. At the same time, I will teach him the sounds of the letters, by saying "A - ah - Apple" and so on. Our son already knows what letter his name begins with, but we will make a greater effort to form words with the letters and turning it into a game. We are also fortunate to have a set of books with each letter and a small story containing a bunch of words that begin with that letter. Those are in frequent use already and I will begin pairing the books with the puzzle letters. Each time I read one of the books to my son, we always begin by tracing the letter with his finger and saying its name and sound. I've already seen him doing it by himself and if I forget he will remind me.
Writing practice
As for writing, we are more than content just to have him draw on paper. He has just begun to explain to us what he is drawing, his favourite thing at the moment is a face, complete with eyes, a mouth, a nose and ears. The ears are often the only thing we can identify. Once he gets better at handling the pencil we will start to do tracing and colouring pages.
Advice is appreciated
As you can see, we are taking a very relaxed approach to homeschooling our son at the moment. It's only slightly more structured than actual free play and building on what we've been doing with him since birth. While I've always had the desire to homeschool, I don't have any experience, so I would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.
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I think this is a great idea! I homeschoolrd my son during kindergarten then he went to private school and then I homeschooled him for seventh and eighth grade and then he went back to private school. If you get to do it full-time then it is one of the greatest things ever! I will be right here cheering you on!
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That sounds like such a dream and a good combination of trying both. I know it's hard work to do it full time, but it's definitely a dream of mine.
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I promise you it will be worth it all <3
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It sounds like you have his best interests at heart. I ran a homeschool support group for 13 years, and I learned during that time that the parents who were flexible and who wanted what was best for their kids were the ones whose children thrived at home.
Enjoy this time, it's amazing to watch them learn so quickly. Of course, every age has something beautiful about it (and each age has something difficult, too! Just pay attention to the amazing things, and that's what you'll remember :-) )
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I hope I do.
I will keep that in mind - it is so true.
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I'm a 100% homeschooled (former) kid.
I learned to read when I was 4. My parents weren't really working with me, but I was extremely interested in learning because no matter how often my parents read to me, I had a lot more time than they did and it seemed like I was always waiting for them so I could hear the new story I was hoping they'd read.
I'm the oldest of eight. None of them have ever been to school. If there is one piece of advice I'd pass on , it'd be be to not focus on teaching things early (ironically). My siblings and I were all over the map on when we accomplished various milestones like reading, but by age 12 we were all in about the same place along with other kids we knew. The learning curve evens out quite a bit by that age.
Another big piece of advice is do not try to bring school home. The routine of a school does not really work in a home. It's designed for teaching large numbers of children. It needs to be able to embrace a wide array of personalities and learning styles. To try to transfer school teaching methods to a homeschool environment can often be frustrating and unproductive.
Last but not least: know exactly WHY you are homeschooling and be extremely honest with yourself and your children about your plans and goals. I've seen a lot of people form unrealistic expectations about both school (how terrible it is) and their own reasons for homeschooling (how it's going to fix everything) and it doesn't take much adversity to change their minds, much to the confusion of their children. A child being yanked back and forth between the drastically different worlds of homeschooling and regular schooling can really have a hard time with the uncertainty.
This may not be relevant if, as you say, there really is no chance you'll actually homeschool your little man. But if you're wondering...those are some of my observations from the student's position!
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Thank you for such a detailed and well thought out reply. I'm very interested in it from a student's perspective.
I think it's some wonderful advice, even if there's no real chance of me ever getting to homeschool. I think everything you said can be applied to the plans we do have. When my son gets old enough to begin formal school we plan on afterschooling him with a distinct mixture of unschooling and Charlotte Mason methods. Basically, we want to follow his interests and offer interesting ways of learning more in those areas, as well as providing support in the areas he'll struggle in, all without it feeling like he is coming home for another school session.
I didn't learn proper punctuation in Danish until I was 17, and couldn't divide until the 8th grade. We know from our own experiences that things 'click' for different people at different times.
We do know why we homeschool. We think it's our responsibility that our children get a basic education, not the school's even if they go to one five days a week. We also want to offer a lot more literature and a living angle on often boring textbooks. We also want to make sure our children get a firm foundation in our faith, something they won't get from public school for sure.
You've given me a lot to think about and have supported a lot of the ideas we already have. Thank you again for taking the time to share your insights.
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I really hope my perspective can help!
Taking on the responsibility of educating your child is a huge commitment, no matter how it works out in practice. I have no idea what the laws are like in Denmark concerning homeschooling, but if they are very unfavorable and you are required under compulsion to be separated from your child, then I definitely see where you don't have much of a choice. There are people willing to be pioneers and potentially get into deep legal trouble to attain freedom of choices like these, but my primary goal has always been to be with my children and I won't put that in danger if it is at all possible. I definitely understand another mother looking at it this way.
That said, you are taking on a massive challenge. Afterschooling when your child has already been in school all day is going to be quite a job! If Danish schools are like American schools, you will have that pile of homework to deal with on top of whatever extra coaching you want to do. My guess is you're going to have to be extremely focused to accomplish this goal and make sure you know your very top priority.
If retaining faith is part of your reasoning for doing your own schooling on top of the government schooling, that's probably going to be your most difficult task.
The schools will teach your child to trust in man's knowledge alone and it's difficult not be believe that ourselves, since man's accomplishments are so fantastic. Academic success is very alluring, especially when we are directly involved in our child's attaining it. We're constantly told that academic achievement is at odds with faith in God. My observations at present are that if you want to contradict this, it's going to be a MAJOR task. It may be the only thing you can focus on above and beyond his previous schooling. I absolutely could be wrong and maybe I'm a lazy teacher, but if it were me I would not try to bite off too much at once and focus on just one goal as my "afterschooling" effort. And I would probably choose faith as that goal.
I hope this is helpful and encouraging! It's very easy to sound super critical in writing and I do want you to know I am not criticizing your position or willing to argue with the choices another mother has to make for the good of their children. I am very sympathetic to situations less free than the one I enjoy!
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Thank you. I'm sure I read your post in the tone it was meant and am in no way feeling hurt.
It is not completely impossible to homeschool, but in our situation, it probably will be.
There are so many different things to take into consideration in these situations. We could make major sacrifices to have me stay home but at the moment it isn't worth it to us. The negatives outweigh the positives. I won't get into all of it here, but know that we have considered this very carefully and prayerfully.
My faith has survived many years of public education, even now at the university level as I'm pursuing my master's. I will do my very best to make the same happen for my child.
My parents did the bulk of the academic work they wanted me to do with me during the times when school was out. We will most likely do the same.
I truly appreciate your advice and encouragement and would much appreciate your prayers too as we move forward.
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You absolutely have my prayers. These decisions are no joke, eh? There's just so much that rides in the balance!
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Wow, good boy
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