Thinking About It?

Originally posted at Home Schoolin' Mamas.

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Anyone reading here who's ever thought about homeschooling but not sure it's for them? I'm sure there has to be some of you out there. I have a friend with a preschooler who is wondering this exact same thing. Here are my thoughts on the subject:

Is three years old too young to formally begin homeschooling?

I don't know, if your children are anything like my girls then definitely yes, too young. I'm warning you that I'm a very laid-back homeschooler, but I just like to let them play at that age. I tried doing preschool with Hannah when she was 3, and it was absolute and complete misery on both our parts and really shook my resolve that homeschooling was something we should pursue. I prayed about it and just left it by the wayside to let her concentrate on her play. They learn so much from playing, even merely pretending to be princess kitty! Also, even though she didn't like to go through formal "school-type" books with me, she DEVOURED her Barbie alphabet laptop. She learned all her letters and numbers through that around age 4-5...because she wanted to do it on her own. Your biggest role right now might just be to give her the tools to learn on her own and when they are interested in it, it will happen.

The idea of homeschooling is exciting, but very scary as well.

As for homeschooling being a frightening prospect, don't worry, it's really NOT as big a deal as people think it is. Oh sure, a lot of families I guess have very formal "school-at-home" where basically it's just like public school only in a different setting. And yes, if you do go that route, it will be more work on your part and more time-consuming, but still worth it, I'm sure. We're not that kind of homeschoolers, though. I'll tell you about our "school schedule" -- after all our morning chores are done, the three of us sit down at the kitchen table at 9 a.m. I give them their books, Hannah gets right at it but I explain whatever directions to Emme, then they just get to work. I stay with them to help move them along and get them unstuck if they don't know what to do, but there's hardly any teacher lecture or anything like that. We take a short break at 10 for a snack, then finish usually shortly afterward but never any later than 11.

Really, that's it, one to two hours of school per day. You'd be amazed what all they can learn in that time. Obviously I only have a 2nd grader and a kindergartener, so I'm sure the time will increase in the years to come, but this has served them well and they are not only not behind, but far ahead of their peers. There are some times where we will even go a week or two without doing any schoolwork, and they're still just fine. Once you get into it, you will realize that it's not nearly as daunting as you imagine.

One last thing I'd like to point out is that very much of our learning does not come in a neat little package at the kitchen table. Leading to the little joke you will find among homeschoolers that there's sometimes hardly any "home" in homeschooling. Assuming you choose to take this path, then your children being able to be free during the days will open their world a lot more than if they were stuck in a classroom. They can learn outdoors, in museums, in libraries, places of business, nursing homes, etc., etc.

And they can learn just fine while picnicking on the floor
and reading Childcraft books to their stuffed animals...

Okay, I lied, one more idea that may be helpful would be to get in touch with a homeschooling group or co-op in your area and meet some of the families to get an idea of what other people think. I know a lot of my friends in online-land have homeschooling groups where a lot of the kids are preschool age as well and they are just trying to get a feel for how it all works.

In the end, why not give it a try? Our motto around here is "one year at a time".