If I’m being honest, I have some insecurities about even saying that we homeschool in the present tense. Technically, none of my boys have officially started Kindergarten. They are ages 5, 3, and 2! I know. I’ve only just begun. But that’s kind of the point.
From the moment we felt the call to homeschool, I had this preconceived notion that things would change dramatically when my first child officially started “kindergarten.” I heard so much about curriculum and had insecurities about educating my kids at home rather than in a formal school setting. I knew I had time to figure it all out. So in the mean time, I started with research into the why’s of homeschool and an apologetics so to speak of homeschooling to prepare myself to answer questions and defend our decision. But the years passed and suddenly I was just a year away from that first “kindergarten” year. I decided it was time to plan for that year specifically with curriculum, schedules, etc.
I attended the Homeschool Curriculum Online Summit 2.0 from the comfort of my adirondack chair out back while my kids played outside. It was incredible. I listened to every single session over the course of a couple weeks and took pages of notes in the Event Playbook. One of the biggest takeaways for me was the huge relief I felt in realizing that I was actually already at it. I over-prepare for everything. As a litigator and now as a Realtor, I always spend more time than necessary on everything just to be absolutely sure I’m thorough. Apparently I do the same with homeschool.
I heard it said by a number of speakers in the Curriculum Summit that for children 2nd grade and younger, a big formal curriculum was not necessary. The speakers each spoke about their different homeschools and lo and behold I started to realize I was already educating my children at home. My oldest first learned his alphabet and numbers with Play-Doh, paper and crayons. We always do a variety of crafts and projects. We do science projects weekly with Usborne Activities’s 50 Science Things to Make and Do. It doesn’t seem like a lot but I learned that elementary school teachers only spend about 15 minutes a week in science! We have field trips a couple times a month to different museums and other new places to learn and explore. We have lots of flash cards, workbooks, games, and puzzles. My kids have swim lessons and soccer. At 5, my oldest loves to learn addition and subtraction (and even the beginning of multiplication, division and fractions) with marshmallows or matchbox cars. And he is becoming an amazing RC car driver.
Of course, as my sons learn more, we find more challenging activities and books. I use many different teaching styles and find out how they learn best. There is so much I’ve learned just by trial and error, and observing them. But I also learned a lot about where my kids are developmentally from On Becoming Preschool Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, and the other On Becoming… books. Even though I’m with my kids all day, having that resource on what to (and not to) expect at different ages is invaluable for them and for me. There is a balance that changes with each age and each child.
Once I realized I was already at it, I wanted to know whether I was successful at it. I wanted to know if my children were where they “should” be for their ages. Of course, I already knew they were doing great. But there went my insecurities again. I listened to a great session last week at the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Convention. One of the speakers, Kim Sorgius was a former public school teacher and developed this assessment for homeschoolers to evaluate and document their children’s progress in the early years (ages 4-8). I hesitate to get too caught up on evaluations at such an early age as I want to be sure to instill in them a love of learning and not obligation and frustration. But it is still encouraging to see my kids progressing and at a faster pace than the norm.
It’s probably safe to say that most parents are educating their children from home initially but that at some point most parents pass that off to the schools. Though I am whole-heartedly a homeschool advocate, I won’t begin to claim I know everyone’s story or situation. And I don’t judge anyone for not homeschooling their children. But for me it’s been eye-opening to learn that I can do it and indeed I have been doing it! I know I can follow God’s call and I have found so much encouragement in these wise authors and organizations who empower and equip us to nurture our children at home. Let me know any questions you have about resources in the comments below. I’d love to share!
