Need Help with a Schedule

[mommytomahmoud]

i will be homeschooling my boys again this yr.

but i cant seem to come up with a good schedule, that will fot my 2yr old and my 4yr old, i know alot of people say it is too early to start homeschooling them but they r really ready to learn, and r always asking me to teach them. i been homeschooling my oldest son since he was 12 months old, but after taking the summer off i just cant seem to set up a good schedule for the both of them.

my oldest has issuses in wrighting, but he is only 4yrs old and that is something we will keep working on. also he is not a big color person, which i am fine with. he has been wanting to learn math, and will always ask me, momma what 3+3 and what is 9-5 and so would work on that, for about 2 mins, but i just got soo lazy over the summer.

my younest who is 2yrs old knows the abc's but say when u show him the letter F he willl say FLY, he wont say F or the sound just Fly, he will also count to 5 when he is in the mood.

i have a prek, k and first grade book for the kids and will be using them for the boys, but my problem is really timing.

how much time should i spend on each subject? and how much time should they get to were they have to work on the school work alone after i give them the work?

also would it be bad if i started teaching them life skills at this age, like cooking and cleaning, planting u know that stuff. i know some people look at me weird when i bring it up, but i want my kids to be indenpent and know how to care for themselfs and how to help around the house, and i figure better to teach them when young then when older and they dont want to help.

thanks for all the advice

[tankgirl73]

Honestly, the life skills would be BETTER than the academics, especially for the 2yo. Sure, he's "asking to be taught" but the skills he's showing are pretty normal for that age, and "teaching" at that age is really very, very, very general and basic. He's "really ready to learn" but that doesn't mean drilling abc's and 123's.

My suggestion for that age would be to look into Montessori homeschooling principles. There is a little bit of what we might call academics, learning shapes and sounds of letters, grouping objects into 2's and 3's, lining up number rods in order by size... but most of it at this age is practical life skills... spooning, pouring, cutting (soft foods with a dull knife, and also cutting paper with scissors). At age 2 my daughter was helping me cook at the stove!

Here's a few blog posts I've written on this topic:
http://motherbynature.ca/2008/12/tod...of-the-action/
http://motherbynature.ca/2009/01/kid...ntessori-toys/
http://motherbynature.ca/2009/02/vid...ooking-skills/

As to how much time to spend on each activity -- not long. Not at this age. Until they get bored, until they lose focus. I wouldn't even worry about a "schedule" -- just offer some activities and see what they want to do that day.

As how long until they can just work on their own? Um, not for a good while yet. Maybe the 4yo, certain activities, soon-ish. But that's a big MAYBE and depends on the kid and on the activity. The 2yo will need you right there with him -- not necessarily HOVERING, not directing every step. But at the very least in the same room, in case he decides to start throwing the beans he's sorting at the cat instead of spooning them into the muffin cups...