Are there any homeschooling parents (or 4yo and 5yos) on this forum?

[MomtoDandJ]

If so, please say a quick hello!  Seems to be a lot of parents of older kids, so I was wondering if everyone is lurking... LOL!

[sewchris2642]

I'm here.  Back in the 80s and 90s, we home schooled our girls.  Now we're home schooling our son for middle and high school.  I don't usually post, only read.  My days of beginning home schooling is so far behind me that none of the curriculum I used then are mentioned now--Ray's Arithmetic, McGuffey's Readers, Konos Unit Studies.  And unlike when our girls were home schooling, we are now part of a charter school.  In some ways being part of a larger community makes home schooling easier.  And in other ways, there are more hoops I have to work around.  Less than the public school but more than when we were independent and under the radar with the girls.  Back then I only had the library, museums, and historical sites.  Now there is also the internet, DVDs, and reenactments.

[Grace and Granola]

Hi!  I am homeschooling two boys ages 6 and 4 (almost 5).  My 6yo is technically kindergarten as far as school district standards, but we're doing K/1st curriculum.  My 4yo attends preschool three 1/2 days per week which has given me some good space to get our first year of homeschooling going.  So far, so good! 

[Stacey B]

I'm homeschooling my ds who is 5. Short message for the moment,  but yes we are around.

[sewchris2642]

Oops.  I totally skipped the 4 yos and 5 yos part.  While I did home school the girls when they were 4 and 5, I didn't start home schooling Dylan until 6th grade.

[Mere]

My ds2 is 4, and I lurk (and sometimes post) here often.  I generally don't post much in this forum about ds2 though, because I don't do any "formal homeschooling" activities with him.  He's a third child though, so even though I do not ask him to do anything in particular in reality he does a ton and is exposed to way more than my first two were. 

Next year, when he would be of kindergarten age, I will probably work some on reading and handwriting, but that's about it. 

[tankgirl73]

My daughter is 4, turning 5 next month.  She'd be in kindergarten if she went to public school, although since she's a December baby we'd probably even have the option of waiting another year.  No matter... she's doing mostly grade 1 level work now anyway LOL... 

(When we do work at all, that is of course... she's mostly unschooled/Waldorfy for now)

[dogmom327]

Here, but I don't post on this form much. DS is 4 1/2 and we're getting started slowly.

[rockportmama]

Here! My DS is 5, almost 6 & my DD turns 3 soon. I pop in now & then as I work PT, too. We're pretty laid back. My son isn't much of a worksheet kinda kid, so the learning we do doesn't look much like "school."  Sometimes there's a preschool thread around.

[cameragirl]

We're homeschooling DD, who is 5. We're using the k12 curriculum through a local district. We're through the district for cost reasons. We might do it without the supervision once finances allow it. It has been going pretty well, aside from a meltdown today after starting back up from Thanksgiving break.

[SweetSilver]

Yes!  We are homeschooling our 5 and nearly-7yo girls.  We are unschoolers and we don't use curricula, so while I am lurking on this forum all the time, I don't post as much as I would because so often the threads revolve around curricula and it all seems as foreign to me as the world of "schoolers".  I am, however, all over the Unschooling forum.  See you around!

[doularina]

I am a lurker who hardly makes the time to do that much.  My son will be five in January and my daughter just turned seven.

[KimPM]

Hello, and welcome!

Another mom of a 5 yo (almost 6 yo.). We've been homeschooling unofficially for a couple years at least before being official this year.

[mamaupupup]

Hi there,

I have twin 5 year olds.  I look nearly every day and sometimes post.  I see this as my practice year since the girls don't need to be officially enrolled until next Fall.  We are all over the map from a curriculum standpoint:  unschooly on days I feel like just following them, traditional schoolroom when I feel I need/want to expose them to something (often a moral or something related to an upcoming event), nature-based mentoring when I feel the need to be outdoors (lots of days), and lots of seasonal-based crafts/projects/cooking. 

Looking forward to hearing more about your experience along the way!

[justthinkn]

Another lurker here! I have a strong lit-based leaning that seems compatible with my 4.5 yo DD so far, so we bring piles of library books home regularly on different topics that come up or just by great authors. Most days I try to work in a little reading and writing practice (bob books, HWT) b/c she's really motivated, and a math game and art activity for fun. Sometimes more, sometimes less, and then of course there's the stuff that's learning in everyday life or family fun. Anyway, so far it's a good rhythm for us.

[revolting]

My oldest will be five towards the end of this winter. I'm here, but we don't follow a curriculum. I'm not that into academics at this age. I just want to have fun with my kids!

[PNCTink]

I'm here too. We're not doing anything formal yet, but we'll register with our state in April. We'll be loosely following the Ambleside Online curriculum for the first year and we'll kick in with their year 1 once DD turns six.

[Stephenie]

I am homeschooling my 4.5 year old. We're doing Moving Beyond the Page's 5-7/k-1  level and he loves it. He's a bright little guy who needs LOTS of structure. I thought I would unschool but he had other plans. 

[SundayCrepes]

My son will be 6 this month. My daughter is 3.

[tankgirl73]

Quote:

 I thought I would unschool but he had other plans.

Hee!  I like that quote.  After disastrous attempts at rigorously schooling my older son, after learning about unschooling and other alternative philosophies as he got older, after years of healing from the damage I did to him in his early years, I too thought that I'd unschool my daughter.  Then maybe, when she was around 7, if she wanted to, we might start some academics and likely follow a gently Waldorf approach.

Well, when she was two, she started asking for worksheets.  

We still *mostly* unschool, but when she wants to do academic stuff, we do.  (I know that can also be considered 'unschooling' when it's following the child's lead.)  And so she's doing grade 1-level math and reading and we do occasional lapbooks on various topics, which she loves.  But we're still very Waldorf-influenced and do lots of storytime, circle time, fingerplays and songs, free play with playsilks, etc etc.  We're VERY eclectic!!!  And my 2 children are VERY different from each other!