"Toying" with the idea of homeschooling

[Cookie5765]

Hi,

I am the proud Mum of two beautiful children, Liam who is going to be 3 and Morgaine who is a wee 4 1/2 months. I've talked about homeschooling on occasion but never anything too official. Today DH told me that he actually thinks I should homeschool and I am wondering how you go about it. We try to limit TV as much as possible and Liam can count to 10 and knows his letters and some sounds and loves to look at books. Do you just get on a topic that they like and roll with it? What age did you "officially" start?

I'm also a doula so I don't know how that would conflict with homeschooling. I was looking forward to actually having time to doula more when they entered school but I also know how TERRIBLE public school was for me and how much more I could have learnt if I wasn't hindered by what THEY wanted me to know.

Any advice for a beginning Mommy?

Katrina

[SRHS]

check out Lillian's webiste....www.besthomeschooling.org check that out. We started out with a very strict schedule and "curriculum" we now unschool which is extremely easy...just follow their lead. Let themdo what interests them. Many homeschoolers have differing opinions on electronics...my kids do their best math on the computer, but I do limit the time they spend on the computer. They also get a lot out of educational TV, but again, I limit that too. Haven't just let go of all control yet....I'm getting there...it takes baby steps. As you will find out.

Google unschooling if you are intersted in that concept...there are many web sites out there for both homeschooling and unschooling.

Good Luck.

[Cookie5765]

Yeah, my best friend who is also interested in homeschooling os all about "curriculum". Me not so much...if I was I'd send them to school...though I'm noy saying curriculum is bad (per se) but I don't think it is what my kid (s) need.

Katrina

[SRHS]

My personal opinion is that kids don't need the curriculum the adults do...for me it was a security blanket...a way I could tick boxes and say YES we accomplished something. Unschooling is really just a different way of looking at learning...a much more refreshing look at learning and a more natural approach to learning than dividing the world up into one hour segregated chunks.

One of my favorite unschooling resources is the Cricket type magazines. We get Click and Appleseeds and it has been a great starting point for lots of explorations. (youknow, aside from the library..)

I'm still learning to appreciate the educational value of legos....getting easier everyday....

Sus

[MyLittleWonders]

My older ds is 4.5 years old, and we just now started doing about 10 minutes a day of actual "structured" instruction/learning (phonics/beginning reading). Up until this time, we didn't do anything that resembled curriculum or structured learning. We do like TV (we just have PBS or videos, so it's pretty much all educational, and I've been trying to aim for no more than 1-2 hours a day in all - including night PBS specials we watch together like the Nature show), and my boys play a few different computer educational games, usually no more than 1/2 hour (unless they get a special treat with daddy in the evening of "Backyard Baseball" ). Otherwise, it's a lot of play and reading. Right now both boys (my younger is 2) and daddy are building with wooden blocks around the train track that my 4.5 year old put together earlier.

My point to all this rambling is, that even at 4.5, we do very little structured learning - and mostly just play, read, and enjoy! At 3, I wouldn't worry at all about any curriculum - Lillian's site that SRHS linked is great and has tons of ideas for preschool families. As your ds (and I love the name Liam) gets older, you can see what works for the both of you, and start to add a little structure if you see that need.

[Balanced Mama]

I think that you begin the unschooling process from the moment your child is born. I think that our children school us in how to school them--like when a baby giggles each time you play peek-a-boo to encourage you to work with her on separations, or your preschooler is seeking answers about the solar system, nature, or street signs. I always catch myself saying that I "plan to homeschool," and then remember that I've been doing it all along. I think that we create the learning environment, and let kids be the guides. I believe that letting kids explore, modeling curiosity and lifelong learning, providing books and other raw materials, and being receptive to what our kids want to learn is the key. It sounds like you're on the right track.