When to start formal school?

[Aurie]

Cross posted on another HS forum:

I know that is a loose term with homeschooling But when (ages, grade, level, whatever) did you start more formal type educating?

My DD is 4 and if we were putting her in public school, she would start kindergarten next year (turning 5 this summer). Right now, I am pretty much unschooling her. Not sure if that is the correct term or not. We school when she feels like doing school.

She is more advanced then my boys were at this age and they attended preschool. But she isn't as advanced as some kids her age or so it seems whether they are homeschoolers or preschoolers that are out there now. Gah! Too much pressure to push these little ones too soon

I am not worried about her level. I think she is doing great. She has a learning disability. To be where she is, I completely attribute to learning at home.

I am just curious to find when you started doing more formal type educating? With our boys (age 8 and 10) who have been in the public school, it was/is easy to sit them down and have them do their lessons in a certain amount of time. With DD, she will sit down to do one worksheet tops every other day or so. She will review her letters on line, IF she feels like it. We have educational videos she pops in rather then watching other stuff on TV.

I know I may not be able to do something nearly as structured and formal as I do with the boys because of her learning disability. But for my own sanity, I need a little tiny bit of structure Just wondering at what age, stage, level, etc you switched to something more structured? Also, what cues did your child give that they were ready for something more structured?

The age of attendance for school in Louisiana is 7. So I really have 2.5 years before I have to truely worry about this. I am just curious and like to plan

[moominmamma]

We didn't really "switch to something more structured" as much as we evolved into the informal use of some structured materials in informal ways somewhere between 4 1/2 and 6 1/2, and then into somewhat more formal use of structured materials somewhere between ages 8 and 10.

To give an example, around age 5 1/2, my ds began dabbling in Miquon Math when he felt like it. Sometimes this was several pages a day for several days, sometimes it was nothing for weeks or months. At age 9 1/2 he decided he wanted to approach math in a more structured way, so he dived into Singapore Math 3B and spent a few minutes a day at it, even when he didn't totally feel like doing it. (Six months later he's now finishing up 5B so all those years of just dabbling were laying a very good foundation.) Math and music studies are currently his only formal structured learning.

That's just us. It works well for us. You'd probably get a thousand different answers from a thousand different homeschooling families.

Miranda

[Lillian J]

deleted duplicate post

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by Aurie

Just wondering at what age, stage, level, etc you switched to something more structured? Also, what cues did your child give that they were ready for something more structured?

The age of attendance for school in Louisiana is 7. So I really have 2.5 years before I have to truely worry about this. I am just curious and like to plan

My son was in Waldorf kindergarten for two years (that school liked them to start young and do two years), and the structure of those half days consisted of lots and lots and lots of play, listening to stories, some songs and simple activities, helping with baking and cooking, and bits of arts and crafts. Their emphasis was on the rhythms of the days, and the crucial role of imaginative play. Plenty of structure and rhythm in the half days that school was in session - but no letters or numbers. Then, when he was almost 7, I enrolled him in a little private school in which all the other 1st graders would already know how to read 3 letter words - so that summer I had to quickly got him started reading - it took only a few weeks. He fit right in with the class when school started. So - in summary, he was reading when he was almost 7, but didn't start learning it until he was almost 7. And he's been a successful learner all along.

After that year, we homeschooled, and moved further and further away from structured learning. That wasn't at all because I had any philosophical ideas about it - to the contrary! With a background in teaching, I had all sorts of creative ideas about how learning should be structured and orchestrated - but I kept finding out that he simply didn't need it or thrive on it. It was my thing - not his. It was actually giving him more freedom and providing resources and inspiration that really supported his learning best. I provided lots and lots of materials, outings, experiences, and read wonderful books to him. When there were things he wanted to know about, he'd turn to books to learn more. He developed as a self-motivated learner and still is.

I personally found that structure is something that's better applied to form of days - like planning Monday mornings for library visits, Thursday afternoons for playgroup, Tuesdays for Friday for outings, etc. - whatever categories of activities you want. But to structure a child's learning, in my opinion, just isn't a good fit for the way learning works best.

My own child was diagnosed with all sorts of learning disabilities, by the way. We went ahead and did sensory integration for a while - and I don't know if it was necessary - he may have grown out of his delayed abilities, but who knows. It was just a matter of lots of physical games, so at least it was fun for him. Later it was auditory discrimination - we did a program for that, but also don't know if it was necessary or whether the therapy made a difference. I do think he learned some tricks from it, though, so it was fine. We later did a dyslexia program - and found out there that it was actually vision skill deficiencies that were the culprit. Did some therapy, and BINGO! But all these things were simply presented to him as more tricks and tools for his learning kit - he wasn't made to feel that there was something wrong with him, but only that different people have different ways of learning and that these things could add strength to his own skills. I'm just trying to say that it wasn't an ordeal - it sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't. Lillian

[Ygle]

Not before 11yo... just based on how brains function.

[dharmamama]

My kids are 12, 5, and 4. My 12 year old joined us not quite a year ago form an orphanage and for her, school ended up being the best choice (at least for now).

My 5 year old is a bio child, my four year old came to us from an orphanage 2.5 years ago.

I don't ever plan to start formal school with them. They are doing great now. If ain't broke, don't fix it.

[UnschoolnMa]

We left formal for the sake of formal stuff behind when we left school behind. The kids are free to study things as they wish and I am here to help and share and etc as needed.

[Butter]

When they ask for it. With Ani that was about 4 1/2. With Cameron that was within the last couple months (he's 5 1/2).

[Quindin]

I say don't stress out and just keep on following his interests. Kids here begin attending school at 4 ( ) but I am in no pressure to do anything academic with my 4yo unless he asks

My 9 and 7yo went to school for 2 years and do prefer workbooks for a lot of the subjects.

I wonder however how my 4yo will feel about learning! I never HS a child who had never set their feet in school before, so I wonder what their it will be like. I have a suspicion he will keep up with the current unschooling

[Pinky Tuscadero]

Originally Posted by Ygle

Not before 11yo... just based on how brains function.

Could you elaborate, maybe with some links? :

[phathui5]

I did relaxed but scheduled lessons with ds1 after he turned five. We've gotten more structured this year (he's 6.5) but we're still relaxed enough to have spent the last two days at the playground because it was finally warm enough to do so.

Dd will be starting "formal" schooling at four because she's been asking to start on the stuff ds1 did last year for the past two months. So when I order his stuff in July, I'm going to get kindy stuff for her.

[warriorprincess]

I start formal lessons at 5.

[Mom_of_a_ton]

We never started formal school, but simply let our lives take us on a wonderful learning journey. We do start formal math around age five but other then that we learn through our lives.

Unschool mom of 7 with number 8 on it's way! .: