homeschooling my daughter!!!?

Question

i plan ti homeschool my children.. my oldest is almost three and my youngest is a newborn...at what age should i start and how do i go about starting???

Answer 1

we start teaching our children from the beginning...by our example. they are never to young to be read to..even if they don't understand or pay attention. i have heard it said to read to them 3 times a day...also talk to them about what we are doing as we cook, clean, go for walks, water the garden, take care of a pet...check at your local library for books about home schooling...talk with other mothers in your community who home school....as they get older trips abroad, locally are very educational also...I know several young people who have been "successfully" home schooled and continued their education in well accepted universities around the world...


p.s. In California, one does not need a masters degree to home school...check the standards in the state you live in also first....

Answer 2

Legally, you have to abide by your states laws on the age children should start school. But, lots of homeschool parents start earlier than that. You can start at any age you feel comfortable with, as long as you follow the state laws.
Homeschoolers have many more opportunities for 'socialization' than public school children. People just stick to what they 'always think' and don't try to find out the real truth.
At least with homeschool, the parents are always around to make the children behave if there is trouble.
In public school, the teachers ignore the behavior and the child is at the mercy of the bullying child.
NCLB has stopped public schools from disclipling children and anything goes now.

Answer 3

I'm 14 and I was in kindergarten when i started homeschooling, however i had to go to public school in the first grade when my mom became pregnant with twins, i loved math before i started public school. My advice as someone who has struggled with math for many years and is just going into homeshool again, is to homeschool them all the way through. I have a lot of friends that have been homeschooled all their lives and they have no where near all the issues that all public schoolers have. Most good of my lasting friends have been homeschoolers that i met at church, so there really wont be loneliness issues if you go to church. The program i suggest is A Beka, it's an acredited honors program and starting at a certain age they have videos of classes, my friend started it last year and i am starting this year, both our moms are very happy with it and i hope you will be too.

Answer 4

If you are in the US, the laws governing homeschooling vary by state. You can pretty quickly find state homeschooling organizations by searching google. Also search yahoo groups. You won't have to register with your state until your oldest is around 6. K is not mandatory most states.

Some states are very accomodating - we submit a curriculum description like this: We will continue living, loving, and learning with all the resources at our disposal, submit test results once a year, and we're left alone.

Some people buy curriculums, but I feel this is unnecessary for virtually every child. Unschooling is a wonderful lifestyle, as long as the parents love learning or creating - have something that they can do to model enthusiasm for learning and accomplishment. (You don't have to be perfect - most homeschooling parents develop a lot along with their children.)

You can learn more about unschooling online, too. The Natural Child Project is a great resource for articles about good parenting, including homeschooling. naturalchild.org

We've been unschooling for 13.5 years and are thrilled beyond measure at how our children have developed - interests we'd never have thought of for them and many we did. They are polite, mature, optimistic, fun-loving, hard-working, curious, self-motivated.

We've unschooled since birth.

This is how my children learned to read - since they could sit in my lap, I've read them books. When they wanted the book repeated, I read it over again. And again. And again. I would point out letters, and the sounds they make. Occasionally, not to ruin the flow. I bought a dozen different alphabet books - the kind that feature some theme around which each letter of the alphabet is illustrated. because the illustrations can be whimsical, enchanting, informative, or funny, the kids love to look through these books with you, hearing what the letter is called and what sounds it makes. Start putting index cards all over the house, writing on each a word describing a thing in the house. Tape the card to the thing.

The most important thing for your new born is mommy's milk. Very important for bonding and IQ. Very important to hold your infant frequently - brain cells make connections while the baby is held.

You want to expose your kids to lots of thins - do you live near museums, parks, art galleries, performance halls? What special talents do you have - gardening, organizing, physics, political activism, scrapbooking - whatever you do, you can model for your kids how to approach things with passion and committment.

For math, kids of a certain age love to count and love to have you count. I'm sure I counted out loud to 200 a dozen times or more. Baking will teach math - from counting to fractions. Gardening, remodeling, construction all teach math. It's so easy to learn from living - it's how humans have always done it! You'll have a wonderful time.

Great thing about starting young - you'll be able to see unschooling works before you feel pressured and by the time you're legally homeschooling, you'll be sold and giving them the best opportunity for development and responsibility.

Answer 5

OMG Please don't listen to the first 2 responses!!!! They are totally wrong!!!!! If I was you I would start whenever they are ready to learn, you don't have to make it into scheduled classes, for instance, my 2 1/2 yr old is really into letters lately, so we've been working on the ABC's. When they get older, like public school age, then you can work on a curriculum if you're more comfortable with that. The homeschooling laws differ from state to state, so you will have to look and see when you need to notify the superintendant, etc. I would recommend homeschooling. Check out these websites:

www.hslda.org
www.nhen.org
www.midnightbeach.com
www.americanhomeschoolassociation.org

No, homeschooled children are not 'sheltered', in fact they have more opportunities than most public schooled children, because of their flexible schedule, and you do NOT need any kind of a degree or pass any test to be allowed to educate your own children, how ridiculous!

Answer 6

I am starting my third year of homeschooling. I have four kids and all my other kids have went through regular public schools. Contact me and let me know what state you are from because the laws vary from state tyo state. Also, I work in a regular public school and can tell you some good reasons for homeschooling.

Answer 7

My step-daughter is being homeschooled on the K12 program. They give all materials including a computer and printer for free. Try this website www.k12.com. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Children are amazing! I believe that all can be the best possible for themselves. Our world is our classroom. Parents are always the best teacher. He makes me a better parent, wife and woman. If you are not educated, then please let some who is train you. They will stop at your level unless you continue to grow.

I started educating my son the minute he arrived on this planet. He listened to classical music in womb and still sleeps to it every night. He can identify his favorite music to sleep by, choice of four. He often selects the same one, he loves it. We read 3-5 books each night, he finds comfort in the books in his bed.

My 3yr can name the alphabet, count to twenty, today we started addition/multiplication. He will talk in short sentences and ask you pointed questions. Colors and shapes are his favorite to draw, and he replicates "Dora the Explorer" and speaks some spanish.

No- he is not a genius. Yet, He can be if he wants to be. I dedicate two hours a day to education "hands on". We explain everything to him is serious detail- example: he must count his carrots at snack time and tell me they are orange, hot or cold and sweet or sour, hard or soft....we teach him all the time.

He says Thank you, Please, yes Mame & Sir. He will hold the door if he can, and ask you to "wait" if he can't catch to get to the door. He carries in groceries and his backpack, toy and sippycup. We pray at nap & bed time and ask for blessings and show appreciation.

Kids want to please, learn, feel needed and appreciated just like us. He gets a choice of stickers for every positive thing he does. He brought me a sticker the other day, when I brought him a juice box with out him asking me too.

He attends daycare three days a week, and the other kids are learning from him. I am blessed.
It takes hard work, dedication and its a selfless act to give so much with out respect of the outside world.

Being MOM is the hardest and greatest job that I have ever done.
I will go to my grave knowing that I never let my kids down!

Best wishes. Get in a support group, share that job, its more fun for both of you.

Answer 9

i think homeschooling is wonderful!!! i only did it for a year when i was a freshman in high school... unfortunately it was easier for my mom to teach my little sister b/c she was more receptive... but she did go back to high school for her junior and senior year and made valedictorian of her class... she then got accepted into the honors college at her univerisity.. neither one of us has any problems making or keeping friends since our mom kept us active in the community.... i say start around 4 ... the school years go by a lot faster when you homeschool and so even if she takes 2 years to start her first grade (b/c of her attention span) she will fly through grades 2-8 ..... i admire you for trying something new

Answer 10

You have already started. Children learn throughout their lives. However, you don't have to notify that you are homeschooling until your state's compulsory age. Look up your state laws to see what you need to do.