Age to start homeschooling

1. 61

   At Home Mommyposted 12 years ago

   I have a 14 month old and another due next month. Obviously we're not going to start homeschooling yet, but I was just wondering when did people start. Of course we're always trying to learn.

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      recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Do your kids a favour and free them from the stifling constraints of you - with all the difficulties and hardships that go with school at least your kids will get a different perspective on the world from your own - which is a good thing whoever you are.

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      1. 61

         Eric Newlandposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It really depends on the caliber of your local public school, and/or whether you can afford private schooling.
         
         I'm neutral on home schooling vs. external schooling, but when the time comes I'm going to weigh all the options and decide on what's best for my child(ren) at that point.

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      2. 67

         innersmiffposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Do your own kids a favour and free them of the stifling constraints of schooling. They might learn something.

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   2. 70

      evelynsaenzposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It all depends on what you mean by homeschooling. Officially you need to register by the time your child is somewhere between 5 and 8 years old depending on which state or country you live in.
      
      Looking at it from another perspective, you have already started homeschooling. Learning starts by the time your child is born and continues on through learning to walk and talk. Read to your child daily, talk together and encourage your child to help you out with your everyday life and you will find that your child will begin to read, write, and understand math concepts. Children love to learn.

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2. 89

   Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

   I disagree with recommend1, I think we take the easy way out by sending our kids to school. The main reason we have children (in my opinion at least) is so WE can teach them about life from our perspective. I just recently wrote a hub about how I made the decision to homeschool my daughter (http://daughterofmaat.hubpages.com/hub/ … -Education).
   
   I wish I had made the decision to homeschool earlier, although my daughter is only five, almost 6. You can start them off quite young. I have several books on the subject of homeschooling that discusses how to start of younger kids.
   
   "The Smart Home" by Shannon Pretorius
   "Homeschool Your Child for Free" by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski
   "The Unschooling Handbook" by Mary Griffith
   
   Out of these three books, "The Smart Home" and "The Unschooling Handbook" have the best ideas for starting off younger children. You can find a myriad of ideas about homeschooling online as well.

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   1. 67

      innersmiffposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I really can't promote this enough. Public schooling explains most if not all of the world's problems. Despite the few crazy parents, whatever damage is caused to these individual children can not compare to the mass hypnosis and destruction of education, free will and idealism that schooling has done.

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3. 89

   Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

   Personally, I think public schooling is a way to control the masses. It's an excellent way to brainwash kids at a young age to get them to conform to society. Like everything else, our educational system has been corrupted by greed. My daughter has less of a risk of being screwed up by us, her hippy, new-age parents, than if she were to attend public school. Brick-and-mortar schools teach kids how to think inside the box and that thinking outside the box is weird or promotes anarchy. Unfortunately, society prefers those who conform to it's expectations, and it no longer values knowledge, real integrity or the rights of individuals.
   
   I'm not trying to start WWIII, just stating my opinions.

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   1. 67

      innersmiffposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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4. 81

   kerrygposted 12 years ago

   The Homeschool Legal Defense Fund has good information on homeschooling laws on a state-by-state basis that can help you figure out what you have to do by law.
   
   From a non-legal perspective, however, I'd say you're already homeschooling them. Kids that young absorb knowledge like sponges, so just read to them every day on a variety of topics (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, the works), take them on plenty of educational outings to museums, the zoo, etc., and generally let them experience life as much as possible in an age-appropriate way.
   
   If you do it right, they won't really need anything more formal (except for math), until they're about 10.

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5. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

   I have nothing against home schoolers but to make such a false assumption about all schools/educators, and society at large is your opinion, and I don't find it to be true. There are many excellent educators who have inspired and taught some of our greatest scientists, doctors, engineers, writers, on and on... some of us are still committed to inspiring, teaching and educating our next generation.

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6. 76

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   Public schooling is also the reason most people are literate, have some basic skills and have mixed with a cross section of their peers despite having parents who either could not or would not educate them.  I don't think we'd be better off without it.
   
   Parents should do whatever they want/are able to, no need to diss whatever option you didn't choose.

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   1. 67

      innersmiffposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's the problem - there is no freedom of choice. Home schooling is still subject to stringent regulation, never mind the collectivist stigma.
      
      If you like public schooling, good for you - it's none of my business if you want to subject your children to that, i.e. falling literacy rates and social capabilities. The literacy rate is inversely proportional to the amount of government control of schooling.

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7. 97

   leahleflerposted 12 years ago

   Our children attend public school, but we have many friends who homeschool. Most of my friends start "official" school (purchased curriculum) with kindergarten. We have a local homeschool group and the moms meet on a fairly frequent basis - check into your local area to see if there are any groups for support. Many of the homeschooling families in our area do send their children to preschool, then begin homeschooling in Kindergarten. In my state (NY), a curriculum plan doesn't have to be submitted until the child is entering first grade.
   
   Our public school is absolutely fantastic and I wouldn't trade it for the world, though.

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8. 61

   Courtney Leahposted 12 years ago

   Honey, homeschooling should start right when the child comes out the womb. I think that they should attend school at age five and continue that way all the way. They get the full social experience.

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