I was recently asked by a younger mama of two whom is planning on homeschooling and had begun working with her oldest child what she should do next/how to proceed. I thought, why not answer How To Begin Homeschooling Pre-K In 3 Easy Steps here in a post for others who are just getting started!
Before you go be sure to check out the other posts I have on this topic;
Pre-K And 1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum Review
Inspiring Interview With A Homeschooling Former Teacher
What Your Child Needs To Know Series Book Review
Get Ready For Reading Phonics Course
How To Begin Homeschooling Pre-K In 3 Easy Steps
Step 1, Prepare
I really believe that the very first step is to prepare. I cannot emphasize the power or proper preparation!
If you are planning to homeschool and all your children are still young, take your time preparing. Don’t make the mistake I made and let prying outsiders or your own fears rush you in to starting your 4 or 5 year old in formal lessons before you or your child are ready! Starting before you (or your child) is ready can have some awfully negative consequences down the road. More on that in a minute though.
Here are some suggestions for preparing;
- Write down the reasons you are choosing to homeschool. This is for a few reasons, including it will serve as your mission statement. It will also serve as an encouraging reminder for yourself as the years go by and especially in the tough times!
- Next make a list of things off the top of your head that you want your child to learn. Do you want them to learn economics someday, etiquette, to learn to love and read the Bible? Make your own unique list.
- Next, get your state requirements. In our state there are 12 required subjects. Not all of them have to be taught everyday or every year, it’s just required that over the course of a child’s education they learn all 12 at some point.
- Know your teaching style and goals. Do you want to put your child into public school at some point? Or are do you intend to school all the way through? This is important because you’ll use this info when choosing a curriculum. For example you’ll want to pick a curriculum that aligns a little bit with common core if you are intending to put your child into public school later.
- I recommend watching the 5 Flavors of Homeschooling by Simply Charlotte Mason. It can help you narrow down education goals for your child as well as help you find a homeschool style that suits you and your child best.
- Read my post Picking The Best Homeschool Style For Your Family
Take time to create your homeschool mission, vision, and READ, mama!
I highly recommend that you take a few months to enjoy the planning process, or longer if you have it! Some books I hear new homeschool mama’s RAVING about include these;
TIP! For early elementary I highly recommend looking into Waldorf, Montessori and Reggio Emilia pedagogies. You can learn about the differences HERE. I recommend watching THIS VIDEO HERE on Montessori.
Step 2, Don’t Stress
Perhaps you’re probably starting to get antsy, feeling like you should be starting formal lessons already. This is where I would like to encourage you not to start your homeschooling journey if this is how you are feeling! Make sure you have prepared, and are feeling ready first.
Keep in mind that in most states children are not legally required to start school (home) until age 7-and in some states not until age 8.
Let me tell you some stories to help you breathe easy.
When I was taking my parent qualification course in 2018 (a requirement to homeschool in my state), the teacher told us parents a story about how in past years a state senator tried to get the required age to start school lowered. His argument was a 9 year old child that had only recently begun school, and he gave a long emotionally charged speech about how it took her 3 or 4 months to catch up to the the grade level of the other kids her age.
Maybe this is needless to say, but he lost. Everybody was like, “Only 3 or 4 months?!?!?”.
Essentially, this means that for many kids they can learn the first 3 or 4 years of public education in mere months.
Don’t take my word for it, I’ve heard this for years from other sources. Look it up yourself.
Here’s my story….I started my oldest way too young. He was 5 but he wasn’t ready and I knew it. I wasn’t ready either. Buuuuut, you know, prying people were comparing my son to another child around the same age as my son, and I made the mistake of second guessing my intuition.
So we started formal lessons. Way before my son was ready.
My oldest son ended up with strained eyes-needing glasses (which apparently is a thing if you push kids to read), dyscalculia, clinically diagnosed ADD, and clinically diagnosed with processing issues which we are still working out.
Now, it’s very likely he would have ended up with all of these issues anyways, but I KNOW that pushing him at too young of an age made it worse.
In contrast, my second child and third child are academic wiz’s and with both of them I waited until 6 and 7 to start formal lessons. Before that I used time to properly prepare for them and did lot’s of fun, ACTIVITIES, and we did them at their speed-not formal lessons.
When they had their first CAT tests the results put them at grade level and above in most subjects! There was only one area they run behind in and it is because the curriculum I have them using doesn’t teach everything at the same time as common core standards (but it does teach them what they need to know just not in the same order).
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Take your time with those early years and don’t rush into anything!
Step 2, Ease In, Keeping It Fun
Now, please don’t think I’m saying you don’t have to do anything in those early years because that’s not what I’m saying!
In the world of child education so much changes every few years, but there are some things that stay the same. Some of the things that you definitely want to spend your time doing with your child ages 2-4 and even older include but are not limited to;
- reading to your child HERE ARE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET YOU STARTED
- counting
- singing songs
- reading nursery rhymes
- allowing them to play- I highly suggest educational toys like ones you can get from Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Doug & Melissa.
- take nature walks
- let them cook with you when you are making something that is safe for them to be with you in the kitchen doing.
- get non toxic cleaners so they can clean along a side with you and talk to them as you work.
- Teach them to obey. This will be important if you plan on teaching them anything!
- Create Learning Spaces
- Check out #invitationtoplay boards on Instagram. These are wonderful for sparking curiosity and learning!
Step 3, Resources to Ignite a Love of Learning
From ages 3 to 5 and even for some 6 year olds it doesn’t take 8 hours per day teaching them. In fact, you could spend 1 to 2 hours using the resources I’ve included below while you are preparing yourself and deciding your teaching and homeschool style.
Resources I recommend that will ignite your child’s love of learning as well as help you build your teaching skills and that I recommend you begin as soon as your child seems ready include the following;
- Get Ready For Reading Phonics Course (very highly recommend because the author is a licensed teacher plus a homeschool mom and she gives some great teaching tips through the course).
- Exploring Nature by Lynn Seddon
- Unit studies by Love At Home Education
- Math U See blocks and Primer to help children get an early start with math (but don’t worry if they don’t get it quite yet).
Don’t ever drill little ones, with ages 3,4,5 I recommend taking things at their pace. The goal is to encourage a love of learning, and ignite their own little curiosities. If you drill them you’ll crush their budding love of learning!
On this note, never allow others to drill your child either. I’ll warn you now, people that don’t agree with homeschooling may try if you can believe that. I know, it’s very rude!
I started teaching my children to respond to quizzing naysayers with, “Why are you asking me this?”
To Conclude, Final Important Notes
When children go to public school they are required to get their eyes checked before kindergarten (or around age 5).
If you are planning to homeschool you might not know this though! So be sure to get this done, especially before you try to do much with letters and numbers.
Secondly, make sure your child is ready before seriously tackling formal lessons.
Here’s a checklist for you of a few markers you might want to make sure your child is meeting;
- Can they recognize rhyming sounds
- can they listen to stories without interrupting (or walking away-I had a kid that did that)
- bounce a ball
- hop on one foot
- recognize groups of objects up to 5
- sort objects by shape
- sort objects by size
- sort objects by color
- write their name
- identify the beginning sounds of a few words
- tell stories after looking at pictures
- hold a pencil correctly
- Say their first and last name
- speak well enough to understand
- say sentences up to 5 or more words
- get dressed by self
- start to obey-grasp authority
- trace easy shapes
- cut with scissors
- follow 2 or 3 step instructions
These are just a few things but this is a decent list to help you figure out if your child is ready for more formal lessons.
Resources
So you guys, I’m now going to send you over to my YouTube channel! I’m in the process of creating a video for you to introduce you to some of our FAVORITE educational resources and toys for little ones! So head over to my YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe so that you’ll see that video when it’s released (which will be soon).
Also, check out my Fun And Helpful Educational Materials post.
If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy;
14 Inspiring Instagram Homeschooler’s To Follow
Pre-K Through 1st Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices
10 Ultimate Tips For How To Homeschool With A Baby
Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit Series Review
EASY Homemade Playdough with Essential Oils (No Cooking)
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