When and How to Start Homeschooling Young Children
by Anna Reynolds / June 1, 2024
If you think homeschooling would be a good fit for your family but your children are not yet school-aged, what do you do? As many parents look ahead to kindergarten and beyond, they may determine that they want to start homeschooling. In this situation, your oldest child might be only three- or four-years-old. What does homeschooling look like at that age and how do you begin?
Follow Your Child’s Lead Taking the child’s lead can ensure that you don’t take on too much too soon. If you have a precocious preschooler who wants to sit down and learn academic material, there are many resources you might want to have on-hand. “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” or another reading program can lay a good foundation for later learning. Learning to write numbers or practicing basic piano can be fun for some kids. But remember, earlier does not necessarily mean better! For many children, it’s not developmentally appropriate to expect them to sit for 20 to 40 minutes for a lesson at age four. You know your child best and can determine how much he or she can handle. It can be liberating to realize you don’t have to do anything formal. This does not mean that children are not learning. Educator and theorist Maria Montessori described the young child as having an “absorbent mind.” By this she meant that between birth and around age six, children do not need to engage learning as a specific activity because their way of being is one of constant learning—about themselves, their environment, and the language and people around them.
Recognizing the amazing ability of young children to learn and develop through play and daily life allows us to focus on developing the family culture we want to have and caring for the needs of young children. Introducing formal lessons too soon can lead to a power struggle of trying to enforce academic structure that is more than most little kids can handle. If homeschooling is going to be a sustainable lifestyle for the whole family, it needs to be enjoyable for everyone.
Establish Rhythms and Routines in the Home Veteran homeschool mom Leila Lawler of Like Mother, Like Daughter, has written about the need to get your home running smoothly before introducing school subjects to daily life. It will be very difficult and stressful if you are trying to teach lessons with piles of unfolded laundry all over the living room. When you have no idea what is for dinner, concentrating on music lessons will be a struggle.
A rigid timetable for the day is unrealistic with all the variability that comes with home education—not to mention babies, pets, and other responsibilities. However, having predictable routines in place to handle the necessities puts the parent responsible for teaching and the children responsible for learning at ease. Every day, all family members will need clean clothes, meals and snacks throughout the day, and times to sleep and rest adequately. Systems that meet these needs ensure that when formal lessons start, the family can maintain basic order in the home. It may not be glamorous, but it is an essential element of successful homeschooling for many families. Because parents and kids will be home for so much of most days, managing the household becomes all the more important. While it may not seem like you’re working on homeschooling, bringing order to the home and daily life with kids will pay off in years to come.
Find Homeschool Models for Your Family The time before formal instruction begins can be a great time to develop yourself as a home educator. We’ve written before about the benefits of identifying homeschool role models. Each family is unique, and your situation will not look exactly like anyone else’s. However, you can learn a lot about how to approach curricula, daily lessons, and discipline from learning from experienced homeschool parents.
Whether through books, podcasts, YouTube videos or in-person through mentorship or homeschool conferences, there are so many ways to learn from parents who have homeschooled. You can find good models for you and your family by determining what the goal of your home education is and finding families that embody those values. If your focus is strong and lasting family relationships, look for families that maintain close and warm relationships as the children grow into adulthood and have families of their own. If you are concerned with academic success, look for families whose children have successfully gone on to professional achievements. Once you have identified homeschool role models, read and listen to what they have to say, but resist the urge to rush out and buy supplies. The time for that will come. Make sure you are learning and laying a good foundation, discerning which role models will serve as a good guide for your unique family.
Reading Aloud: An Activity to Do at Any Age For parents who plan to homeschool one day, there can be such excitement that they want to dive into formal learning with their preschoolers. As we’ve discussed above, it can be frustrating and counterproductive to introduce too much at a young age. Instead, focus on your own development as a home educator and nurturing the home environment that will promote success.
If you cannot wait and want to get started: read aloud. At any age, children who listen to books read aloud develop linguistic and emotional skills, foster closer bonds, and increase attention span. Mother and literary critic Megan Cox Gurdon has compiled some of the many benefits of reading aloud, backed by comprehensive studies, in her book “The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction.” For practical tips on how to get started on reading aloud, Sarah Mackenzie has good resources. Mackenzie is a Catholic homeschool mother of six. Through her podcast the Read-Aloud Revival and her book, “Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids,” offers practical tips for getting started.