06/27/2024
Attn parents who have tiny little ones under the age of 4, 5, 6-ish and are excited to homeschool someday : I know you mean well and you see so many fun looking workbooks and curriculum out there marketed to you to seperate you from your money, and you are chomping at the bit to get started, often because you are feeling intense pressure from so many angles (including likely grandparents and the school down the road) to make sure your child is “on track” (whatever that really means) and “doesn’t fall behind” (behind what exactly isn’t really defined, but moving on) and especially for firstborns, he or she seems suuupppperrrrrrr advanced so if you don’t start doing sit down and be quiet worksheets for at least two hours with them right now you are going to fail that child and he or she won’t ever learn to read and then they won’t know how to study and they won’t get into college someday and will definitely blame you for it.
But I promise you, the best way to start your homeschooling journey is actively playing with your child and going on adventures together. Instead of buying curriculum, invest that money in memberships to the zoo, children’s museums, or science centers, or go to the free programs at the local metro parks, go explore trails and playgrounds and go for slow, slow hikes in the woods and look for bugs and leaves and sticks and rocks. Sort and count them. Run and jump and build stuff. Come home and bake something, measuring and pouring. Go to the library and let your child pick out as many picture books as he or she can carry and then you carry more. Snuggle on the couch and read them out loud, pointing out a few words here and there and make jokes about pictures and rhymes. Talk about the nonfiction picture books. Set the table together and count forks and spoons. Make it a priority in your family calendar to eat dinner at the kitchen table most nights as a family. Do age appropriate chores together.
That’ll be all you need- for years. Homeschooling doesn't begin when you file a state paper or when you buy a workbook. It starts when you become a parent. No need to overcomplicate it.
-Debby Gerth