Aug 173 min read

Homeschooling in the Early Years

There are many different opinions on schooling children younger than five and I want to share some balanced approaches to educating our little ones.

As a former teacher for ten years, I was able to witness part of the transformation of early education. Gone were the days where I went to Kindergarten for half a day. My memories of Kindergarten were of the piano in the classroom that my teacher played, the log cabin playhouse that the girls loved, and the giant foam blocks that the boys played with.

I remember in the beginning of my teaching career when I was helping in a Kindergarten classroom in New York. They were working on writing a story with a topic sentence, three details, and a closing sentence. They had a mini lesson on this and then went to their seats to begin the meticulous process of sounding out their words, remembering their finger space, and putting it all into a mini paragraph. It was sorta sad to watch. That memory always stuck with me when I began teaching in my own classroom.

When I started staying home with my kids, I fell in love with the Charlotte Mason philosophy, I think, in part, because it sought to preserve these precious first years of children's lives. Charlotte Mason believed that children shouldn't start formal lessons until six years old, but that any learning should be done in a playful manner. She believed children should be allowed to be outside for 4-6 hours, learn about nature near their homes, develop good habits that they can carry into their later lives, and listen to many, many wonderful, living picture books. Miss Mason wrote about introducing academic skills, like letters, in fun and playful ways.

Now, this is just one approach! It can be adjusted to your specific child. Maybe you have a sweet, calm girl who loves workbooks and wants to complete academic work. Go for it! Maybe you have a feral, wild boy who needs to run outside all day. Let him as much as possible!

My oldest son is now six and we do some formal lessons. But a lot of our time is still focused on reading great living picture and chapter books and being outside.

“In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a

mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time.”

-Charlotte Mason

But what if my child falls behind?

The beauty of homeschooling is that we don't have to stick with those NY state standards that had Kindergartners writing paragraphs! We get to provide our children with a joyful foundation to learning through play, outside time, and good books. Your child will learn to read. It doesn't have to be a pressured situation. I highly recommend the book, The Unhurried Homeschooler, by Durenda Wilson. She will encourage you if you are one to think about your child not meeting certain standards "on time."

Now as a former teacher, I love a good curriculum as a guideline and basic structure for our learning! You can read about some preschool curriculum we've enjoyed in this post.

I've created two full-year Charlotte Mason-Inspired curricula to guide our weekly rhythms. Both include great living books, art, music, outside time, habit training, Bible, nature study, handicrafts, and so much more. They are called Sweet & Simple because I want them to be sweet memories for parents and children and simple to implement. You can learn more about them here, or you can get them included in the price of my online course, Homeschool with Confidence. This course will help you in homeschooling ages 2-12, and there are special lessons dedicated to just homeschooling in the early years: habit training, nature study, living books, practical skills, and academic skills.

Homeschool with Confidence is 30% off for the month of August, 2024. You can use the coupon code: BLOG10 to get an additional 10% off! (Or just 10% off if you're reading this at a different time).