Hey there, everyone! Wow! I haven't been on here in forever! I haven't been on this site/forum since before I had my most recent child and only son! He is now over 2 years old. He was born May 13th, 2014. He's a beautiful and brilliant sweet little guy. He has a great big heart and also a great big mind. If this post is in the wrong section or is one of those that is not supposed to be asked due to being too generic, please let me know and I will try my best to move it. I couldn't find a home schooling, child education, or more appropriate section. I feel personally (and yeah, I'm biased as his mother) that my son has a natural gift for learning quickly. At his very young age he already knows and can identify all of his colors, his basic shapes, most of the alphabet. He also knows the four seasons of the year, how to spell his name, what his address is, how to use a fork and spoon properly, how to play duck duck goose, red light green light, and a bunch of songs including their tune and lyrics. He knows a bunch of other stuff too that I won't bore you with listing out. Because I feel that he is so interested in learning and so able to learn, I don't want to cause him to miss out on any opportunity for him to be able to do so. Let me assure you all next also, I have never pressured him in any way to learn more than he wants or is able nor have I made him feel bad for anything he could not yet do. I also do gymnastics, dance, and rhythm classes with him at the Little Gym to try and improve his athletic abilities and keep him physically healthy and active. I don't focus only on academics with him and book learning. We also work in my garden a lot, go to the beach and park regularly, and go swimming all of the time. He naturally picks up things and remembers them on his own at this early age. I noticed his abilities first when he started singing along with me a long while ago and was able to remember all of the lyrics to the songs. Because of this and his recognizing the letters in his names, I started trying to work with teaching him a little bit more. I always go easy with him and am very aware that his primary goal as a young child should be having fun, playing, and developing the best relationships possible with his family. We practice attachment parenting loosely and we usually try to teach and get him learning new things by my sitting with him and using his story books or songs to entertain him while riding in the car or while he is eating lunch. I'm a stay at home mother and am able to spend a lot of time with him, fortunately. We always try to make learning a fun and playful experience for him. And I promise I am not a crazy mother obsessed with her child keeping a perfect 4.0 GPA and being accepted into Harvard! Lmao! I feel that home schooling him is definitely what I want to do but am unsure if I should start using a true curriculum during his pre-school years or wait until kindergarten age for this. I do NOT wish to home school him for reasons regarding religion but really don't want to list them all out right now here as I really don't want to have any debates and am just looking for experiences and info. Basically, I don't know when or how to tell my city that I will be home schooling him. I also am unsure if I should stick to using just one "method" or if it's "okay" for me to mix them up some. I don't know where I should start with this at all. I love teaching him, seeing him learn, all children, especially my son and I am familiar with many different methods of educating children from unschooling to montessori education. I don't think that the unschooling method is the best for us but am interested in combining several other methods I've read about and researched in an eclectic more liberal and open way. My questions regarding home schooling him are •By what age do I legally have to tell my city that he will be doing his education at home and not within the public school system? •What happens if the child does not pass the city's standardized tests? •How do I know what all he should be learning each year and what will be on those tests? Im in Virginia if that makes any difference. •What age would you recommend trying to more seriously start attempting to work a curriculum with my child? •Which home schooling method would you recommend and why? •In your opinion, which method do you feel will best prepare him to have the option of attending a college if he chooses to try and do so and has the grades and scores to get accepted into one? •What else should I know before starting or making my decision concrete? •What advice would you give someone home schooling their children? •What do you feel is the biggest mistake a home school mother can make with her child? •Do any of you have any experience with home schooling your own children? •Do you know of any websites which help to find local home schooling groups so that he can stay involved with the world and keep improving his social skills? •Would you recommend or not recommend using home school groups to keep him connected, having friends, and improving social skills? If not, why and what would you recommend to try and do this? •I do have my son in a gymnastics, rhythm, and dance class now and we do Mommy and Me art "camp" classes in the summer. We also go out to public places like the park and beach where he interacts with other children often. Do you think that this would be enough for his best social interests? •Is there anything else you think I should know?
i have no kids so on that part i cant help you. i do have a friend that home schools his kids. his kid was getting bullied and his solution was to just take them both out of that environment. so there is a difference in that his kids had some school experience first. not sure how you go about it but you can get the standardized tests that kids have to pass in order to graduate the grade they were in (i think 4th and 6th) what my friend did was give his kids the test, then when he knew what they didnt know he then worked on teaching them those things. knowing he wouldnt have to worry about the things that his kid already did know.
Check out the Ron Paul Homeschooling Program. I know some parents who currently use it and really think highly of it. I'm looking into it for my son as well. Good luck.
