On Early Education

I'd like to share my thoughts today on formally educating at a young age.

My children are typical children, they are not advanced or gifted (except to me). They are just your average children.

There are a some differences in our home and other homes that, I think, facilitate the children wanting to learn. We do not live a life that is deeply rooted in popular culture. My children cannot name SpongeBob, Dora, or whatever else is new. I do not allow toys in our home that are based on TV shows or false ideas about women (Barbies). So our children are pretty much left to their own imaginations.

Unfortunately, the children do not have a vast bank of loving and caring relatives that live nearby. This has caused us to be a little more withdrawn from social life within the family. We've had to turn to each other for support in everything, as a family should naturally do. But this situation has given us all a strong bond. I think and can see that my children will likely be best friends even into their adulthood. I would rather have this than have bad influences from certain relatives, those kinds of influences are hard to undo.

So here we are with this tight knit small, but growing family, with little interest in fads and fashions of the day. We're boring by American standards. Being "boring" gives us the ability to view the world in a different way. The children think that learning is a fun, worthwhile and fulfilling activity. They bring me things and say "Teach me this, Mama." instead of "Do this for me and buy me that."

My oldest was bored playing with his toys, so I decided to teach him. I was happy to do so, as I do not know what God has in store for the future. Our children are all close in age, and I would have liked to have Boo reading before Meenie starts K. As a new homeschooling mother, I was trying to ease myself into things so I could not get burnt out.

The lessons began shortly before the age of 4 and we're completing level K this week. We worked at Boo's pace, reviewing and taking breaks as necessary. So it was not forceful, but it was disciplined. As in, once lessons begin, we're not getting up. Before I knew it, my son was running to sit at his desk or bringing me the reading lesson book.

Some of the greatest saints of the Church, like St. Robert Bellarmine, were young learners. So I take inspiration and encouragement on early learning from the saints. It is my hope that my children will be able to complete college early. I don't know what kind of vocation they will go into but I am hoping to use the high school years to prepare the boys for seminary (logic, philosophy, theology, Latin), married life (maybe some type of skill or specialization in a subject) and for the girls to be a homemaker (home economics study) or perhaps a religious (which could be a whole variety of skills from nursing to teaching). Maybe my children will all stay single and live with me and take care of me in my old age. Who knows! But I believe early education is beneficial and I hope to set them on a path to fulfill God's plans and accomplish much for Him in the earlier part of their life.

My Home Education Plan and State Law

Today, I am going to explore how the program I created fits into the law and requirements for this state.

First of all, I do not have to give any notification this year. The reason why is that kindergarten is not mandatory; the compulsory attendance age is 6. I often laugh when I think about filing for first grade in 2009- what is it going to look like when my 6 year old is using mostly second grade materials?!

So from the data given at www.hslda.org...

I not even required to teach anything to my children before the age of 6. That would be lazy and irresponsible, wouldn't it?

My home education plan, in relation to state law:
900 hours at the elementary level
---so if I begin in May and we can easily cover that with all of our daily lessons and activities, especially considering that we school on Saturday and sometimes do extra lessons on Sundays

Reading
---I'm teaching a phonics program and we are studying literature, Boo should be reading at a first grade level by fall and maybe even more independently

Writing
---Boo is learning to write his letters and how to spell, so that he can write meaningful things one day

English language and grammar
---We're using First Language Lessons which is great because many of the lessons are oral. I am also trying to remember to get both children to answer in complete sentences.

Geography
---We're going to learn the names and locations of all 50 states. We are also working on learning the names of the continents and oceans. In addition, when geography over laps history we will be locating regions and areas that are pertinent on the map.

Arithmetic
---We've got that covered with Saxon 1.

Drawing
---We will be learning about drawing, I actually possess a little talent for drawing, so this should be a pleasure. I plan on picking up some how-to-draw books.

Music
---We will continue to listen to all kinds of music from around the world. We're keeping formal piano or violin lessons in our minds at some point as well.

History
---We'll be studying ancient history, I can't wait!

I'm not sure that the state requires science but we will be studying the human body which will cover health. We'll also be learning about plants and animals.

I wasn't certain that the requirement for CPR, US Constitution, and duties of citizenship--being taught formally was meant for elementary levels, so I am not going to worry about those.

PE
---if we find a bowling league we're going to go with that. Otherwise, I think we'll just go bowling, for nature walks and do bicycle riding.

Good behavior
---I'm not really sure how the state can require this because it is so subjective. But I think that falls under religion. This is just one of those things that you learn through life's daily tasks anyways.

My Educational Outlook and Philosophy

After I decided that I wanted to homeschool, I never really gave much thought to curriculum. I just had the idea that I would order it, follow detailed instructions in a teacher's manual and then send it back in to be graded. (I did not know there were so many options prior to actually beginning our homeschooling journey)

I had pretty much thought that all curricula were the same. I knew that we would be teaching our children from a Catholic point of view, so their education would also contribute to their growth in Faith and hopefully holiness. The other thing I wanted to give our children in addition to a love and zeal for the Faith, was a solid, strong education that would enable them to do whatever work God has in store for them.

When my son was about 3, I figured out that a pre-packaged curriculum was just not for us. I want my children to be able to move ahead as needed. In other words, I did not want to hold them back from challenging and exciting work in lieu of keeping them doing something "age appropriate." So I began to order books for kindergarten two years ago. I had a whole plan of every material I was going to use. Upon receiving the materials, I thought that they looked great. I was so excited to begin.

This is where experience is so valuable. I was really displeased with the kindergarten science books that I ordered (I'm going to review them later) and also sorely disappointed with my choice for a phonics book. I threw the science books in the trash, I think the phonics books may still be in a closet somewhere. The valuable lesson that I learned is that sometimes, you just cannot tell if something will work based on reading it, you actually have to attempt it with your child to tell if it is the right fit for your family.

Soon after, I was encouraged to read "The Well-Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. I knew a little about most of the homeschooling styles, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, correspondence schools and so on. But this book really helped me understand that I was a classical homeschooler. This book spoke directly to me, it is my absolute favorite book on homeschooling. Though I do vary, in that I provide a Catholic education, this book was great tool to show me that a classical education best fits our lives and beliefs and Catholic parents.

So here I am, a very serious traditional Catholic educator of the classical method of education, trying to wade my way through each grade level for the first time. I am having more fun, fulfillment and pleasure than I ever imagined.