I never thought I would be this excited

Boo is really picking up the pace with learning to read. He is often readin over my shoulder as I sit at the computer and read or type. He's reading everything around him and every lesson is going faster and faster. There were days I would DREAD doing reading lessons due to the snail-like pace.

But that's not what I am excited about. I am excited about the fact that I actually like to teach math. I've never been a good math student, and I have never liked the subject, but I like teaching it. Apparently, Boo and Meenie both enjoy learning math, evidenced by the fact that Meenie can count and understand the concept of numbers and Boo is doing addition now at age 5.

I guess that is what is so great about homeschooling. At five, I was in half-day kindergarten, where I was with all the other children who had not learned their ABC's yet. I do not remember any type of math, but I do remember that there were addition facts involved in Kindergarten.

Some people would say, that you have to let kids play and be little kids, and so on. My kids have more playtime than children who go to school. I've estimated that the average school child has between 2-3 hours at most, of play per day (not counting recesses at school). Many children have homework, dinner and baths to take care of in the evening after school. How much time does that really leave for playing and being a kid?

So even though I try to push my children to reach their full potential, there are over 8 free hours per day, in which they have to be a kid.

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 This has caused us to be a little more withdrawn from social life within the family.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 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.