Homeschooling

Archive for October, 2005

Question: How much time does your child spend reading?

I'm interested in how much 'time' parents with grade school children have their children read each day. We homeschool and we are using curriculum that has 'readers' for several subjects. How much reading do you do not counting any 'readers'? What types of books are you using? My son is 7 y/o and doing 2nd grade work for the most part.

Answer: every night before bed, I'll read a couple of chapters of our latest Magic Treehouse books (our first foray into chapter books) then he goes to sleep with a nightlight and reads by that as long as he likes until he falls asleep. usuallly twenty minutes or so, sometimes an hour and a half, occasionally only five minutes when he's had a long day.
Credit for the genius of the "you can stay up as long as you're reading" rule goes to the fantastic Spider Robinson, the science fiction author/punster.

First Grade Home School Reading Lessons : Handmade Books for Home Schooling

Question: What is the best age at which to start a formal homeschool program?

I use the term formal to separate the preschool years from those in which you use a curriculum package

Answer: I really think this depends entirely on the child.

Some children may be ready for a formal curriculum at age 4. My 3 yo daughter looks forward to doing her little workbooks everyday. Others may not be ready for a formal curriculum until age 7 or 8, yet if you wait to begin until they are ready, they will quickly catch up with those who started earlier.

I think most parents start their children around age 5, but many start their children too soon. The danger is that the child will become frustrated or discouraged, or will begin to see learning as a chore. You don't want that to happen at an early age.

I think a great thing to do would be to buy a simple math and phonics program when your child shows readiness for it and see how it goes. If the child is taking to it, keep going. If the child isn't, set the program aside for later.

I think formal lessons in history and science can wait until the later elementary stage. Before that, I would focus on reading good books and setting up an environment for learning through activities and field trips.

Better Late than Early is a great resource. So is How Children Fail, by John Holt.

Here is some info on different Homeschooling methods:

http://www.successful-Homeschooling.com/Homeschooling-methods.html

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