Homeschooling and 4 year old

[Kristy555]

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum tonight and I have some questions for all of you. My hubby and I just decided to homeschool our 4 year old son. Do I need to be doing certain things with him right now? At what age do I formally register him as a homeschooler? We live in Florida.

Also, how do I go about finding out what type of learning style he has?

I am just at a loss as to what I should be doing right now with him and what things I should be doing to ready myself for when I officially start homeschooling him.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Kristy Hart
Mom to Rebecca (14) and David (4)

[Miss_Kristy]

Hello, from one Kristy to another.

Here's a link to check you states homeschool laws.

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

Homeschool is different for everyone. So, as far as what you 'should' be doing, well, that depends on your child.

In my opinion 4 is still very young. I would stick with the basics. And by basics I don't mean boring flash cards and simple worksheets. I mean finding things he is interested in and running with it. If he loves trains (like my 3 year old) I'd go to the library and get plenty of train books, then I'd go to the local train yard, or take a real train ride and talk with the conductor. You can count the cars for math. See where I'm going?

Children are natural learners. He's been learning things everyday since he was born, right? Again, just me, I'd wait a while to worry about his learning style. I'd have fun with him and see where he takes you.

It is VERY normal to feel overwhelmed by all of the information out there concerning homeschooling, especially when you are new to it.

It gets easier. There is some really great info on this site. Look around for a while and I'm sure you'll start to feel better.

Good luck!

[Jazzy]

I think when children are younger, it's a good idea to cater to all three learning styles and you will start to notice their preferences as they get older.

When my children are preschool aged, I try to do something related to math, reading, fine motor and gross motor skills every day. Since preschoolers are so busy and active, this can be fairly easy.

For instance, right now, my children are playing with playdoh. I had my 4 year old roll the playdoh into snakes (fine motor) and then use the snakes to form the shapes of 5 letters (pre-reading). Once she'd finished, I asked her the names of the letters and their sounds, and then she crumpled them up and is doing her own thing making shapes with cookie cutters (math). Later, they'll go outside and play (fine motor).

We do something simple like this every day, be it a game of bingo or candy land, reading an alphabet book, counting as we set the table, etc.

We also use a math and phonics workbook that we use because she asked to "do school" like her big brother. We will do the workbook pages around 2 pages per week. They are really simple and colorful and on her level.

We use A Beka K workbooks. We used Rod and Staff A-B-C series last year and she really enjoyed them. Those also contain cutting and pasting activities that she enjoyed. Kumon is another good workbook series.

Here's some additional information about preschool guidelines and preschool curriculum.

In addition to what I described above, we also read, take trips to the library and go on fun outings as a family. I try not to get caught up in planning different units as that can get stressful and overwhelming for me.

Instead, we take the approach of reading about what we're interested in and doing things we enjoy. This approach keeps us relaxed and happy, and I've found that my children learn everything they need to know.

[Kristy555]

Thank you both for your replies. It sounds like I just need to relax for now and follow my son's lead as to what he is interested in right now. I am going to start taking him to the library more often and checking out books he is interested in and then try to buy some simple art and craft supplies.

Again, thank you for easing my mind and letting me know that I just need to relax for now.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (14) and David (4)

[KristaBelk]

My daughter is 2. No where near the age to introduce her to worksheets/workbooks. When did/do you introduce these to your children?

[Miss_Kristy]

[roma]

You are doing the right thing when you are reaching out to others.

1. Finding out more about your childs personality is an excellent question.
I recommend the book "Please Understand Me" by David Kiersey.
Here is an article on this subject: http://educators-space.blogspot.com/

2. A very good curriculum I use can be found at this web site:
http://www.read-phonics.com/

[ontheprairie]

[Kristy555]

[ontheprairie]

[Kristy555]

[Embassy]

[Kristy555]