Homeschool.com - The #1 Homeschooling Community

Homeschool.com - The #1 Homeschooling Community


This looks like a very good place to start looking for resources.  I haven't had a chance to explore it much, but it looks good.



The fact is there are three resources: Time, creativity, and money. The more you have of one, the less you need of the others. And the less you have of one the more you have to lean on the others.


I don't have money.


But that's ok. I've started to discover a lot of things about homeschooling that are very different than formal school. A lot of "subjects" are taught at school because the unnatural environment prevents children learning them naturally.

Manners for example. A child locked in a room with a bunch of other children and told to sit still and shut up, never have the opportunity to learn them. But a child spending his days at mom's side, going to the store, watching her interact with other people, learns them without a bit of study. He just grows up knowing.

Now, since mom was likely the one locked in the classroom, she might want to read some books on manners to see where her education was lacking. But her child will just automatically learn them as he sees them used on a daily basis.


I have also discovered the wisdom of waiting until a child is really ready to study something.


I can spend half an hour a day doing flash cards with a child from the time they are three and by the time they are six they will be an independent reader.


Or, I can just wait until the child is 5 1/2, spend half an hour a day doing flash cards and they will be an independent reader by, uhhh, six.


So why work that hard so early?


Now, I do believe in teaching reading early. The earlier a child learns to read, the earlier he can learn other things independently. But very few children are capable of learning it earlier than about six. Yes, you do occasionally hear of a 3 year old learning to read, but that usually involves a couple of older siblings who just learned to read and like to "play school." And it's rare.


But what about grammar? Is there any benefit to learning formal grammar early?


No, not really. I do believe formal grammar helps in advanced writing, but that won't happen until the child is approaching adult thinking skills. So why bother teaching grammar early (other than playing "Grammar Rock videos" and enjoying Madlibs just 'cause they're fun..."Conjunction junction, what's your function? Hooking up phrases and clauses...." But that's more for me than them:-). Why not wait until "Jr High" years when they are about ready to actually use them?


This is one reason I really like Analytical Grammar. It begins at 6th grade, goes for three years, six weeks a year, and yet gets them ready for college and adult level writing.


I am working on something similar for spelling so stay tuned....