Homeschooling Younger Children

A couple weeks ago on the Homeschooling for the Challenged post, Kate asked a great question...

Patty, what do you do with kids younger than third grade? My three are ages 3-7 and I'm struggling to finish the school year from last year (we did just adopt a 3 year old in March, so that got us way off schedule)... It's hard to homeschool with a three year old around, especially since she doesn't speak English very well yet and we're still working on learning obedience and just everyday living. Any advice is much appreciated.

Kate's question reminded me what I did when the kids were little, but Kate, with a new daughter who's just learning English, that totally changes everything. Hold on to the last point I make. ;-)

Homeschooling for the Challenged is what I do with my older kids, but until they've learned to read we sat and did school together—whether it was at the kitchen table or on the couch, we were together. To change things up, we used both locations throughout their school day, going back and forth as needed.

My sister Cheryl happened to have Christ-Centered Curriculum and since her boys were beyond it, she passed it on to me. I laminated the flashcards and have used it to teach my kids to read. When they were ready for it, I moved them into Abeka's Language Arts third grade book. Christ-centered Curriculum gave them a great foundation.

For readers, we used Abeka's readers (which I purchased at used curriculum sales—one here, another there), and Pathway Readers , all of which the kids loved. Pathway Readers are about Amish families but do not put forth Amish beliefs or doctrines. Both sets are wholesome stories. I've spent hours listening to kids read to me—at the table, in the living room, as I fold laundry or cook. Anytime I could listen while my hands were busy was fair game for reading time.

The first year or two...

we only did phonics and math. It was enough. When they could read well enough to muddle through a paragraph of History or Science, those were added in. It was completely based on the child's readiness.

That meant my oldest went through that first “school year” twice (he wasn't ready the first time and neither was I), my older daughter (#2 in the line-up) went through once, and my younger daughter (#3 of 5 kids) went through zero times, officially. That was when I finally wised up.

See, while I was doing school with older two, the little ones played on the floor nearby. I thought my daughter was just playing with her toy dishes on the floor, but she was listening too. She listened as we drilled phonics, read History and Science lessons together, and as I asked them questions about what we had read. And then she answered those questions. After I was done with her older brother and sister, I sat down with her and the flash cards. She knew them. So, I pulled out First Steps—the first reader—and we began to work through that. I didn't have to teach her—she already had it figured out because she played quietly, nearby, during school.

Break times...

They happened when I needed to help one child but not the others or when I had to take training time with the toddler. One on one time with the kids happened while the others were doing things in school that they didn't need my help for—worksheets, penmanship, running around the house. Yes, there were days I sent my son out to run around the house two or three times. He loved it and it cured his wiggles.

Did things always go that smooth? 

Of course not. I was schooling three kids with an infant in my arms and a toddler playing on the floor. Some days we quit after an hour and other days we caught up because everyone was co-operating. Some days it took three tries to get school done and Jim was walking in the door when we called it a wrap. Life happens. Especially when you have little ones.

Be willing to try different things to find what works for you, realizing what works one week might not work the next.

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Homeschooling for the Challenged

I am not a school teacher. Yes, I've homeschooled my five children, but I don't teach them in the normal school way. Once they reach the third grade, I become the school organizer and facilitator. It's one of the things that has saved my sanity.

I know some moms are terrific homeschoolers and they do unit studies and all these other cool things. I tried that and it didn't work for me. I wish it did because I love that concept and I think families who can do that are very fortunate, but it just doesn't work for everyone.

I know I'm not alone when I feel like I'm a challenged homeschool mom. When I first started doing school the way we're doing it now, it was out of desperation to accomplish school and keep my sanity, but now that I see the side benefits, the desperation is gone and I simply tweak my plan as needed.

Instead of teaching my children their lessons, I make lesson assignment pages that I can check off when the assignment is accomplished. These include each day's reading assignment, comprehension questions, pages (maps, charts, whatever) to study, quizzes and tests. Each child has their own row so one piece of paper has a week's assignments for all my children. With that one paper I can easily keep track of everything I need to for the week and my life is simplified.

The kids are responsible for their assignments. They know exactly what is expected of them and what they have to do. They also know that if they buckle down and tackle the job, they can get it knocked out in a few hours and have the rest of the day to do other things, but if they slough off, they'll have consequences coming their way.

The children do their assignments and put them at my spot on the table for me to correct. After I correct them, they go back and correct their errors until it's right. I'm available to help them if they run into problems, but I act as a facilitator rather than a teacher.

Doing school this way has worked wonderfully for my family. It's made it so we can homeschool even though I'm not a teacher and I don't enjoy teaching. For my children that enjoy school, it's allowed them room to stretch and grow and pursue things they want to learn. For the others, it's provided them the structure they needed to get it done and to learn to be self-motivated.

This method made it so I could hand my high schoolers a book, tell them what I expect them to do and when I want it completed and let them go. Through the years they've learned how to divide the work and pace themselves so they can accomplish what they need to in the allotted time. It also enables them to naturally assume responsibility for their own education, which is something that they will carry with them long after their school days here at home and elsewhere are over.

Even those of us who are not teachers can homeschool effectively if we want to. The key is organization. But more than organization is knowing that God wants you to homeschool and that both you and your husband are in complete agreement about it. Not everyone should homeschool, but for those of us who know we're called to it, there is a way to save your sanity even if you aren't a teacher.

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School Work and Responsibility

It's hard to believe it's Back-to-School time for many of us.

My older daughter doing (home)school work. 2007

When we first started homeschooling, which was a year before my oldest was ready for school, I had one goal in mind: school at home. But it hasn't worked that way. Over the years my goal has changed and whether you homeschool your kids or go a more traditional route, you can have a similar goal.

When I'm done schooling my children, I want them to be self-learners. I don't want them dependent on others in order for them to learn.

My goal is to make them realize before they leave home that they are responsible for their own education. 

This also helps them accept and shoulder responsibility gradually, before it is all just dumped on them. Regardless of how children are schooled, this is something that all parents can do.

I'm sure we've all seen kids who are straight A students in high school, but when they hit college, they crumble into a million pieces and bring home Ds. Is it that college is so much harder? Sometimes, but more often than not it's because Mom and Dad are no longer standing over them telling them to do their schoolwork and checking it over before it's handed in. This doesn't build responsible self-learners. It creates kids dependent on an external supports to hold them up straight.

Thankfully, it doesn't have to be this way. It means a little more work at home at the beginning, but the results more than compensate the additional work.

Schoolwork is an excellent way to teach responsibility and create self-learners.

Ease them in. Try to work things so that by the time your child hits their Sophomore year of high school they are assuming many of the fine details of their schooling. I am NOT saying make them responsible for their schooling—just the fine details of it.

How does this look if you're homeschooling? Instead of having complete lesson plans for them, just give them a framework or a timetable to work within. Tell them you want the next section done by a certain date, and make sure you tell them your expectations of the work that's to be done.

My oldest taking a break from math. 2007

Key: Leave it up to them. Check with them occasionally to see if they're working on it, but don't nag them. Some kids will take it and run with it, others will wait until the last possible moment, and others will hang themselves. Whichever they do, it's a chance you have to take and then use as a learning tool for them.

If they don't reach the goal in the time they were given, make sure there are consequences that they feel. For some children, those consequences will have to last until they accomplish the next section on time and correctly. You know your child and you know what works for them.

Being soft on them now will not help them develop into mature adults who can shoulder responsibility without buckling under the pressure.

Those who don't homeschool can do the same thing with assignments and projects the teachers assign. You need to be in the know of what's going on at school and with their school work, but you need to raise them so they aren't dependent on you to get their schoolwork done.

Your job as mom changes from being a taskmaster to an accountability check and balance. 

When you do this, your children learn to accept responsibility for their education and become self-learners.


So tell me, how do you help your kids become self-learners?

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