Home schooling

Many parents are disappointed with the public school system. The constant talk of budget cuts and dropped programs may convince a public school supporter to home-school their child. The question may be, “When should I start home-schooling my child?” The answer may surprise you. Let us look at when learning begins.

Some professionals believe that babies are able to begin learning while in the womb. For that sake of this article, let’s agree that learning takes place directly at birth. In between all that sleeping and eating your baby is learning language and everything about their surroundings. Babies are born to do two things, grow and learn. The period from birth to 5 years old has often been referred to as a critical period of development. Scientists have determined that babies are capable of learning not only any language but also many languages. Studies have shown that babies are capable of learning and mastering language during the first five years of life with an ease that will never again be present. If only parents could provide rich language environments for our babies just imagine what they could learn.

Babies and small children have been know to learn to speak multiple languages with ease and perfection before the age of 5. Recently they have been able to communicate in sign language and babies and small children have also proven that they can learn to read in their early years. This information may lead you to believe that home schooling should begin at birth. This does not mean that you need to begin formal lessons and order textbooks to begin teaching your baby. What this means is that during this period of time, from birth to 5 years old, we should be filling our children up with all kinds of enriching experiences.

Parents should read to their children daily from as early an age as possible. It is extremely important in this digital age to introduce our children to the wonderful world of books. Regular reading will easily introduce your child to shapes, colors, letter, numbers, animals, stories and much more.

Home-schooling a child is more than a lifestyle, it is a mindset. When you know that you have and are responsible for raising and teaching this child everything they need to know you begin to find lessons everywhere. It is no longer necessary to begin Kindergarten at 5. Parents are able to bring the lessons from their daily life to their child giving them a greater appreciation for the concepts being learned.