Smrt Lernins

Amelia asks, “If you’re going to homeschool for preschool next year, what will that look like? Will it look different from the usual parenting of a preschooler?”

We’re definitely home preschooling next year. We haven’t re-enrolled Tank in his current preschool and he’s quite excited about “doing homework” (he used to call it “table learnin’”) with Captain Science and (more importantly, to him) with Patchfire’s Fabulous Boy, whom Tank swears he is going to either grow up to marry or to crush (with requisite iron-fist-of-Stalin crushing hand gesture). Even if we didn’t have plans to homeschool Tank, we’d have to start doing something during Captain Science’s school time, because Tank wants so badly to be homeschooled, too.

Another reason I want to homeschool is to make sure Tank doesn’t have gaps in his basic knowledge. Because Captain Science was so bright in most areas (he was reading at 2), his teachers either didn’t notice that he didn’t have certain important skills or thought that, because he was so gifted in other areas, he would either catch up or the skills weren’t that important. As a result, Captain Science never really learned how to hold scissors properly or cut well, to hold a pencil correctly, or to trace a straight line. It’s been an uphill battle to instill those skills in my now-9-year-old. I don’t want Tank to end up the same way, so I’ve carefully compiled a list of skills I want to make sure he has, and will address each of them in turn.

While any of the skills we’re planning on working on next year could be taught through the informal daily routine of parenting, Tank will have a short instructional period every school day to work on these concepts more formally.

We’ll start with the cheap and simple, using Kumon workbooks for the basic skills like tracing and cutting. We might also use them for some beginning math skills. Tank is already pretty good with numbers and does simple arithmetic using fingers or objects. We’ll probably also find some “fun” math activities to do with him.

On the recommendation of several homeschooling friends, I’ll be using The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading, which is co-authored by one of the authors of The Well-Trained Mind, for teaching phonics and other reading skills. I’m also considering getting the flashcards that go with this book. We have a magnet board and a fairly good collection of magnet letters, so as much as the idea of something like this magnetic phonics teaching set appeals to me, we’ll probably stick with the letters we have.

Something I am going to put in the formal schedule, just to make sure I don’t put it by the wayside, is art. Tank loves all arts and crafts. He loves to paint, draw, glue, model, and make ridiculous projects out of various substances. Patchfire and I have talked about doing art class with our small boys, so that will satisfy both Tank’s need to have a class with FB and my need to make sure he has art regularly.

I’m also going to make sure I address some of those things that he might otherwise miss as a homeschooled student, things like knowing his parents’ names, address, phone number, and how to react in a fire or other emergency.

The most noticeable difference between days where I’m home preschooling and the days when I’m just parenting a preschooler will be that he will feel like he’s having school time. I don’t have to keep records or worry about him making tremendous academic strides, but I can give him a way to be closer with Captain Science and feel included.

That’s how the [Smrt] Homeschooler plans to do preschooling at home!

Do you have a question for the [Smrt] Homeschooler? Email them to
smrtmama@smrtlernins.com