Ideally? I would probably have started a few years ago! Barring the ability to time travel, however…

I can’t change how things happened w/ Captain Science, but I can tell you that with the Tank being 3.5, I’m already planning his first year of homeschooling — his “pre-K 4″ year. This isn’t because I think a 4-year-old needs that much in the way of formal schooling, but because I think homeschooling offers a unique opportunity to gentle phase in more structured learning.

I’ve always felt Kindergarten (particularly public Kindergarten as it currently stands) was a bit of a rude awakening for children. I mean, the classroom looks an awful lot like it did in pre-K, but suddenly there’s this mountain of expectation placed on the child. I’m all for high expectations, but the sudden leap from play to work doesn’t sit well with me.

We’ll start introducing some “curricula” gradually over the summer, starting with some phonics, tracing and cutting work (areas where Captain Science’s early Montessori education really failed him), and some basic math skills. He’s already great at counting and he can do simple addition in his head, so I think some hands-on math would be right up his alley. We’ll add a little at a time, so that by the time we reach Kindergarten age and are asking a little more of him, he’ll be used to our academic routine, he’ll have gradually worked up to the K-level materials, and I’ll have a better idea of what types of materials will be suit his needs.

Best case scenario*, I’d want to start planning a year ahead, picking out curricula for that year and trying to develop at least a rough sketch of where I’d like to go with certain subjects and when. If you don’t have that much time, start ASAP. I’m already putting together materials for next year for Captain Science and the Tank. More time is always better!

We were able to get our curricula for Cpt. Science figured out over the summer, but it was a little slapdash to begin with, which made me feel harried. It also meant we didn’t have as much time for big-picture planning as I would have liked. With the Tank, starting now means I can have a very bare-bones mental picture of the big picture from the get-go.

Your little guy is four? Now is probably the right time to get started, if your goal is to start by Kindergarten. It’s never, ever, ever too late, though. You can always make changes to your materials and routine as needed!

*Patchfire says the best case scenario is actually “as a break from reading pregnancy books.” Don’t listen to her, though. Compared to her, we’ll all doin’ it wrong.