How to start homeschooling

A reader wrote yesterday to say that he and his wife have a 7-month-old daughter, and are considering homeschooling her when the time comes. What should they start doing now? First, I should say to newcomers to this blog that we no longer homeschool our son Matthew. For reasons not worth going into here, homeschooling didn't work for him. He's in a classical Christian school this year, and he's really thriving on the discipline in the classroom -- we'd had so much trouble getting him to focus on his work at home. It was disappointing to us to have to give up on homeschooling with Matthew, but Julie and I have always tried to keep squarely in front of us that we must do what's best for our individual children, and not impose our own ideological convictions about education on them. With luck, Lucas, our No. 2 son, will thrive in homeschooling. But if not, we'll deal with that when the time comes. The point I want to make about this is that not all kids are cut out for homeschooling, so you should prepare yourself for that possibility.

As for the rest, I asked Julie for her advice to this reader, because she began thinking about and researching homeschooling from the time Matthew was as tiny as this reader's daughter. She thinks it was a mistake to be so intense about it so early. Here's her advice:

I'd tell him to avoid the mistake we made and don't think about it for 2 years. OK, maybe think about it a little, but don't worry about it. The things a little person needs are the same whether you plan to homeschool or not: lots and lots of reading aloud, talking to them constantly about anything and everything, lots of outings to interesting places, and all the little mommy things that teach them so much like identifying the numbers on the signs in the grocery store. I had to laugh when I saw the recommendations Matthew's super-intense school sent out for kindergarteners the summer before school started because it was all that kind of stuff. Basically getting your kid addicted to the library and asking a thousand questions that you actually answer well is the best homeschooling you can do before the age of at least 4.

I really do think that establishing a strong attachment relationship with Mom and Dad is the very best thing you can do for a little one; for us it has been clear every moment that we are building on the trust and confidence established from the very beginning. Matthew and I had a blast discovering things together when he was small, and the times when we get to recapture that sense of adventure together are the absolute best, both just as Mom and as someone trying to supplement his education.

Plus, I think it's important to wait and see what kind of kid you have.
I would have saved all of us a lot of frustration if I'd done that instead of deciding the way things were going to be when Matthew was really little. Over time you'll get insight into their character that will help you see whether HSing will work for you and your kid and, if so, what sort of curriculum is best. If you really want to read something I'd take a look at Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer's books, which I found inspiring (and depressing because they made me more aware of the massive holes in my own education). She outlines a kindergarten curriculum that involves about 15 minutes of actual study per day.

There's a book called "Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready" that a lot of HSers swear by for birth to age 5. I found it too basic, but it's worth taking a look at, even if you just go to a HS store and flip through it for 10 minutes. That's probably enough to get the concept.