Homeschooling Questions & Kindergarten

I'm sure you can start homeschool at any time. Even if he's "officially" in preschool there's nothing to stop you from doing Kindergarten academics. Unless he's an age for mandatory school, you don't even need to register as a homeschooler because no one expects him to go to school at all.

That being said... don't underestimate the need to be socially ready for the grade if you plan to send him to regular school at some point. My son is in kindergarten this year (turned 6 in January) but we TRIED to start him at a private school last year because he was already academically at an end of 1st grade level. It was a mess and I pulled him out after two weeks and sent him back to a play based nursery school to have another year to develop those social skills.

Now... he's doing great in kindergarten. He's even more advanced academically, but his teacher differentiates for him and he is rarely bored. Socially, he's still got stuff to work on, but he's more middle of the pack and is able to make friends.

If your only concern with waiting for kinder is that he will be too advanced, I'd recommend holding off (I know that wasn't your question). Do the kindergarten books at home, but let him stick with his peers at school. If he's truly too advanced, you can always do a grade skip later, but in the mean time wouldn't you rather he feel like the SMARTEST kid in class than the immature one nobody wants to play with?

HTH. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Every state is different as far as what is required...you need to just do the research. You can start by contacting your department of education, or visiting their website.

I started K with my oldest at 4, because she was academically ready. The next year, when she was old enough to be enrolled in online K12, they wouldn't put her in 1st because of her age, so I thought we'd be repeating K...but after getting their curriculum, I was so pleasantly surprised!! It was so advanced that she really had a good time doing their K. We did fly through K math and most of K phonics/language arts because of the years of pre and K we did on our own...but the nice thing was that we COULD fly through the courses and then move on. So right now, even though she's technically in 1st grade, she's in 2nd grade math and language arts. It's nice.

I do recommend doing whatever he's interested in at home...don't forget about history, science, literature, etc...lots of fun!!! It's an exciting time in life. :)

My son turned 6 2 weeks after school started. He went to an academic preschool and while he absolutely loves kindergarten he is incredibly incredibly bored to pieces. I was appalled at the work he brought home the 1st 9 weeks - shapes, colors, number recognition - things he learned when he was 2 and 3, before Pre-K. After our 1st parent/teacher conference, the teacher explained the 1st 9 wks is usually an assessment time and they will adjust the kids' workload accordingly. Well, its February and it hasn't happened. While he wants to write sentences like "I live by a river. My house is red and has pink bushes in the front. My friend Tony lives near me. We both live in Houston", instead, he has to write sentences like "This is a mug. This is a bug. This is a hug." I helped out at my kid's Christmas party and half the kids could barely use scissors. I'm not looking down on the kids who can't write or use scissors...I'm just wondering why they won't do anything to challenge my kid to learn.

My husband on the other hand is thrilled to pieces b/c it looks like our kid will be one of the most prepared kids in his class for the next few years.

So do what you feel is right academically and socially for your child but for ours, I wish we started him a year ahead but they didn't give us the choice. They were strict on the age requirement last year, even if he was going to turn 5 yo 2 weeks later.

You can start 'homeschooling' or unschooling at any age. You can also look into other programs such as Montessori - my son is in a mixed age class (3-6). This year he is doing 'kindergarten'. The only difference between what he is doing now and what he did last year is that for 6 hours a week he is in a single age classroom. As it is child driven my son was doing addition, subtraction, multiplication, reading and writing last year (technically preschool). So were some 3 year olds. We also have a Waldorf school that will accept younger kids for kindergarten and the ones who will not meet the age cutoff for first grade do a second (personalized) kindergarten year. I don't know if you have a Waldorf school where you are.

There is also plenty of learning he can do without workbooks. My son's school does not use them at all.

You can start homeschooling at any age. You don't have to do anything "official", just do what you are already doing, finding workbooks he loves and looking for teaching moments during your day together. Since he could use some social opportunities (of course he could, he's only 4!), see if there is a homeschool support group in your area. Some organize fun fieldtrips that are educational and give the kids a chance to play together. It would give you some moms to talk to and get ideas from, too.

This is an excellent question. I'm looking into the same thing for my daughter who will also be almost 6 before Kinder. At the moment we are using the learning box preschool curriculum but she'll be ready for something more next year. Can't wait to see what other moms say.

Good question! Just yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book about Homeschooling. Lots to choose from and I did see some homeschooling books specifically for Kindergarten and Preschool-2 range (in the Education/Reference section; you should go browse if it's nearby). There are tons of workbooks too. My grade school son is so bored with the review, review, review at school. Too much stuff he already knows. He's begging me to teach him new things. Last weekend I went to the library for another homeschooling book.