Homeschooling a 2 year old?

[BeKind89]

My DS is 2 and a half but I've started homeschooling already as the local schools are really overcrowded and we may be relocating abroad in the next couple of years so this is the best option for everyone.

So far we've learnt quite a bit, he can name all the letters, can count & recognise numbers up to 30, knows all the colours and about 20 different shapes and can read a few words.

My question is... what next? His vocabulary is pretty good for his age but he can never seem to sit and concentrate on one thing for more than 10 mins (probably because of his age).

I always try and make learning fun and get and laugh out of him while we work/learn but I'm stumped on what to do next or what is expected of him before he turns 3 or 4 or 5?

I'm really at a loss and was wondering for any advice or tips or any words of wisdom from anyone who has home schooled from the start.

Tia xx

Thanks cory!!! Thumbs up.

I think teaching them to read at this early age is a lazy option and at the expense of all the other skills and knowledge they should be picking up at this age.

Of course if a child were particularly interested in learning how to read, I would help them.

Heck. DD learnt to read at just over two as she saw her older brothers' reception key words. I never thought I was home schooling .

Atenco puts it better than I can:

"I think teaching them to read at this early age is a lazy option and at the expense of all the other skills and knowledge they should be picking up at this age."

Lots of international schools start at 3 but it's not full school hours and is very much a pre-school and play based. You don't legally have to start then then but most people get them in as it's much harder to try and get places for reception later on.......

Let's cut the OP some slack - surely it's better for a parent to be invested in her child's education and development, even if that means going a little overboard with 'formal' learning, than to be completely disinterested? I agree there's a middle ground and that 2.5 year olds learn through play, but the OP does say she tries to make everything fun - and when i was at home with my DS I tried to do learning activities as much as i could, mainly because i found the otherwise endless role play games and piggybacks rather draining!

Good god
Poor child
Just let him be a child and play
If you want to teach him, then look at the Characteristics of effective learning, which is the compulsory part of the EYFS, apart from months ELGs (which he is far too young for)

There are no advantages to learning to read and write early only disadvantages for the child.

This is bonkers. Is it real?

When DS started reception we asked what we needed to cover at home in advance to prepare him. They said it would be good if he could get dressed and undressed by himself so that he could get changed for PE. And being able to go tot he toilet on his own. Also his times tables up to 12, and being able to read short novels. Oh wait, I made up those last two.

at 2 he should be playing all day long, getting covered in mud ideally.
messy play, looking at books, talking, gluing things together, collecting stick and pebbles in the park, hanging upside down from a climbing frame or tree. that sort of thing

Coreythatwas I disagree. I see many children (more each year) who have had so little 'teaching' from parents that they are years behind in terms of physical and language development when they come to school at 5.

I am not talking about formal sit down learning or even fun play based learning. These children rarely interact with their parents at all. They don't sit together to do activities, eat meals - they never learn what conversations are. Screens are the main thing that occupy them. They rarely go out other than to the supermarket where they are treated as more of an inconvenience to the parent. Lots of them are left with slightly older siblings while parents go out to work.

We give these children intensive language therapy as soon as they start in our nursery but the gap is already there.

OP I think you have the best intentions but there's so much more to learning than memorising facts. Try to visit an early years setting (childminder, nursery etc) and see how they develop a whole range of physical, language and social skills through play. As a teacher I wish children came to me with better motor skills and an appreciation of the natural outdoor world. Pinterest and imagination tree are fab for early learning ideas. As are lots of parenting blogs (if you can get past the sickening boasts!).

I have seen such children too, cheeseknight, and am sure it is a problem. But not likely to be relevant to the OP.

I have equally seen older children whose exam passing skills are superb but who are virtually unemployable because they believe all learning is encompassed between the sheets of a text book.

Absolutely agree with what you say about the outside world. That is what the OP should focus on.

Does this mean I can say I homeschooled my kids from the ages of 0-5 because they learned a lot between these ages, just from being, you know, children?😄

Disadvantages of learning to read and write early? What are they?

Fwiw DD is now 13 and there have been no disadvantages and she's still as keen to learn as ever. I couldn't have stopped her even if I'd had the idiotic idea to do so.

Lots of international schools start at 3 but it's not full school hours and is very much a pre-school and play based. You don't legally have to start then then but most people get them in as it's much harder to try and get places for reception later on.......

not full school hours? DD will do 7.30-12/30 when 3 and 7.30-2.30 from 4 onwards.

that's 5 hours and then 7 hours respectively. pretty long in my opinion.

no it isn't legally required for them to go from 3 but even if did wait a year she's be doing a 7 hour school day at 4!

There are home school providers online that you can get to assist you throughout your home schooling plan. Homeschooling is a great way of educating the kids of today because parents can focus on them but it requires effort and time.

Don't think of it as homeschooling!!! FGS. Just have fun with him - take him out, play with him, take him to todderl groups so he plays with other children.

You're not homeschooling you're parenting.
It's normal.

Op I think you have your dcs best interests at heart.

My dd is 2.5 and this is what she likes to do

• mud kitchen
• water table
• outside painting
• scavenger hunts
• bug hunting
• digging in the dirt
• splashing in muddy puddles

-bark rubbing -exploring, tree climbing and balancing -pooh sticks

• zoo
• animal sanctuary
• theatre

-museums -local historical attractions -cinema

• arts and crafts
• stickers
• looking at books
• board games
• messy play
• cooking/baking
• free play
• park visits

• forest school

-trampolining

• dance
• gymnastics

Loads of free playing in between

We homeschooled from the start (mostly dh doing it).

After recognising letters, he moved onto phonics (called them special sounds), then words, then sentences, then full on reading.

After counting and recognising numbers, additions and subtractions using lego.

They both loved doing it with him. He kept the sessions really short, 5-10 mins maximum.

Children start school at 3 here too, in fact ds should have started at 2y 9m due to his birthday just at the end of the cut off point, so that's when we had to take the decision to home ed.

Pfft 71 posts and no one else is twitching that we prefer the term home education? OP my recommended reading is the unschooling handbook

niggle has it spot on