At what age did you begin?

[Guest MamaNeedsCoffee]

Hello, and thanks for reading this! I have 3 children; my oldest turned 5 over the summer. Having read WTM about a year ago (and reviewing it recently), I was planning to wait until he was 6 to begin the courses outlined in WTM. (Currently, he's finishing up SSRW and reading fairly well, and we're somewhere in the middle of Level A of RightStart for math - that's all we've been doing this year.) However, he seems a bit bored, as if he's ready for more. He's been asking to start history.

 

Has anyone started their child at 5/K instead of 6/1st G, and if so, how did it go? Although I think he'd love starting SOTW, I'm not completely sure that he's ready to begin science and language arts as well (unless I'm overestimating how much work that would be) - and if we don't begin science, then don't we lose the pairing of the science years with history, etc.?

 

It would be so helpful to hear from more experienced homeschoolers. Thank you so much for any advice you're willing to share!

[Brooketopia]

I tried starting my 5yo on SOTW last year and she LOVED it! But then I got pregnant and spent most of my waking hours sitting beside that lovely porcelain fixture in the bathroom, so we stopped.

 

If he's asking for it, go with it. Get the activity guide...it's awesome.

[mom2boys030507]

Go for it.

 

Start and take it a pace that works for you. Remember you can go slower to start with and slowly pick up the pace because you are starting earlier. So you can do both science and history just more relaxed.

 

Also remember to really enjoy the activities, the memories will be priceless.

[JudoMom]

Hello, and thanks for reading this! I have 3 children; my oldest turned 5 over the summer. Having read WTM about a year ago (and reviewing it recently), I was planning to wait until he was 6 to begin the courses outlined in WTM. (Currently, he's finishing up SSRW and reading fairly well, and we're somewhere in the middle of Level A of RightStart for math - that's all we've been doing this year.) However, he seems a bit bored, as if he's ready for more. He's been asking to start history.

 

Has anyone started their child at 5/K instead of 6/1st G, and if so, how did it go? Although I think he'd love starting SOTW, I'm not completely sure that he's ready to begin science and language arts as well (unless I'm overestimating how much work that would be) - and if we don't begin science, then don't we lose the pairing of the science years with history, etc.?

 

It would be so helpful to hear from more experienced homeschoolers. Thank you so much for any advice you're willing to share!

 

In my ideal world, I would do a geography study in K and start SOTW in 1st. Not because SOTW can't be done in K, but because it's helpful when studying history to have a vague idea of where things are.

 

As far as the science/history pairing, I don't think it's that necessary. We've always just studied whatever science we found interesting. Also, science is so easy to unschool, because it's so much fun, so there have been years where we've done little to no formal science because we've been too busy.

[bbrandonsmom]

I have a 5.5 yr old as well. I picked up Sotw first, and started it, but some of the books seemed to be either too much, or there was just too much flipping around for us. I don't know if he just isn't ready for it, or we just haven't found our groove yet. That said, we are now going to do more of a geography thing-I was pointed to Galloping the Globe (it also introduces different cultures too?), and I'm also doing some US history-only because some is covered in public school K. I think if we do that, and read a lot-I think we'll follow Five in a Row book lists-that should give us a good foundation for when we actually start either Sotw or something else.

[Aoife]

Our K year will be all prehistory leading up to the study of the ancients in 1st grade history and biology in 1st grade science. You can do this however fits your personal beliefs either through creation or big bang/evolution. It makes for a very fun year and there are tons of books out there that you can pull together to make a fun curriculum out of. If you search amazon there are even activity books for this age group that covers the prehistory time period so you can add in fun activities too :)

[Jeani]

If they are hungry, feed them, I say. I am doing full fledged WTM 1st grade with both of my boys together this year. The oldest is 5.5, and the second is 4.5. They were both ready, and are handling the work really well all things considered. I started preschool with the oldest when he was 2.5, and his little brother, then 18 months, wasn't just sitting there eating cheerios as I suspected. He was learning pre-reading and math skills with his brother and begged to be taught! So I pretty much blew him off and let him play with flashcards while I was doing the "real" teaching with my older one, who did pre-k at 3.5 and K last year at 4.5 (his bday is in early Jan, so if he was a kid when we were, he would've just barely missed the cut off date).

 

Since then I've basically just been throwing the younger one the same kind of stuff I've been doing with the older one, and since no one ever told him he wasn't supposed to be able to keep up, he kept up (tries to race ahead every now and then, too). At the time, I also wasn't really clear on when they were and were not supposed to be able to do certain things. That's the beauty of hsing, you teach them when they are ready, not when they turn some magical age. If I waited two more years to teach the younger one 1st grade, what on earth would I do with him now? And the older one, too. Can't imagine sending him off to kindergarten to learn letter sounds when he's almost ready for chapter books. No one could say you're pushing him if he's asking for it. Sometimes I feel like they are the ones pushing me, and that's okay I think. Teach them where they are, even if where they are is ahead of or behind where they are "supposed" to be, wherever that is.

 

Now don't get me wrong, they aren't running to the table every morning begging me to break out the books, but they do come. And they get off task, and we get back on task, and so the morning goes. I occasionally yell, they occasionally get surly. But we do it, and we are all learning and playing and happy and moody and cranky and occasionally disobedient and tired, just like everyone else's kids.

[Pata]

In my ideal world, I would do a geography study in K and start SOTW in 1st. Not because SOTW can't be done in K, but because it's helpful when studying history to have a vague idea of where things are.

 

I completely agree with this! I also want to add, that starting SOTW in 1st will allow them to get more out of the study as they progress. We are doing SOTW3 this year and I think that my dd would not have enjoyed as much it if we had done it in 2nd.

[Hedgehogs4]

my 5yo girl is deep into the middle ages SOTW with her older brother. today made me take the cd into the house so she could find out what happened to marco polo and his father. :001_smile: she loves it. i recommend the audio in the car, the book at home, the activity guide...it fires the imagination. the guidelines in TWTM are guidelines. i can't follow them the way she suggests because of the age span of my kids and the program we follow. know that it will never fit in the nice, neat box, so just go with what is working for you now, or miss the chance later.

[Goldilocks]

I enjoy doing Five in a Row for the kindergarten year. It has a little bit of every subject. Mine likes science and art, so we are focusing on those subjects.

[kalanamak]

I started on his fourth birthday with K4. I knew he was going to need a lot of "as the twig is bent, so grows the tree" if I was going to work full time and hs.

 

I started simply with a short period of times and just progressed from there. I didn't really start demanding he keep on to the end of task until he was 7.5, when I felt he was mature enough to delay gratification enough (and stay focused). Then we really blasted off. Prior to that I just worked until he seemed to ravel around the edges of his concentration. I see no point at all of burning a young child out on school, and all the points in the world developing a teacher-student bond based on inquiry and wonderment.

 

Your child will let you know what s/he is capable of. And remember...it is a marathon, not a sprint.

[bbrandonsmom]

There's a cd? Off to see :)

[TracyP]

I will second (or third) the recommendations for Five in a Row or Galloping the Globe for that age.