Definition of a Homeschooler?

[StartingOver]

I like a comment I recall from another thread on this topic. It asked why it was homeschooling to teach a 7 year old to read, but not to do the same exact thing with a 4 year old. (Or at least something along those lines.)

 

I actually had a neighbor ask if we homeschool our 4 year old, and he gently brushed off my comment that she wasn't school-age yet. He said that she was definitely learning a lot at home with us!

 

:iagree:

 

Each child is an individual, there is no standard definition in my world. For me "homeschooling" starts when the kids begin to start showing signs of readiness! For my children that varied from 3 to 10. But as a mom I was preparing for that step from birth, by reading to them daily. I knew before they were born that they would homeschool.

[ByGrace3]

Those who "homeschool" their 3 or 4 yo and want to sit around at a park and seriously discuss the various preschool curriculum choices, well :lol:. Have a good time with that ! Really I consider that "practice" homeschooling.

 

 

Many would say the same of the discussion of kindergarten, first grade, second grade curricula choices... at what point do these choices matter? Do only middle and high school curricula choices merit discussion? Many parents of young preschoolers fear their "ability" to homeschool and the thought of choosing curricula and being in charge of their children's education is a daunting task. Some of us really did put alot of effort into "school" for younger ages, I happen to enjoy the planning, but I also think my choices matter and I am building a foundation for future choices.

 

This year we decided to send ds to VPK, but had we not, he would be "homeschooling" because for our family compulsory education begins at four. We "homeschooled" dd starting at 3 because she was ready and we made a conscious decision to NOT send her to school and to teach her at home. Ds was not "homeschooling" at 3 because he was not ready for school. How is teaching a child to read at 3 or 4 not school but it is at 6 or 7? Most parents do not teach their children to read at 3 or 4 so I do not count this as simply "parenting."

 

I know I spend more time than anyone I know researching curricula for my children and they are young, according to some of you not even officially "homeschooling" yet. I have friends that "homeschool" preschool for their 3 or 4 year olds and they spend more time prepping, and engaging their students than many homeschooling parents I know.

 

I define homeschooling as making a conscious choice to not send my child to a b&m school, and to teach them at home.

 

Our unofficial rule for our homeschool group is the above with the added intent to homeschool in the future (planning to homeschool for K).

 

I certainly do not think everyone who says they are homeschooling their preschoolers are doing it to my satisfactory definition, but neither are all homeschooling parents of older children :tongue_smilie:

[lakshmi]

ITA with you. Things that people do with their dc before compulsory school age is called "parenting." :)

 

OUCH.... sometimes yes, and sometimes no. I suppose you could even call it unschooling if you'd like.

 

Compulsory school age in Oregon is 7 before Sept. 1st. That would mean that K and 1st, and even 2nd for my dd I was not actually homeschooling them. I say if you are doing school with your kids at home instead of sending them to a PS or Private then you are homeschooling them.

:iagree:

 

... I considered myself as HS when he was about 5. Most of the people I knew with kids that age were putting them in Kindergarten, and they were considered "schoolkids" at that point. That was also when I really began to set out serious goals and pursue them, research and utilize curricula, etc.

 

My secondborn, on the other hand, I have considered as HS since he was about 3.5/4yo. He basically taught himself to read, and was so READY for school that as a 5yo now he is wrapping up 1st grade (and a more "intense" 1st grade setup than his older brother did, now that I know what I'm doing!).

 

So... if you say you are HS and you have an accelerated 4yo, I'm all for it. If you say you are HS and you are doing arts & crafts & reading stories to a 3/4/5yo... okay... If you say you are HS and you have an under-2yo, I will try hard to smile & nod and let it go... :)

 

:iagree: yeah! What she said!!

 

Of course it matters. But there is a huge difference between homeschooling a 3yo and homeschooling a 15yo, and not just in the level of things. I know; I've done both.

 

Yeah, you're right there is a BIG difference, with a 3yo or 4yo who are reading you have to find them material that is age appropriate yet challenging enough for them to read. And yes, you're right, a 15yo can often go off and work for a solid block of time alone, while with littles who are working on projects, handwriting, reading, science, oh an basically anything else that requires research and planning, the parent is right there beside the child.

 

You are absolutely correct, very very different.

[Dmmetler]

I always wonder what they do with the eight year olds who don't show up at the B&M school until age eight, or if those kids even exist.

In TN, they send them to kindergarten, because kindergarten is mandatory. I never saw it as an inner city teacher-there parents would try to get their child into K or into a public pre-K program as young as possible. However, my DD had a child in her K classroom who turned 7 in September, in a state with an October 1 cutoff. Her parents had homeschooled for K/1, but not registered her, and when they separated and needed to have their child in school, the schools couldn't legally put her in 1st or 2nd, even though she met the cutoff for 2nd grade and was working on a 2nd grade level. She ended up in DD's class mostly because the principal knew DD was in that class and the teacher would already have to make adaptations for a child who was above grade level, so he figured she might as well have TWO advanced kids instead of one.

 

 

And some private schools around here really push the "wait until later", and make K a 2 or more year program, but then are regularly graduating 20 yr old seniors. Somehow, their brags about the number of students who take AP classes means less once you've gone to a K information session and been told that they usually don't take children in senior K before age 6 1/2. Somehow, teaching Saxon 1 in K when your average student is 7 doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.

Edited January 15, 2012 by dmmetler

[mom2scouts]

In my area, almost all 3 or 4 year olds go to preschool. If someone told me they were homeschooling preschool, I would think they had chosen to forgo sending their child to an outside preschool and instead have a regular preschool type lesson at home. For me, that would be a form of homeschooling.

[Canadianmumof5]

Well it appears as though my initital post has "poked the hive". I didn't mean to offend anyone. Truly.

 

In my particular instance/experience, there are moms here in my area who seem to think that it is a status symbol of sorts to say that they are "homeschooling". They tell everyone that they are homeschoolers just because they are SAHMs - but then the second that they can ship their kids off to school - they do!!!!! So, no, you are not a homeschooler. You simply did a few workbooks with your kids when they were 3 or 4, perhaps you taught them to recognize their letters/sounds, and learn basic math skills but then you sent them to school as soon as you could. You had zero intention of ever keeping them at home. You just did what a normal SAHM does. So no, you are not a homeschooler.

 

OTOH, in one of the groups that we go to, there are moms with pre-schoolers & newborns. They don't know if they can/should homeschool. They come because they want to see what it looks like, how moms juggle & schedule, they ask really good questions, they are intrigued by various homeschooling philosophies, they are nervous about the school system, they have read Berquist, Mason and TWTM,etc and they just want to be educated. Those moms need our support.

[Kathryn]

IMO a homeschooler is one who has made a conscious decision to be the one responsible for his/her child(ren)'s education instead of relying on an outside source for that responsibility. I don't care how old the child is. I say that I homeschool from birth. But then, I intensely dislike the term "homeschool." I'd prefer to think of myself as a "parent educator" or some such term. But, I applaud any parent who bucks today's trend of shipping off their two-year-old to preschool in favor of quality time and parent-led learning, even if they plan to send them to school at five.

[pitterpatter]

Well, my DD is 4.5 years old and I'm home-schooling her on the kindergarten/first grade level (pretty much out of basic kindergarten-type work). I spend darn near every waking "free" moment researching, planning and putting together her lessons.

 

She may be young, but we most definitely home-school. We have a daily structure that we follow.

 

Having said that, some people may throw the term around to feel more special or included in a given situation.

 

 

If you have children who are littles (under age 5) - and you do "schoolwork" with them, is that considered homeschooling? I don't think so. But several moms that I've met over the last few months say that they are?

 

I always did lots of preschool-type activities before my kids went to school - but I would never have called myself a homeschooler? When my kids were in the B&M school - and I was doing enrichment-type activities with them in the evenings and on weekends, I didn't consider myself a homeschooler then either (more like an afterschooler).

 

My definition of homeschooling is when your children are old enough that they would normally (read as legally I suppose) have to be in school, but that you choose to keep them home and teach them yourself.

 

I'm not sure why this bugs me - maybe because it is a LOT of work to actually research, plan and teach them when they are grade 1-12 students; and when they are pre-schoolers, it isn't as critical IYKWIM? So I feel like it isn't really homeschooling, in the true sense. It is just doing what a mom does in those early years?

Edited January 16, 2012 by pitterpatter

[annandatje]

I never got hung up on definitions. However, if I had to define homeschooling at gunpoint, I would say that it starts whenever mandatory traditional school attendance is required by the state law.

 

That being said, I started a readiness program with my eldest when he was 4 even though, at that time, the mandatory attendance age in my state was 7.