Monday, January 19, 2009

Do we count yet?

According to a number of recent articles, there are between 1.5 and 2 million children being homeschooled in the United States now. I have planned for a while to homeschool our children for their first few grade levels, and recently I have found myself wondering if our oldest child already counts as one of those homeschooled children.

Daughter #1 is four and will turn five just before the cutoff date to start kindergarten next fall. Under Colorado law, we're not required to "school" her until she is seven years old. However, she has been doing workbooks and www.starfall.com for over a year, and I've been teaching her to read with a McGuffey's primer I found online and any other resources that happen to catch her or my interest. She has been sounding out simple words for nearly a month (she's enjoying the Bob Books), she grasps the fundamentals of addition and subtraction, and I've begun introducing her to ballet steps and musical notes.

If she were kindergarten age already, I'd clearly be able to call her a homeschooled child. What do I call her right now? A "preschooler with a mother who likes to teach her stuff"? I can't see that our lives will change all that much between now and this coming August. So, is it my daughter's age that makes a difference? Or can I call myself "a homeschooler" yet?

2 comments:

  1. Hello! Yes, absolutely I think you qualify. My oldest daughter is six and we filed with the state this year. But, we've been homeschooling since before her fifth birthday, and she was learning at home before that.
    Enjoy! I have three daughters, we live in Northern Colorado. :)

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  2. I say definitely YES--I'm in a similar situation with my oldest daughter. BTW, you ROCK for mentioning starfall.com! I love it and think my daughters will, too! Not to mention that they'll love getting to use the computer with Mommy!

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