When to Start Kindergarten?

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Does your preschooler ask to do school work? Does she want to learn to read? Is it too early to start kindergarten?

The answer is no…not really. If your preschooler is showing signs of readiness to begin reading or completing math why not get some kindergarten materials to work through with her. The concern is that if we push academics too early, perhaps we may harm their love of learning. I say if they want to learn why not teach them. However, if they hit a roadblock or do not want to do it, I wouldn’t hesitate to back off. Children learn best when they are interested in the material, if they are asking to do it, they are interested. Watch them soak up the information you give them.

You need not worry about grade levels in homeschooling and teach your child at the level that they are at. You don’t want to overwhelm your child but you don’t want to hold them back either.

Tips on implementing kindergarten:

• Work in short intervals and no longer than 10-15 minutes
• Play games
• Take field trips
• Create projects
• Arts and crafts
• Bake or cook using recipes

The child may be hindered by fine motor development and not be able to write yet, but, it doesn’t mean they can’t learn to read and do math. Messy history or science projects would be informative and fun. If you have older children, let them join in on the science experiments and get involved, you’ll be surprised at what they retain.

School doesn’t have to be seat work with workbooks. You can be outside writing your letters in the sand box, counting ants, and baking. When you are doing seatwork it doesn’t have to be completed with a paper and pencil, try a white board and dry erase markers, chalk and a chalkboard or black construction paper, things seem a lot more fun when they are not done on paper.

Follow your child’s lead, you cannot expect them to sit for an hour doing school work on the first day or perhaps any day. Break up the work and take breaks. Do not let the curriculum dictate how you teach your child. It won’t hurt anybody if a lesson takes two days to complete instead of one. You may slow down on some days and pick up the pace other days.

If your child is ready to learn, they will let you know. They will also let know when they are done for the day, listen to them, no learning will happen if their mind is closed. Don’t worry about grade levels and teach to your own child, at their level.

You can see the rest of the posts in my series: Ultimate List of Homeschooling Questions.