Home educating

Im just looking for a bit of advice and support really even though dd isn't quite 2 yet

Dp has decided to teach Amber phonics and she knows 5 already and 5 actions im so proud of her but a few people have suggested she is too young but she is happy and learning it in a fun way but I get th feeling most people don't agree with it and I hear 'what about socialising her' etc and i know HE is bet but I'm finding it hard to explain to others.

Also those that HE what do you do on a typical day? And are you planning on letting your children sit their gcse'S when it's time etc? Also how do people HE with another little one to tend to? Just include them?

Thanks

whats phonics? who is saying she is too young don't all parents just teach stuff to their toddlers? i know i do with izzy.

Sorry don't have any advice about HE but if you want to do it just do it don't worry about explaining it to other people. I would say keep an open mind though who says HE is best? what suits one family won't suit another

whats phonics? :

Its what they are teaching at school to enable kids to read and write (sounds of letters rather than the alphabet a it's easier apparently) ie 'e'has different sounds, ,ee,as in 'easy' and 'e'(think baby letter e) for 'elephant' etc does that make sense??

Sarah x

. I would say keep an open mind though who says HE is best? what suits one family won't suit another

I meant best for us as a family dp loves watching her understand new things and with him going self employed we can both HE

watching with interest as DH and I had the same conv today. I would say that you should look into your local home educators' network as there will be people you can contact. I was chatting to a friend about it today and she was saying that her dd1 was 7 before she read, although she went from none to confident solo reading in 8 months flat. Interestingly in Steiner schools, and much of Europe fro that matter, they don't teach reading untill students are about 7. So there is othing to say that you need to do too much reading with dd yet.
i think that there are a few HE rs on here anyway so maybe they can help you out more than me.

Its suits you family and your parenting style so go for it and don't worry about what other people think. Just do what works for you. There are as many ways to HE as there are home educated children. That's the point. It really doesn't matter what age they learn things, just as long as they are interested in learning.

Just have fun and follow your children's interests. As they get older they can decide if/how they want to do exams. Mine have chosen not to so far and are going straight to college/uni. DD1 has just applied for various uni courses doing computing, maths and chemistry. DD2 and DD3 are taking vocational dance exams at their local dance school as they both want to pursue a dancing/acting/singing career.

As PP said there are as many different ways to HE as you can think of so whoever you speak to will most likely give you a different answer. Its all about offering flexibility to both the children and the parents. For instance, even if you choose to follow a curriculum, you can choose the times/subjects/speed to suit your family's/child's needs. You can even choose to return to school! THat's the beauty of home ed - YOU CHOOSE

No one can say its too early/young to be learning something. We are born to learn and if she's enjoying it then surely early exposure can only be positive. We find when learning new concepts that we start it off, play about with it for a while, then leave it and come back to it later. Had to do this with DS's reading, left it 6 months in the end and he came back to it really well. His mind had been continuing the learning the whole time we 'dropped it'. DD2 & 3 both started phonics around 2/3 and have got on well with it. I think one thing that is important to hold on to though is an interest/love of learning so trying not to overdo it when they are little/the concept is new. Its a great adventure, hope you have loads of fun and get loads of advice/strength from here.

As far as GCSEs go. DD1 (11) wants to do hers so we will be choosing 3/4 for her to concentrate on. We haven't got that far yet though, got a bit of time yet. I don't really know much about the whole process though...

whats phonics? :

Its what they are teaching at school to enable kids to read and write (sounds of letters rather than the alphabet a it's easier apparently) ie 'e'has different sounds, ,ee,as in 'easy' and 'e'(think baby letter e) for 'elephant' etc does that make sense??

Sarah x

We were all taught this at school even going as far back as me
As far as I am concerned we all HE our kids to a degree, after all education starts at home.

As far as I am concerned we all HE our kids to a degree, after all education starts at home.

I agree completely. Ross was able to read and write at 3 because he was interested. He still does a lot of stuff at home that isn't part of the school curriculum too - he loves finding out about Horrible Histories and doing experiments etc

DD1 has just applied for various uni courses doing computing, maths and chemistry

Morag, out of genuine interest, how do you get around the university entry requirements if you don't have the exam results they want? Your DD should be hearing soon I think, unless it's different for HE applicants.