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Younger siblings wanting to do school too
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So I know Charlotte Mason recommended no formal instruction until age six, but how do you handle that with younger siblings who desperately want to “do school” like their older siblings?
<span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>My oldest will be in second grade this year, and I was also planning on starting a gentle, but structured (she has Sensory Processing Disorder and really thrives on structure) kindergarten with my five-and-a-half-year-old. I am going to start the Delightful Reading kits with her and my husband is encouraging me to include our three-and-a-half-year-old as well and just teach them both to read at the same time. She’s extremely bright and is honestly on almost the same level as her sister who is two years older and she REALLY wants to do school like everybody else. From paging through them, the Delightful Reading kits seem like a very gentle approach and I’m thankful for that, but I just don’t know what to think about starting to teach to read that young. Thoughts? Experiences? I’d appreciate any input!</span>
My younger ones often wanted to do school too. (My youngest is now Kinder).
I really like the Rod & Staff preschool and K workbooks. Lots of fun cut, color and paste. I would also print out coloring pages, that had letters and pictures (and apple with a letter A on the page) They wanted yo be part of the adventure. I never pushed it, but had available when they wanted to do “school” too 🙂 Somedays they did not want to, other days they would spend time doing their “school” while bigger kids did theirs. Some kidos have good fine motor skills when little so can even trace letters, others that takes more time so simple coloring pages was good place to start.
My younger ones also played quietly while I read. Cars, play dough, coloring… so they were doing “school” with out knowing it.
If she is able to do DR she can, but she also might loose interest in which case let her 🙂 It can seem so exciting, especially at the start of the school year, and then for the little ones they loose interest
Would your older daughter be at all “upset” if little sister is doing the same thing? Some kids care, others do not. I don’t have early readers, so can’t imagine teaching reading at 3.5 but I have friends who’s litte ones have taught themselves to read at 4. Kids they are all so different!
In my mind, “formal lessons” means “required.” If a young child chooses to participate in something, I let them. I have two children who were reading at age 4. One taught herself and one insisted that I teach him, but every lesson we did was by his choice.
You have been teaching your children everything they want or need to know since birth. Just because adults consider reading a school subject but using a fork or tying your shoes are not school subjects, that shouldn’t affect when a child is allowed to learn to read.
Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of insisting that she participates when or if she loses interest, and you’ll be fine.
I totally agree with jmac17! I was going to reply with exactly what she said but she said it perfectly. I like how she clarified “formal lessons” as being “required”. I’ve never heard it put that way, but wholeheartedly agree.
I had a 4 year old eager to learn to read a while ago and I gently introduced some lessons to him and his brain turned on like a light bulb. It was a delightful experience for both of us and I have never regretted doing those early lessons with him. He was ready!
My 5 year old likes to “do school” with us, but if she isn’t having fun I always remind her that it is “not required” and she can just draw or play with her dolls. When I do lessons with her, I keep them 5 minutes or less.
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