My homeschooling adventure began on day
one with my first child. At first, I did what every mom does. I talked and sang
to her. This served to stimulate her brain development. Early on, I began
reading to her as well. By age one, she played with wipe-able books, which were
placed within easy access with the rest of her toys. I read and sang nursery
rhymes at story time. This taught her the rhythm and syntax of language.
As she grew, I further stimulated her
brain development by allowing her to explore her world. We provided many age appropriate
learning experiences. She went to parks, zoos, the beach, the snow, the
airport. At the grocery store, we talked about the foods. I allowed her to “help”
as I worked in the home and garden.
Between ages one and three, she sat beside
me on the couch reading picture books. I’d point to the pictures and we’d talk
about what we saw and what the characters were doing. This built her
vocabulary. Soon, she learned to sing the alphabet. While she learned the
letters, I pointed to words as I read to her. This way she
connected the symbols with sounds. Around age three, when she seemed ready, I
made up cards that contained phonetically similar words (at, bat, cat; book,
look, cook; can, fan man). I found several first readers that used this method.
She was delighted when she opened them and found she could read!
My little student dictated her first story
(about a princess) to me at about three and a half. Over the next year or so as
she acquired a larger vocabulary and continued to make up stories, I gently
introduced the story format: beginning, middle, end. By five, she was writing
and illustrating her own little picture books. At six, she began a family
newsletter, The Snoopy News, to keep
our clan informed about our family’s activities. Now, many years and a few degrees
later, she is about to publish her first monograph.—Quinn
