Why wait?

Is he reading yet? Can he work equations? Is his handwriting clear ? What grade is he in? Those are not the questions of my intentions in the early childhood years. I close my ears to them. Because they are not true to my own sense of what is valuable for our family.

Elizabeth Foss, from In the Heart of My Home wrote so well on the ideas and philosophies behind lingering when it comes to schooling your 3-6 year olds. It is a long article, but if you have pondered when and how to start homeschooling your younger children, she perfectly sums up my thoughts on this subject. Cooper will be six in a few weeks, and we will begin one more year of "kindergarten." His last year was full of experiences and relationships I would never want to exchange for more refined reading skills or advanced abilities in math. He did learn to read last year, and we read aloud more chapter books than I ever zipped through in one year. We memorized poetry and worked on math as it came up in daily life. But none of it happened with a strict school schedule.

But I will let her say it better.