Why I decided to homeschool Part 1

If you had told me that I would be homeschooling Pipiri 5 years ago I would have told you that you were nuts!

I really didn't even know exactly what homeschooling was..

I am a certified teacher K-6. I am licensed in Kentucky, Tenneessee, and Florida. I also had/have 15 hours towards a Masters Degree (I never finished my Masters in reading). And...i taught for about 5years in public schools in all of those states. So while yes I am qualified to teach her...I never thought in a million years that would be our path.

I have always loved to read...AND I have always known the importance of reading to children.

I never wanted her to struggle with reading. I wanted her to LOVE reading...I wanted her to LOVE books!

So when she was born that's what I did. I read to her. Every single day of her life....I have read to her....ok well on occasion we have skipped a few days...but pretty much reading is our thing and we do it daily.  Starting from very very early...I read to her.  Books...tons and tons of children's books.  Morning mid day and night time...we read. 

Being that in my past life I was a teacher and my mom is a saver...I have tons of vintage childrens books. 

I LOVE childrens books!

She was about 6-7 months here.

Same day and time different book.

So at about 7 months or so I noticed that she would really follow along with her eyes as I read. So when she would look at books by herself I noticed she would sort of point to words...she was mimicking me..as I always point to each word as I read to her. By 10 months she recognized all of the alphabet letters and by a year she knew all of the alphabet sounds verbally. (All ages are approximate...as any new mom I was very sleep deprived!)

She knew how to turn the pages in books by this age 7-8 months.

I had everyone in the family read to her.

I had the alphabet on the refrigerator. We would look at letters together and make the letter sounds. I also had sight word lists beside each letter. Later on I did this in French also. 

She was about 5-6 mths old here.

She knew the correct way to hold a book and that you read a book from left to right.

Every time she was in her high chair I offered her books to look at. 

She knew how to turn pages, where the front cover was, the title page, and the spine of the book. She would point to all of these when I would ask her to.

Around 15 months I noticed she would mouth words as I read to her. I started wondering if she had just memorized the words and was repeating them as I said them. But then one day I saw her on the floor holding a relatively new book....and she was mouthing the words to herself...very softly. When I approached her and asked her if she was reading she said yes. So I asked her to read it to me and she did!! I don't remember the exact date or the exact book. But she read it to me at 15 months old. It had sentences not just a one word per page. Actual sentences!

She was reading! 

By herself! 

She knew how to read!! 

Sooo the age old question was it because I had been reading to her since birth or was it because she was advanced?

Nature vs nurture.....I don't know the answer here??

But that got my wheels turning.  Omg if she knows how to read at this young age.... What else can I teach her?  Another language? An instrument? 

                                  She was about 19 months old here..sorry poor video quality here:(

                                  This was a little book we got in the mail - she was about 20 months.

                                         Almost 23 months old - French and English words

(I sound so manic and crazed in some of these videos....I think because I was way over caffeinated and sleep-deprived..and I'm a super fast talker.) 

We always have a books for her to look at in every room of the house. Kitchen table, baskets of a few books in the playroom, bookshelves that are easily accessed by her...so she always has the choice of reading when she wants to. The books are also different levels. Some toddler style books, nonfiction and fiction....bright art work...some with black and white...some medal winning books...others just because she likes them... chapter books with pictures on each page...and several novels. 

I also started noticing that most of the moms I was around had already started their children the same age in "school". I started to wonder...is this what I need to do...does she need to go to school? Would she be better off in a school with other children? 

I visited every school I could find within a 15 minute drive from my house. And while I did find many that were super nice...that I really liked...I just couldn't do it. I couldn't send her. 

Sooooo we kept on keeping on with our reading....I added some crafts....some music....lots of singing together....AND...

I found a wonderful French tutor for her at around 18 months old. She basically teaches her French thru play and speaking only in the French thruout. 

I also read tiger mom...and we started violin lessons at age 20 months. She was still in pampers. 

Stay tuned....I discovered so many different philosophies along the way...Waldorf....Charlotte Mason...natural learning...