Homeschooling a Four Year Old
Tips, tricks, and priorities to consider when gauging school readiness in a young student.
When my oldest was four, he appeared tall enough to be in school but, of course, physical stature does not equal school readiness. And so we played, and explored, and read until he was about six years old— the age most kids enter first grade. I have been very happy with his progress and often remember—and butcher— a quote I read once and wish I had written down. It goes something like this:
What takes a child months to learn at age four will take him weeks to learn at five, and days to learn at six.
There are entire books written on this concept and, more than that, it has been my personal experience as well and so I have not found that we have lost anything in being patient to start formal academics (to the contrary, I believe we have had everything to gain).
However, my precious, four year old little girl has become quite envious of my time with Christian (our school time) and has become eager to “learn” too. In order to honor her appetite for learning, and, more than that, special one-on-one time with momma, along with respecting my boundaries or “hedge of protection” for their childhood, I have created a flexible framework for homeschooling my four year old.
Communal Learning
To the degree possible, I include Everly in my formal academic training of Christian. I do not require her full attention or involvement, but allow her to participate as she shows interest in most of these subjects (the exclusions would be the subjects with an asterisk. She needs to sit and color quietly for those). I wouldn’t even offer most of these subjects if she were the oldest child:
Bible reading*
Hymns*
Scripture memory*
Catechism
Picture study
Music study
Geography
Foreign language (which is simply a television program in that language)
Individual Learning
After lunch, Everly and I cuddle in her bed for her “lessons.”
We count 1-100 together (or just me) one or two times
We say the phonetic alphabet (a, A, ah, etc.)
And then I read a Beatrix Potter book or any book from Ambleside Online’s Year 0 booklist
Maybe we conclude with a hymn of her choice. And then we chat for a bit, and I tuck her in for her afternoon nap.
And that is school for the day for a four year old!
Afterthoughts
A sustainable homeschool methodology must fall within the parameters created by your priorities. If this method of education for a four year old does not appeal to you, it is most likely because it does not align with your priorities. Consider those first and then a plan for educating your young child will more readily fall into place.
So often we do not need more information in order to make the right choice. We only need the courage to do what we already know ought to be done.
My priorities include:
time for independent play (both indoor and outdoor)
time for naps
time for structured activities (such as Morning Time or swim, ballet, or piano, etc)
Screen time for foreign language development
After those things (for a four year old) come formal academics.
And finally, learning is a lifelong pursuit. Ideally, it is an enjoyable pursuit. As such, I want Everly’s introduction to learning to be gentle, special, and slow, for soon enough it will be the basis of character development, habit formation, and, of course, subject proficiency.
