Homepreschool and Beyond


I've started to homeschool my 6-year-old boy since June. It's a short term arrangement until he goes to Primary 1 next year. Homeschooling is not a new idea in our family. But I only got the courage to do it recently. One of the great books that encouraged me deeply was - "Homepreschool and Beyond" by Susan Lemons. Susan is very real, else we think she is a supermom. She has her fair share of successes and struggles - to be full-time as a homeschool mom and part time as a writer and blogger. Whilst social media was a great tool for marketing her book, it also took too much of her time. Just when Susan was making her presence felt in the social media, she put her brakes on, because she had wanted to make the main thing the main thing. There's no supermom, when we say "yes" to one thing, we are always saying "no" to something else. 

Most people believe that the basic building blocks of education for all children are reading, writing and arithmetic. Susan believes that the real building blocks of education are the "4R's" : Relationship, Routine, Readiness and Reading aloud. By using the foundation of the 4R's, we can keep our priorities in order (make the main thing the main thing - relationships) and we can lay a firm foundation for our children's later years. 

Life itself is the very best curriculum for preschoolers. I'm still amazed that my 6-year old is learning vocabulary through real life experiences and conversation. I did not use any curriculum in particular to homeschool him. Like what Susan said, the thing to do is to watch your children for signs of readiness, interest or natural learning. When you see those signs, you'll know it's time to begin the 'lessons'. No expensive curriculum required, just have fun together and your children will learn! 

I've learnt much in these few short months too, applying the same principle to managing this blog as well, that I do not feel pressure to keep it up-to-date and always updated. Indeed there is no supermom, only "make the main thing the main thing"....

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