So why now?

At what age should a child start on their educational journey?

There are so many possible answers to this question that I could never get into them all, but the obvious answer is that their journey starts whenever they, or you, are ready!

According to the UK government website, Most children start school full-time in the September after their fourth birthday. This means they’ll turn 5 during their first school year. This means that the majority of UK children spend 32 1/2 hours a week in school from the age of four through till at least 16. That is 7620 hours of "compulsory" education.

The UK government website also says that You can teach your child at home, either full or part-time. This is called home education (sometimes ‘elective home education’ or ‘home schooling’). You must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of 5, but you do not have to follow the national curriculum.

One other quite common answer amongst home-educating families is the Charlotte Mason approach which includes a very gentle introduction to learning for little ones ages 3-4. The main focus will be learning through play. Children should not begin formal lessons until the age of 6.

The last that I will touch on here is an Unschooling approach, which is a child-led approach to learning, meaning that 'formal lessons' may never happen in their home.

So, the answer is very much open for each family to decide. Personally, I have decided to start introducing some daily rhythms in September when Bear would have started nursery (FS1) but the only thing that I will be 'teaching' him, and I use that word loosely because there will be no pressure at first, and if he isn't ready then I will back off again, is Phonics. I am in the middle of researching Phonics programs and trying to decide which one will be the best fit for us... More on that when I have decided!

My decision to start in September when Bear would have been starting nursery is mainly because he is showing a natural ability for learning. He has picked up so much just through play and loves books, so I decided that putting down some foundations ready for learning to read would not be a bad thing. I don't plan to go about it in a 'lessons' kind of way, but more through focused play spaces and introducing the letter sounds with little games and activities. 

I will do more posts on my plans and daily rhythms but for now, that's all I have :)

Mama Bear

The Research

 So, where did I start? In a book of course!

I have slowly been acquiring books on Home Educating that I plan to read to educate myself along the way. One of the first books I bought after making the decision, one which I had pretty much decided on before I'd even had Bear, but obviously talked through with Daddy, was The Home Education Handbook by Gill Hines and Alison Baverstock, although I have to admit, I haven't actually read it yet...

This is my current pile ->

I have a whole list saved that I'd like to work my way through and although I have had a couple of these for a while, the one that I started with was The Call of the Wild + Free by Ainsley Arment. It was a perfect start for me and a philosophy that I already follow with my boys, and one I plan to take with us into our Home Education journey. 

"Allow your children to experience the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood with this practical guide that provides all the information, inspiration, and advice you need for creating a modern, quality homeschool education."

It was a beautiful read, one that resonated with me on many levels and will most definitely help shape my way forward on this journey. I loved the way that it was set out, the easily digestible sections made for interesting reading and I found a lot of purpose in Ainsley's ways of living and educating her children. She is the founder of the Wild + Free movement and runs an Instagram page that I love too, amongst many other things!

An idea that I read about from another Instagram profile that I love, Shelley, whose page is @that.whichislovely was about keeping a Commonplace Book; a notebook with your favourite quotes from the books that you read, a place to keep the ideas that inspire you. I dug out a pretty notebook when I started reading The Call of the Wild + Free and filled several pages with quotes, as well as tagging the book with page markers at places that I'd like to be able to jump back to!

My current read is Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J Hanscom, a book that I saw several of the accounts that I follow on Instagram talk highly of. This one hasn't proven to be quite as good of a read as my first, purely because it seems to be aimed quite specifically at parents and teachers with children who have health and cognitive difficulties, which is not quite how it is publicised. I will stick with it in the hopes that it still provides some enlightenment, but a part of me is itching to move on to something different...

"In this important book, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook shows how outdoor play and unstructured freedom of movement are vital for children’s cognitive development and growth, and offers tons of fun, engaging ways to help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced, and resilient adults."

I can post reviews here on the blog as I read if that is something you are interested in... alternatively, you can follow my reading journey (though it will include all my fiction reads too) over on my Goodreads page.

More soon,

Mama Bear

Where to start?!

Bear would be due to start nursery in September, which is Foundation Stage 1 (FS1) where he would begin his educational learning journey, so, although I don't plan to do much with him this young, I am going to make a start on phonics as he has a decent grip on his alphabet, or most of it anyway... he is only three, and everything he knows so far he has picked up purely through play. Amongst his toys are several resources that are number and letter based, including jigsaws, blocks, wooden letters, magnetic letters and cars with numbers on, which he has access to at all times.

Many of his toys go through rotation, and to a certain extent, so do his letters and numbers, as I change what is out on the play surface weekly, but unlike his other toys which are put away in the spare room when out of rotation, his letters and numbers are kept in a draw in the play space, so if he ever wants anything different out to play with, he can swap them out by himself. Any knowledge he has so far is all through playing with these and remembering what they are from me naming them during play.

Come September, I plan to make a more concentrated effort to actually have Bear learn his alphabet, then move on to phonics sounds before moving into reading.

Obviously, the first place I have started is with a planner... anyone who knows me knows that I always loved a good planner, though these days, I keep my own plans in the calendar on my phone. I decided, although I know that it is not a necessity, that I would like to keep a record of what I do with Bear, and eventually with The Cub too, for my own peace of mind, if not for anyone else. I looked into 'teacher' planners, but they are far too in-depth for what I wanted, as were 'student' planners. I also had a nosey at some 'home education' style planners, but again, for now, they were far too detailed... so, I went with what I know.

I have used Personal Planners on and off for years, and love the flexibility that they provide to create them exactly the way you want them to be. The personal organiser is a reasonably new line for them, and I decided that I'd like the ring binder so that I can just purchase the new insert each year. This year I went for one of their astrology covers, and the front cover has Bear's educational details on it so that I will be able to store them and find relevant information from them when necessary.

Also, this is Ned! He will feature in our home education journey quite often, though maybe not in every photo as he has done in this post... I like to leave him out with play invitations, and he comes on adventures with us. The Cub has one with his name on too which is already one of his favourite toys <3

I think that's probably quite enough for a post all about a planner - though I may do another one further down the line once I start using it to make plans, and to record our journey... Any questions, please comment below!

Mama Bear x