Toddlers and Homeschooling

I am pretty much convinced that stay at home moms who are parenting toddlers are homeschooling moms! In a toddler’s (and many would argue older too) world, LIFE is school. Throughout the day M is learning things every where he goes. He is a curious little guy and likes to figure things out all by himself. Of course he also says “Mommy, do iss” quite a bit too. He wants to learn, but knows he needs my help.

While Brandon was in grad school we met many homeschooling families. We treasured all we learned from them and appreciated the ways their children interacted with us, with their peers, and with the world around them. We asked lots of questions and gained lots of great information. I could feel my heart shifting as I learned about the benefits of teaching to your child’s learning style, of weaving the Gospel into all things, and watching firsthand as your children learn to read etc. The theory all sounded lovely.

Then we became parents and weariness set in. I often began to wonder how I could teach my children at home when I felt like all I could do was survive toddlerhood. It was then that I realized that every thing that I did with M was home school.

The local Christian school is hosting a homeschool mom’s morning out once a month for the next few months. M and I went to the January event and had a blast. I learned so much from the other moms and was encouraged to hear them answer my questions as they shared about various aspects of schooling at home. M loved seeing the other children and was able to attend a little story time with them. He seemed like such a big boy to me in that moment. During the meeting I learned that our community does indeed have a homeschool co-op.

Last week M and I along with L and his mommy and some of M’s dear friends M and H and their mommy all headed to the local homeschool co-op. That is right, I took my 2 year old and C took her 1 year old! It did seem a bit strange since our little men are not yet school age, but it was so lovely. All the 4 year olds and under are in one area and they enjoy learning about a letter, doing songs, reading books and doing crafts. M is still quite young for some of it, but that might be changing to some degree soon as I volunteered to help with the 1 and 2 year olds. Yes, there are lots of them. Whole families come to the co-op, so of course that means the little siblings come too. It is quite a blessing for M to meet new little friends. It is a great joy for me to be connecting with women who I know will be great resources to me in the future.

Am I boldly proclaiming that the only option for our children will ever be home schooling? No. I am simply saying that right now I am home schooling my toddler and would love to learn from pros. I am also saying that as we prayerfully consider what the Lord would have us do when it comes to educating our children we want to have explored all the options well. We feel home schooling could be a great foundation for our children and we will continue to pray and follow God’s leading in this area.