My son is almost 2 1/2 and he loves everything we do from this site. He has learned so much I really can’t believe it. We are going to homeschool and another mom and I do “preschool” every Thursday; the kids really like it.
I’ve found a couple of local homeschool groups that have classes once a week. They have teachers come in and teach things from science to chess. I really like the idea of this because I would be able to go with him and when we get to difficult subjects or science where you need to do experiments, then we could do it as part of the group.
I’ve been so frustrated because each group has very strict age limits. They won’t let him in the 3 year old class because he isn’t 3 yet. Let them show me one of those 3 year olds who shares his yogurt with Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton the way my son does. Or, one that chooses to build Notre Dame out of blocks. By the time he is old enough to qualify for the classes he will be so far beyond what they are teaching at that level.
I just think it is sad that even these local homeschooling groups aren’t open minded and don’t realize that chronilogical age may not be the best determining factor of a child’s ability. I’m so thankful that we won’t be attending public school because I can just imagine how hard it would be to get him in the correct class there.
That doesn’t make much sense. A lot of parents homeschool so that their kids can move at their own pace, so it’s not fair to those children who are doing just that. And what happens to the slow child who has to do activities that are above his level? There should not be a set age requirement, but rather, a guideline for certain ages and activities. Like this activity is appropriate for most 3 year olds. Then the parents and teachers should decide what the child is capable of doing.
That’s a good point Cassidy.
Years ago I took my kids to a homeschool gymnastics class taught at a proper gymnastics centre by qualified staff. My son as pre-school age was not allowed to join in. They had to be at a certain age…something to do with public liability insurance. Yet he is more flexible and fearless than his older siblings, and more like to happily do the flips and tumbles that I and my girls would have found scary (fear of heights/falling, and thus hurting ourselves). The earlier you start these sort of sports, the better you are…
We have a local program where someone from the county comes to your house every month and gives you information about the stage you child is in now. I really like it because they are very open-minded (including passing this site on to their other families) and can give good advice on a range of topics. According to her, my son is at the 5-6 year old level.
I told one of the homeschool groups I was interested in joining that I could get a letter from an education professional (the women I mentioned above) stating that he was ready and they came back and said they didn’t think their group was a good fit for me. This particular group was a religious one; way to show a loving spirit.
We do have a musuem, zoo and aquarium that offers classes that are once a month. I guess for now we are going to stick with those. They don’t care how old he is.
At least I was only trying to supplement with these programs but I still don’t like taking “no” for an answer when it doesn’t seem fair. Who knew there could be age discrimination when you are 2.
Of course, what there’s a need for is a network of groups–a “grassroots” organization–of parents who are teaching their very young children, or who have taught them. The sad thing is that except in major metro areas, there probably aren’t enough people are doing this to make it viable. But in the next few years, who knows? This could change.
I’m not defending what seems like a stupid policy, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that the reason is liability? The same reason that so many toys that my 25-month-old loves playing with are marked “For Ages 3 and Up” – because there are “small” parts included that could be choking hazards if the child puts everything in their mouth (in some cases the child would need to first rip the piece off the toy) and, of course, is not being supervised. I can imagine that in the science and art classes they would not want to worry about having to make sure every single piece of the materials used passes the “choking hazard” test.