There are a lot of groups for support if you’re looking for ideas. I don’t know what area you live in, but you can email me and I can pass along some online spots to start for other families to be with.

That said, at only 3, most people may not consider you a homeschooler only because 3 year old preschool isn’t required. Neither is 4 year preK. But if you’re doing deliberate, educational activities, you are homeschooling! Welcome to the club and good luck!

And yes, I do believe I am homeschooling. I am working on educational things that I otherwise would not have. Instead of drawing a train in chalk on the sidewalk and calling it a “train”, we talk about the shapes that make up the train, or where the train is going, or what the train is carrying in it’s cars, or what a caboose is and what it does. I take it a few steps further. And possibly, some parents already do those things, and DON’T call it homeschool. Either way, the child is learning BEYOND the basics.

I do understand that preschool is not a requirement or even always common. But I know he is ready for something more than just hanging out at home. And since he was unable to attend the school we originally picked out for him, I wanted to make sure I was covering the same topics he would have learned there. I am hoping I can keep him up to snuff so when he does enter school he is capable of doing everything the children his age can do and learned at a traditional preschool.

Thank you. We too, went through the same discussion as to where to send him awhile back. Like I said, he was all set to go to preschool, but something like potty training can keep a child from being able to attend. And Jonah is shy, but when put in the situation of being around other children, I too think he would blossom. But unfortunately, I was unable to find a preschool willing to take him since he was still in diapers. I am lucky to be able to have the opportunity to homeschool him, and if it doesn’t work (and he is actualy potty-trained, next year he may be going off to school with most other kids. Time will tell.) Thank for the encouragement!

I realize that these days–particularly in urban areas–the majority of kids attend preschool, but that’s a pretty recent development. Traditionally kids in our country start school (or don’t, if their parents opt to homeschool) at age 5 or 6.