The foundation for establishing a successful homeschool begins with teaching children to respect authority and each other. Parents must be in agreement about homeschooling and supportive of each other for the child to feel secure. High standards and a loving, nurturing environment, provide a solid foundation for all learning.

Effective teaching of young children begins with understanding their learning style. Does your child need to see how something is done or look at a picture of the process, before he can do it? Your child is primarily a visual learner. Does he have to have directions explained out loud? Does he remember what he hears? He is an auditory learner. If he needs to actually get hands on and manipulate it to remember how it is done, then he is a kinesthetic learner.

You, as a teacher, also have a teaching style (related to how you learn best). Once you know what your child’s learning style is, you will need to conform your teaching style to meet his/her needs. In a household with more than one child (which represents most of us), you may find you have several different learning styles present. The solution to this challenge is a multi-sensory approach to learning.

If your children are not visual learners, you don’t want workbooks as your only tool. Programs such as ACE and Alpha Omega’s Life-pacs are useful for visual learners, but would frustrate the auditory learner (unless you read the lessons aloud) and the kinesthetic learner (unless you add hands-on learning to the written lesson). Visual learners will also benefit from a variety of styles, but will not do well with “books on tape”.

In contrast, auditory learners will do quite well with “books on tape” or “Sing and Learn” tapes. They will enjoy listening to you read stories. After they have learned to read, they may need to read books or instructions aloud to themselves to understand them. This is

Children begin by learning concrete facts. A multi-sensory approach is almost essential in preschool through 2nd grade. Before the child can understand the written numerical concept of 1 + 1, they need to see one apple and one apple, brought together to make two apples. The sequence of learning goes from the concrete (objects) to the conceptual (symbols that represent the objects) to the abstract (logic, reasoning and wisdom).

None of these things require an official “curriculum”, but you may certainly use one if it makes you more comfortable. What is needed is to make a list of learning objectives for your child for the year. Then, plan out short-term goals and methods of teaching your child. You may keep a journal or scrapbook of concepts that are taught and when they are mastered. Keep a log of short term goals so your child (and you) can see frequent progress as you check off each new accomplishment.

Once your child is familiar with identification of numbers and letters, it is important to give them a thorough understanding of phonetics. There are a multitude of multi-sensory approaches to this. As your child is learning to read, never expect them to “teach themselves.” After they read well, they will be able to accomplish a great deal on their own. Initially, they need you to teach them everything, much as babies would need you to spoon feed them before they can feed themselves. If you find one curriculum or method isn’t getting through to the point of understanding, you can move to another.

Note: If you find that your child is getting his letters backwards or having a hard time reading (showing dyslexic tendencies, ie: saying or writing “was” instead of “saw”, or bad instead of dad) you will need to include textured letters (ones cut out from sandpaper, sponges, or faux fur work well...) or have them practice writing in a large pan of salt, or sugar. If you have a sandbox, even better! The larger they make the letters, the more of an impression it will make. Let them bake letter cookies and form words. When they get them right, they can eat them! Of course, too much of this method may bring other problems...

Pre-reading skills are especially needed for the left-handed child. You will need to have them trace their finger across the page from left to right to be in the habit of reading in the correct direction. I have observed that math will usually come more easily to left-handed children than reading and writing. Notice, in working an addition or multiplication problem with a column of numbers, they will be working from right to left (the opposite of reading). Do not try to change a left-handed child into a right-handed one. Be patient, not critical. These children often have the highest I.Q.’s.

There is a school of thought that says children are not ready to read until just before puberty. Others say, you can teach a four-year-old to read. If you live in a home where books are enjoyed and read by the parents, the child is more likely to begin attempting to read at an early age. Still, some children don’t enjoy reading. We are not all the same, and not everyone needs to love to read, but it is a necessary skill that all children must learn. If they prefer reading books about big machines and construction... let them read those. “Readers” provided by the big curriculum companies are a “one size fits all” solution, and children aren’t all the same. If they are motivated to read “The Mouse and the Motorcycle”, I would recommend letting them read that instead. Real books are usually more interesting than readers, anyway.