There are many views on when children should start their formal homeschooling experience. At one extreme is the view that it is never to early as expressed through Montesori education. This advocates things such as learning the alphabet as early as 2 years. The belief is that toddlers are eager learners and naturally inquisitive about their world.
At the other extreme is the view that formal schooling does not need to start until later. This camp, led by Steiner Waldorf Education, believes that "a child will learn these skills (three Rs) more effectively if he/she has had plenty of time and opportunity to develop socially, emotionally and physically first in a creative, secure and harmonious environment." Texas compulsory attendance laws, however, state that a child must attend school starting at the age of six.
One of the main benefits of homeschooling is the ability to provide each child with personalized instruction. Each child needs to start and progress at his/her own rate. Are parents pushing children to begin their formal education too early or are state laws forcing them to begin too soon?
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