When to Begin Formal Lessons

Have you ever considered the question of when to begin formal lessons? Or do you simply take it as a "given" that you begin formal instruction at age 5? I think many will find it interesting to know that traditionally schooling began at age 7. My grandmother (born in 1920) started school at that age. When I read the writings of Charlotte Mason, I see that in her day (the 1800's) the children also went off to school at age 7.  According to UNICEF, 34% of the world's children begin formal schooling at age 7. It's interesting to note that only 5% begin at age 5 and 61% at age 6.

“Research has clearly shown a correlation between pushing programmes that promote early academic achievement and disaffection in teenage years.” says Debe Lawson of the Professional Association of Teachers in England. “A plethora of research advocates the importance of play for the overall development of the child,” Lawson states.

Hungarian, German and Flemish teachers do not start teaching written numbers, writing or reading until children are 6, believing that most are not able to cope with these skills at younger ages. Studies conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement support this view. They assessed children from 32 different countries, looking at the relationship between the age of starting school and reading performance at the ages of 9 and 14. In most of these 32 countries, children began school at ages 5, 6 or 7. They found the top-achieving countries had a later starting age.

In addition, children in France, Portugal, Belgium, and Norway start school at 6 and the school starting age in many Scandinavian countries is 7. Age seven is the starting age in Finland, where students recently came out on top in math, science and reading over 39 other countries, according to a study by the Programme for International Student Assessment.

So what about here in the United States? We are required to begin at age 5, aren't we? The answer most of the time is "no". Each state has it's own laws of compulsory age. But many are not until ages 6 or 7. (Check your state laws here) In Florida, for instance, our age of compulsory attendance is ages 6-16. But what if your state does require a younger age? 

If your state requires that your child begin their formal education at age 5, remember that everything counts. Children spend their entire lives learning! You've been educating them since they exited the womb (and perhaps before!) and will continue that journey.  Consider the following passages:

". . . the chief function of the child--his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life--is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavour of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects." Charlotte Mason (Volume 1, Home Education, pg. 96)

"Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things, and combine his impressions for himself, instead of sitting indoors at a little round table while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he build a stone wall with his wooden blocks, or make a rainbow out of strips of coloured paper, or plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experiences." (pg. 196)

 "A child will have taught himself to paint, paste, cut paper, knit, weave, hammer and saw, make lovely things in clay and sand, build castles with his bricks; possibly too, will have taught himself to read, write, and do sums, besides acquiring no end of knowledge and notions about the world he lives in, by the time he is six or seven. What I contend for is that he shall do these things because he chooses..." (pg. 194)

And isn't all of that learning? Weren't your most fun, memorable and educational times as a child soaked in exploration? I recall being 6 and lying in my aunt's yard watching ants and searching for a 4-leaf clover in the mass amounts of clover! I recall walking among the trees and noticing beetles, bark and blackberry bushes. And aren't these the connections to science? Finding my way back home from the wooded area.. isn't that practicing some elementary geography skills? These are the connections that "wire" our children's brains for later learning. And if your state requires you to "school" at age 5, you can certainly document these explorations, discussions and perhaps elementary little experiments if the state so requires.

If you've ever seen the video "The First 3 Years", you understand how the brain develops.. how it makes connections along the way. We cannot, through early formal education, force them to "connect" any faster than nature allows. So why not allow our children to enjoy being children and just enjoy it with them? These years fly by so quickly.. one day you'll miss them. So don't miss them now.

Happy Homeschooling!