Early or Late Start in School

In discussing kids starting school subject at an early age (5yo) or when they are naturally ready at an older age (10 or so). Are kids just doing "nothing" if they wait to start school?

When I speak of “late camp”, I am definitely not saying that kids do NOTHING until they read 9 or 10 years of age. When I say that kids can wait until they are 10 to do math, I mean they are not doing formal, workbookish school. That is not to say they are not learning. Learning abounds with kids under 10 and we should arrange our homes so that learning is natural.

The Bluedorns have a list of things to do with your kids before they are 10. These include phonics (reading, copywork), oral narration, memorization, hearing/listening (read alouds, history, timelines), family worship, arts/crafts, field trips (library and others), work/service, discipline (socialization), and play/encouragement. This does not look like nothing during those early years. But, it is not textbooks and workbooks for school. For more info about this approach, read Teaching the Trivium, by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn.

BTW, until this century kids did not go to school until they were 8 or 9 and their studies were much more rigorous than ours today. Kids did not study math in the early years (5-10) until the twentieth century (you know- when public school begins)

Blessings,
Kerry