Schooling–How Young is Too Young?
The Punkin is just over 2 1/2 years old, but I’m considering starting “schooling” this fall. This was suggested more as a way of getting some sort of routine into our extremely unscheduled lifestyle. When I spoke with a friend who has a degree in education (early childhood I believe), she seemed to think it was a fine idea, as long as the time spent was limited to short periods, only two days a week.
The Punkin is a little sponge at this point. Sometimes I call her “Johnny Five”–need more input! She seems to be happiest when learning. She already knows her numbers 1-10, her alphabet, and can find the letters on a keyboard (and use a mouse, but let’s not go there). That’s just from watching Baby Einstein and playing with her computer.
I know that now is the time to burn language pathways in her brain, so we are trying to expose her to as much foreign speech as she wants. She can count to 5 in German and Spanish, and is starting to learn her colors in Spanish.
She also takes Creative Movement, which has done wonders for her gross motor skills. She can skip, gallop, hop on one foot, and do bits of ballet (she actually knows how to do a coupé, passé, and arabesque).
I’m thinking “formal” schooling would be more along the lines of time set aside specifically to read to her, or work on word recognition, or hone fine motor skills. Not until much later would this time involve actual “work.”
So, am I trying to be über-mom, and force my daughter to become an infant over-achiever? Or am I being wise and taking advantage of her desire to learn? Where’s the line? How much is too much?