My general advice to parents, whether looking at #Homeschooling or classical/Christian/private schooling is:

You want your kid to master the basics AT HOME; do not outsource it. Reading, writing, arithmetic. Everything else will be easy if you get this right. A 4 year old that reads at a 12 year old level is going to smoke their peers in the greater picture. Don't overthink it. Delay other curricula until this foundation is laid.

1. No screen time at all until at least 18 months. Build a culture of reading every day. Build a baby library and toddler library and read so much your kid memorizes the words.

2. At 18 months, add a single wholesome show to watch TOGETHER periodically, either once a day for 10 mins or every few days. We like Little Bear and at 3 years old that's still the only show we've used. This will increase their word interest a lot. We use an Android/GrapheneOS device with the Twilight app to eliminate blue light and disable camera+mic, etc.

3. From 18 months introduce to ABC board and the ABC phonics song. They won't get it at first but try and play with it and listen together multiple times a week so they are familiar.

4. From 24 months, add their second screen time: Meet the Phonics. This will cause quite a dopamine dump, so tie it to the board and song every morning to capitalize on the dopamine and build a home learning practice. Add numbers, counting, and letter writing (chalk) before 3 years old.

5. By 36 months, provide the Mentava app in the same morning block. This gamifies the phonics process better than anything I've seen; it is worth the sats. Continue with writing practices. Aim to have them reading their own books before they turn 4.

6. Increase writing and arithmetic. Ignore other curricula until this feels solid. Then add a second learning time block to fold in additional curricula. We're looking at Classical Christian curricula, but you can use Grok and friends to explore what's out there.

Cheers.

#FatherlyFrame