How to Homeschool a Baby
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“How can I spend some time each day homeschooling my baby? What should I be doing?” I see this question pop up all the time on homeschool message boards and Facebook groups. Parents want to make sure they are giving their baby every advantage possible, but just aren’t sure how. They want to know how to homeschool a baby.
I hesitate to call this homeschooling because it is really just the natural way babies learn and does not need much, if any, special planning. ALL babies should be exposed to these kind of opportunities, not just those at home. Don’t worry if your baby is in daycare. I worked at a daycare center for a few months after the military moved us away from my kindergarten classroom and every single one of the daycare teachers did these things with the babies in their care.
All young children learn best through play, even babies. There is no need for any special curriculum! In fact, one of the most well-known baby curricula, Teach Your Baby to Read went out of business after losing a lawsuit. The creator couldn’t prove that the curriculum actually made babies smarter. That is because babies do not need curricula.
Babies just need adults that love them, meet their basic needs, and give them plenty of attention.
I bet that you are already doing that!
As a mom of two with a psychology degree and three early education teaching certificates, here are my recommendations for how to homeschool a baby.
How to Homeschool a Baby
How to Homeschool a Baby Tip #1
Read early and often
Even tiny babies can benefit from hearing books! It is a natural way to talk to babies and expose them to language. The exposure to books can even boost literacy skills in future years.
When choosing books for your baby keep a few things in mind:
- Select board books that are sturdy enough for little hands.
- There shouldn’t be too much text on each page. Babies have short attention spans.
- Rhyming text is always a hit with little ones.
- Choose books with bright pictures.
My kids loved Good Night, Gorilla and everything by Karen Katz when they were infants.
Addisonreads.com is an excellent resource for book reviews geared towards little ones.
Many libraries offer babies and books story time weekly. These story times usually consist of a few short stories, finger plays, and songs.
How to Homeschool a Baby Tip #2
Sing songs
Did you know babies brains benefit from parents singing lullabies? They are such a wonderful audience too. Babies don’t care if you sing out of key or make up some of the words. Interactive music play has been shown to benefit brains more than passively listening to music. That means parents are encouraged to sing with their babies, teach finger plays, and play with musical toys like shakers.
There are classes such as Kindermusik that help parents and babies interact with music, but you can do it at home too. Here is a great finger play resource. Sometimes libraries offer interactive music classes for babies. When Hannah was a baby, our local library hosted an interactive music hour for babies. The parents all sang songs while the babies played with egg shakers.
Sing and dance with your baby and you are sure to see smiles while helping brain development.
How to Homeschool a Baby Tip #3
Teach sign language
Teaching babies sign language gives them a way to communicate before they can verbalize what they want to say. Babies can start picking up sign language around 8 months old.
There are many video programs available that promise to their your baby to sign, but I taught both of my kids using board books. We read the books together and I incorporated the signs into our daily routine. After a few weeks my babies started signing too. The first signs we used were “more”, “all done”, and “milk”.
Some parents worry that speech will be delayed if they teach their babies to sign, but that wasn’t our experience. Both of my kids talked right on schedule. It did help reduce some of the toddler tantrums though because they were not frustrated by a lack of communication.
How to Homeschool a Baby Tip #4
Take your baby outside daily
Babies can learn a lot just by going for a stroll! They learn about their environment and neighborhood. They see animals and might interact with neighbors. Over time they learn about seasons and changes in weather.
An old Scandinavian saying is fitting. “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.”
I tried to take Hannah and Ben for walks outside every day when they were infants. When it was cold, I would bundle them up and place an extra blanket around the stroller. When it was hot, I would give them lots of shade. We lived in Colorado and Virginia when they were babies so our weather was somewhat mild. Of course use your best judgement if you live somewhere with extreme weather.
How to Homeschool a Baby Tip #5
Let babies explore – even if it makes a mess
Babies intuitively know how to learn. Their job is to explore. Your job is to keep them safe.
To give your baby a safe environment to explore:
- Bolt furniture to the wall
- Cover electrical outlets
- Block access to stairs
- Keep choking hazards out of reach
- Place electrical cords out of reach. If your baby pulls on the cord, whatever is attached will come crashing down
- Here is a thorough babyproofing guide.
Letting babies explore can happen at meal time too. I always gave my babies their own baby spoon or fork to try to use during meal time. They rarely got much food in their mouths at first, so I still did the majority of the feeding while they practiced. This can get messy, but babies are washable. It helps develop spatial awareness (getting the spoon to their mouth) and motor skills (holding the utensil). Just make sure you have enough time for a bath afterwards.
Do you have any other tips on how to homeschool a baby?
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