Quick Shot in the Arm for Newbie Homeschoolers

Hey Newbies! You there, just starting out with your little ones! Yes, YOU!

Having trouble teaching your 3 year old? Your 4 year old won’t sit still? Your 2 year old is fighting with you over school work? The 5 year old would rather be playing? Your 6 year old not even reading yet??

I have great news! This is normal! Your kids are OK. Kids are not meant for formal school work on a daily, consistent basis until they are about 8 years old. Notice I said “daily” and “consistent.” It’s so tempting to jump into formal schooling at the first sign our little ones express an interest in something. But then they lose interest and become frustrated with us for expecting them to conform to our notion of “school.”

School is not natural. It is foreign to the wonderful, intricate mind and body of a child. It confounds them. They just want to learn, but too often we interpret that as a sign they are ready to sit still, hold a pencil and do formal schooling. But children are much more fluid and organic than that. They are smarter than that. And then we clash and argue. We feel like a failure. We see this as defiance in our child. We want to give up.

Learning as we go is natural. It is indigenous to the wonderful, intricate mind and body of a child. It enlightens them. They just want to learn, and it may be they want to sit still and hold a pencil and learn to read, but they may also want to dig in the dirt, play outside or draw for hours. Kids are fluid and organic- learning is natural to them and they do it in varied ways. It’s like breathing. They are smart!

You are their mom. You are not a failure. You may have misinterpreted your child. You may have missed what they were telling you. But don’t give up. Become a student of your child. Figure out this beautiful puzzle before you and fit the pieces of your child into the frame they were meant to fill- and do it together.