What I Wish I Had Known My First Year....

I am a homeschooling mother of 3. I have 3 wonderful blessings, all different in their own way. They are awesome.
But, I have made so many mistakes along the way. I can't believe myself sometimes, when I look back at what I have done. My beautiful daughter was 5 at the time when we started homeschooling. A typical first-born child, she knew her ABC's, numbers to 100, colors, shapes, and most nursery rhymes by the time she was 2. She could speak in full paragraphs that anyone could understand. She soaked in information like a sponge, and loved it. Why should teaching her to read be any different? Oh, naive fool that I was.

I took it upon myself to decide that she was going to learn the same way that I did. She was going to do what worked for me, whether or not she liked it. I used this curriculum myself, and thought that she would do best in it. No kindergarten for my child...she can read some already! Put her in the first grade level!! That's my little overachiever! Shoulda been a sign....

It took approximately 3 months before we experienced our first meltdown. I couldn't figure out why she couldn't do the work, and she couldn't explain it to me. I actually yelled at my delicate child when she couldn't remember the sounds different letter blends made, or if she couldn't read the word "mountain". Tears were daily, as well as arguments. (oh, my sweet child, even now, I ask you to forgive me).

When my very wise husband finally sat me down and told me in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to crush her anymore, and to let up on her, I listened. I put away the workbooks, pencils and schedules. I read to her. And enjoyed her. We also got her eyes checked and found that she needed glasses. Funny how I never thought that her complaining about not seeing the words was serious before.

My daughter learned how to read within 4 months of me "not schooling" her. As a matter of fact, she was reading chapter books by the time she was 6 years old. I wish I had known my first year that my children didn't have to learn like I did, or that they didn't need to be pushed to succeed. I gave her the tools (glasses, reading aloud, downtime) and she did the rest. If I could do it all over again, I would always reach for teaching my kids to "love to learn" vs. learning the books...


originally posted on Goshen Homeschooling Digest on March 21, 2008