Friday, September 16, 2011

Scaling Back and Taking It Slow

"Wondering if I'm the only mom who starts 

#homeschool assuming that my son is a genius and a 

week into it I realize he's just a 4 year old"


I tweeted and posted this on Facebook this week and apparently I'm not alone.  Starting homeschool is like getting to know your children all over again.  Before I started I looked at Pre-K curriculums and thought they looked entirely to simple for Grande.  After all, he can name just about any dinosaur you put in front of him, tell me the definition of the name, and whether it ate meat or plants!  He recites 8 Bible verses by memory each night before going to sleep!  Genius right?

I thought he'd catch on to letters, reading, and writing right away.  But after a week of showing him the letter A, tracing the letter A, discussing what words begin with the letter A, etc I showed him the letter A asked what it was and this was his answer.  "S says zzzzzz."

And he cried when he just couldn't write an A on his own.  This is not what I envisioned.  So we're scaling back, and we're going to start taking it slow.  One letter per week has been changed to one letter every two weeks.  We're going to do more of what he loves and sprinkle reading and writing in in short segments.  More science.  More social studies.  More calendar time.  More fun.  Less stress.

It is Pre-K after all.  And as a good friend has said on multiple occasions, I really don't mind if my 4 year old is reading on a 2nd grade level or not.  I'd rather him be a happy 4 year old.


1 comment:

  1. Been there LOL When they move on you going to feel good what they learn. I am still get a smile when my 10 yo do something new in school. Have a good weekend. Love your blog.

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