Homeschooling Journey, Part 2

I think the primary thing parents need to do when getting ready to homeschool their child(ren) is to give themselves permission to make mistakes. This probably sounds foolish, but hear me out. If you go into this (or any other endeavor) with the mindset that you will do it perfectly at the get go, you are (in my opinion) setting yourself up for failure. The best thing about making mistakes (or it has been for me) is the fact that you learn from those mistakes. If a certain curriculum doesn't work out, you learn to use another one or either modify what you are using.

A good example would be when I first started trying to teach my son how to read. We used "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons". He did not want to cooperate with me. I was going strictly by the recommendations of the authors of the book. Finally, I put the book aside for a few months (he was around three or four at the time). When we later picked the book up again, I decided to break the lessons down into smaller parts, so he wouldn't feel pressured to cover very much in a given day. Then, we began to make progress. But we had to learn to "tweak" the lessons to suit us, not the other way around.

Another great idea for homeschooling parents is to find your child's interest(s). My son has had a fascination with  space travel, robots, etc. When I became aware of this, I began to look for reading material geared toward these areas of interest. Although he is still one who would rather play than learn, he is more apt to sit down and read about  the adventures of a robot, than about other topics.

The most difficult thing we have had to deal with thus far, is the "dawdling" factor. He finds so many ways to make a simple lesson excruciatingly lengthy and nerve agitating (I think it is a gift!). Although we are still in the process of dealing with this problem, we have made some progress. He loves to play video games and also some computer games. So, he knows these are things he must "earn" by doing his lessons first. Occasionally, there will be the question, "Why do I have to earn computer time or video game time? _______ and_________ don't have to." Of course, that's when I remind him that I am not ________ and _________'s Mother.

An important thing to remember is to follow what works for your family. What was it Shakespeare said? "To thine ownself be true...."? Let that be your focus.