“Pick up your shoes!”
“Clear the table!”
“You’ve left your coat on the couch.”
“Don’t leave a wet towel on your bedroom floor!”
Sound familiar? I sometimes feel like I am a repeating public announcement: “Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle until it comes to a complete stop” . . . “No smoking in the terminal”.
Homeschooling. Just the word conjures up images of books and desks and computer programs and work, work, work for Mom, doesn’t it, though?
But it has come to my awareness lately that “mothering” and “homeschooling” are synonyms. From the moment that tiny babe is laid in your arms, you have become the “responsible party.” And that responsibility is grave. You have the job, the creative work, the task of raising this child into an upright person before the Lord. You suddenly start a new thought process: worrying for/and about your child. You want them to be happy, healthy, cared for, loved, treated well, comfortable, intelligent . . . and the concerns go on.
Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Question:What would you do with this situation: The younger child (5) hears something once and never forgets it. He is progressing in phonics and reading 3 letter words. He is very ready to learn to read. The oldest child (6) is not ready. He has always been later to do things all the way back to feeding himself and potty training. He “wants” to read like the younger child, but is having tons of trouble just blending 2 letters. He knows all his letter sounds backward and forward, so to review those is not even really necessary. Do I just stop everything and try again in a few months. How would you explain this to him? I’ve tried explaining that reading is just a developmental stage like learning to walk, and when your ready it won’t be so hard . . . I’m afraid it makes him feel dumb. Any suggestions? [Read more…]
One day when Louisa was nearly 3 years old, I told her to shut the door and she answered, “In a minute!”. I wanted her to learn cheerful and prompt obedience. I tried to explain that to her, and I made sure she shut the door, but I wondered if she really understood that “in a minute” isn’t the right response. So, that night when I put her to bed, I made up a little story about a curly haired little girl named Priscilla who said, “in a minute” and what happened to her.
“Why do I have to do this English page, Mom?” Why do you teach your children Language Arts? What are you hoping to accomplish? What is the goal, the end of the road? It is so essential for me to keep that end-of-the-road milepost in constant remembrance! Without it, we quickly get side-tracked into reflexive […]
