Milestones

I started this school year with no motivation. I was really struggling as the end of last year was hard. David was struggling with basic addition & Jessica was struggling with phonics. Both had hit walls in their comprehension. I was so frustrated by May that I had kind of given up on both in these areas. I knew they could learn it. I just doubted I could teach them.

I think this is where having a teaching degree & knowing the public school scope & sequence has hurt me in teaching my kids. Both had reached the point we were told they should be able to do this work & were behind compared to public school.

Finally, in September we started school. We usually started in July, but none of us were ready for that. After a few weeks of frustration over math, something clicked in David's head & he started flying through it. Tomorrow he will finish his Math U See Alpha book! I'm so proud of him & his excitement to finish it & start Beta.

When we started phonics with Jessica this year, it just clicked. We started doing 4 lessons a day. She was so excited to read more & more words. Tomorrow, Jessica will finish her phonics book. I'm so proud of her. She was just beaming today when she read 2 syllable words like picnic & number.

I share this with you all not just because I'm proud of my kids. I am sharing it so you will know that sometimes kids don't follow the timetable public education has set up. Sometimes it takes them longer. But they will learn! God has made each child unique & when their brain is ready, they will amaze you with how fast they pick up what they were previously struggling with. So please don't let it get you or your kids down. Focus on something else for awhile & then come back occasionally to the problem area to see if they are ready for it.

Homeschooling is hard enough with all the pressures from the outside world. Don't put even more pressure on yourself. Remember why you are doing this! God created each child unique & just because some government says "this is where your child should be" doesn't mean that's where they should be! Work at your child's level! And remember 1 child may be a whiz at math & then the next may struggle. Don't compare them. Remind them they are unique & maybe point out other areas that the struggling child outshines his sibling.

I hope this helps someone as you walk this homeschool journey! God bless you all!