Waiting

The hardest thing about homeschooling is the waiting and trusting. Trusting that your child does intrinsically want to learn. They will learn and it is ok to wait for it. This has been my biggest lesson this year.

We started off all engines blazing, everyone was keen Mr I was excited. He was soaking up the learning quicker than I could produce it. Then one engine blew and another, ending with us running on one spluttering small engine for some time. There was very little he would agree to do. He wouldn't read me a book, I couldn't find anything he would agree to read. So in any work he did agree to do I made him read the questions, any time he was faced with a word he wanted to know I made him try.

Finally a month ago after months of waiting. He picked up his early reader bible and read. He sat there and read, and he has read every day since. He started the year on level 5 readers we got him to level 8 before he refused to read and now he is on around level 16, which is around what is expected for end of year 1. I am really proud of him and I will be completely unhumble and say I am proud of me too.

This has been a hard year, but as I look back I see he has learnt everything he needed to and everything I wanted him to. I haven't had to sit there with a book and force info down his throat he has just learnt. As I sit here spending hours planning for next year I need to remember it is ok if we don't do even half of it, he will still learn, and hopefully BOS don't look too closely. I wish I didn't feel like I had big brother watching me.