One Motivated Kindergartner!

Since Faith went to public school for kindergarten and first grade Kylee was my first at home kindergarten experience. Looking back I don't think I did such a great job.

Unfortunately, since she got me in my first year I think I felt I had something to prove.I was going to home school my kids better than any one had ever done it!

I didn't get it. I had completely missed the point of schooling them at home.

But, on my behalf there was, and always is, a lot of pressure on the home school parent to make sure your kids look like they are keeping up with the school kids. I was crazy with poor little Kylee. She was going to learn to read and she was going to do it by Christmas. This poor little kid was NOT ready to learn to read. She really had no interest and looking back I don't think she was mature enough to start the process. I screwed up. And sometimes I think back and wonder how things could have been different if I had just let her play and worried about her learning her letters and numbers and sounds until she was ready.

Well, she did learn to read but didn't learn to love it. I think she is getting to learn to enjoy it but it has taken a long time.

So, I would like to think I learned my lesson. when Seth came up to being close to kindergarten age I decided I was not going to push him. If he wanted to play for a couple of years and start reading and math when he was 7 or 8 I was really okay with that. I totally laid off of him. And when he wanted to started kindergarten at the age of 4 3/4, daily I would just ask him what he wanted to do. He would play and listen to the other kids and do school pages occasionally and when he got bored of us he would go play with his little brother. He was reading great by Christmas, right after he turned five. Loves math, loves to read and write.

So, I thought i had found the key!! I was so happy to think that all you have to do is....well nothing and kindergarten was a snap! Then came Joshi. He just started kindergarten this last week. I really thought we would try the Seth method of kindergarten with him, but he is driving me crazy!!! He doesn't operate the way Seth does. He really wants to be involved with what is going on and he wants to be taught! He would have loved the Kylee kindergarten experience. So I am trying very hard to balance something out for him.

All this said it just hit me in the face what I say all the time to parents of school kids, all kids are different. They learn at different rates and with different techniques and you can't cookie cutter the learning experience and expect them to do well. It is just going to take some work on my part to learn Joshi's style and create something for him that is unique and fits his personality.

Kristen