Plenty of mistakes have been made, rivers of tears have been shed, but if I had a chance to turn back time and redo the first couple of years of homeschooling, would I?⠀
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I’m not so sure. Through all the trials and tribulations of homeschooling, figuring out what works for our family and admitting what doesn’t, we made so many wonderful memories.⠀
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If I just did everything right from the get go, made everything magical and fun, would we have found pride in overcoming our obstacles?⠀
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Probably not. My oldest went into 3rd grade barely reading at a 1st grade level. Those first two years of homeschooling I really pushed phonics and sight words on him to no avail. It wasn’t until I finally let go and just gave him a couple of “Dog Man” books to look at and read on his own was he able to push through whatever reading hurdles were in his way. ⠀
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He became obsessed and read those books over and over and over and over again. And then he wanted more. So we checked out the next couple of “Dog Man” books in the series, picked up other graphic novels, and I just let him at it. Except for handwriting, reading what he wanted became our Language Arts curriculum.⠀
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And even though I was deathly scared I wasn’t doing enough for him, it WAS enough. ⠀
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He ended the school year with a slew of chapter books under his belt and the utmost pride knowing his hard work allowed him to jump 4 grade levels in a matter of months.⠀
