It all started when Watson wanted to learn how to spell the word space. He's into all things space right now. Aliens, astronauts, space shuttles, and anything in between, the boy loves it. He will have a space-themed birthday party this year when he turns 5.
Watson asked his grandma how to spell space, so she told him and had him spell it with her. Okay, great! I thought he was ready to learn, so I grabbed some sight word flashcards, hoping I could get him interested in reading for a bit.
See, Watson gets angry when he doesn't know how to spell something. When captions go across the tv screen, he gets mad when I don't read them to him immediately. My son wants to learn, but when I try to take the opportunity to teach him, thinking he's fully ready, he shuts down, and I'm not sure why. He will start babbling over me and changing the subject. I don't understand what's going on in his little brain.
We were about 3 flashcards in, and he was doing really well. Then he got annoyed and started kicking and wiggling around. He instantly became disengaged. I insisted that he try another card. Then he confidently declared
"S. O. C. K... that spells POOP!"
He was done, and I knew it. I felt frustrated because I thought he wanted to learn how to spell. I thought I was doing the right thing by showing him some flashcards. Maybe it was the right thing. I mean, he did go through 3 whole cards before he started kicking his feet. I mean, he's only 4. These are the moments that fill me with doubt about homeschooling. Why can't he do a few cards with me?
Rather than fully accepting defeat, I googled a video on how to teach kids to read. Yep, I resorted to screens, and I won. We turned on Kids Academy, and he read 4 sentences and watched a reading lesson on YouTube. I'm okay with that. I don't care where he gets the information or how he learns as long as he does. After all, isn't that what this is all about? Don't I want my kids to find information in a way that works for them?
I still don't know what it means to un-school or any other teaching method. I am trying to figure out what to do when my kid doesn't want to learn. Let go and let him play with Legos? It's difficult to release the ways of traditional style of teaching that I grew up with, and I worry that he won't know how to read or write. I'm not too fond of the idea that we could be failing him. Right now, we are providing educational resources and watching what they gravitate towards naturally. Watson loves his screens but likes dressing up, puzzles, building robots, and dancing. He loves to make people laugh. So far, he's pretty well-rounded.
We will take it one day at a time as we wait and watch our children for directions.
Comments