Do you ever feel like you aren’t making any progress? It has definitely crossed my mind more than a few times lately.

I often wonder – if my children were at school, would they have progressed successfully, or been left behind? This is not something I can answer with any certainty. It is quite possible that a good teacher and the discipline of a classroom may have brought Big Sister successfully through her current math troubles with less frustration. Perhaps my kindergartener would be able to read.

We’ve resorted to taking baby steps and even going backwards these days. I’ve been finding far too many math errors in our daily work to justify going on to the next lesson. We’ve put our math curriculum on hold and taken a giant step backwards instead of carrying on. We have been repeating the same practice lessons over and over again. How long do you hold a child back without progress before letting them move forward and hoping it irons itself out in the end? I don’t know, but I am thankful that I’ve been by her side noticing her struggles and trying to find ways to work through them with her.

Little Sister and I have been taking baby steps in phonics – tiny, 5 minute lessons. Progress is slow or none at all, but still we carry on. I know many who would say to drop it and pick it up “when she is ready”, and as much as I agree that you can’t teach a child a skill if he isn’t developmentally ready for it, I reject the notion that every time a child protests, cries or is unsuccessful it is because they aren’t ready. I have a child that will exhibit “signs of unreadiness” over the suggestion that she wear socks, pick up her toys, or brush her teeth. We will carry on happily or under protest, but carry on we shall.

Slow and steady wins the race, or so the saying goes!

What do you do when your child’s learning seems to be at a standstill or they are struggling? Do you ramp up your instruction or take a step back?

Classically Homeschooling

Pin It on Pinterest