Boy was I thankful to have found this article by Kathryn Stout this morning! Just yesterday morning I was having one of "those" homeschool mom moments...I was sitting with Lillie working on copywork and I came to a crossroad...ever been there?
At a spot where you're forced to make an immediate decision on the best course of action? Homeschooling and Parenting , in general, provide a boatload of those kinds of moments, don't they?
Lillie turns to me and says "I'm done."
Me: "Ummmm, you've only written two words, come on girly...you've GOT to finish the selection."
Lillie : (sighs in angst)
Well, she piddled and she scratched on through for the most part but she wasn't taking her time and wasn't really paying attention...her heart, obviously wasn't in this. So here was my "crossroads".
Let her do something else in hopes she'll come around to having a better lookout on the copywork assignment later...or make her go on and do it even if she's not "into" it?
Well, if I let her quit it and go onto something else, what if she doesn't want to do it later on? Am I not being counterproductive "forcing" her to "learn"? But if I let her have her way, isn't that spoiling her? How will she ever learn the important life lesson that life isn't always fun and that we don't always get to do what we want to all the time and that sometimes we HAVE to do things we don't like (like schoolwork)? What a massive tug -o-war in a matter of seconds...what did I choose?
I let her move onto math and secretly questioned whether that was the right call or not...it really bugged me. This isn't the first time this issue has come up and I almost always try to follow her interest, but I struggle so much with whether I'm doing right by her by allowing her to dictate more of her workload. In things like history and science...I'm totally for flying by the seat of my skirt. But the basics are that gray area that give me the most grief. It has always been my policy that we HAVE to at least do some reading , writing, and math everyday whether we like it or not. If all you have the energy to do are the basics then I'm fine with that. Afterall, I don't remember much history and science I learned in school as much as the facts I got from independent reading and studying. But the basics, well, they're those "HAVE TO's" we love so much.
But after reading this great article, I want to find Kathryn Stout and give her a big ole hug (except she'd probably have me arrested)...if you have EVER struggled with this same inner conflict...READ THE ARTICLE! DO IT WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT! LOL...

"Is It Bribery?" by Kathryn Stout

Have a Blessed Day!