Impossible Standards

When he wasn’t catching on as fast as I thought he should, I began to turn everything we did into a learning experience. I talked incessantly. I explained everything we did. While that in itself may not be such a bad thing, I finally started annoying myself. I felt like a big mouth that never stopped talking. One day I was finally exhausted and so I stopped over-explaining the world to him. I did slip up every now and then, but I quickly caught myself and tried to relax. Months went by and my son would say a new word or master a new skill and it excited me. He always had the uncanny way of showing me his new skills when I least expected it.

In the past month, we have had a real boom in language. My son can now identify his colors, partially sing his ABC’s, and count to 10. He will be three in 6 days. I’m pretty sure he’s right on target, and while being able to recite these things is not the end all and be all to his learning, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t exciting. I’m also well aware that his developmental milestones are not mine alone to take credit for. He learns from the world around him, his grandparents, his friends, and countless others. Everyday he is taking in new information and processing it. I think I’m able to enjoy this so much more because it’s not a forced expectation on my part.

If you are homeschooling a preschooler, my hope for you is that you can approach homeschooling in a more relaxed manner than I first did. I hope you won’t compare your child to others. I hope you can drink in every last drop of precious time you spend homeschooling your preschooler. As I sit here planning a third birthday party, it reminds me all too well of just how fast it all goes.

Mandy is a preschool homeschooling mom to her two year old son. In her column “Knee High Homeschoolers,” she writes about the joys of homeschooling a preschooler and shares helpful links and practical information gained from experience. Visit her blog, Inching Along.