Sometimes it’s okay to be a QUITTER

Posted by Marsha | 0 comments

Is there a particular subject that you dread on a regular basis?  What about your child?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it said:  Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Well, I am here to tell you that is not always true!

Here we are halfway through our school year (well, almost halfway.. let’s say we are more at 3/8ths and leave it at that), and I am already completely unhappy!  Not with my kids (what a relief!) and not with our school schedule, but with our spelling and writing curriculum.

It is the death of me, y’all.  I can’t stand it, my kids can’t stand it, and this one particularly well-thought-of and recommended creative writing resource has been known to bring one of my children to tears.  It’s one thing if I am the one to bring my child to tears since I can at least soothe it with an apology, hug and maybe a cookie- but a book?  A piece of paper?  An assignment to do that to my boy?!  No way am I putting up with that!

So we QUIT. Walked out.  Said adios, ciao and vale!

We dropped those programs like a hot potato… even though we only did 5 weeks of work in them.  Even though I paid good money and bought them new, for crying out loud!  And even though I am a firm believer in finishing what you start.

Once I realized that this just wasn’t working for us, I gave myself permission to just stop right where we were.  The whole point of schooling of any kind is to learn.  The only thing we were learning was that our spelling was a bunch of busywork and that the creative writing was completely ruining an otherwise perfect school day.

Is there a particular subject that you dread on a regular basis?  What about your child? Reevaluate your day and your coursework.  You might find that there is something that is simply not compatible with your teaching style or your child’s learning style.  Or perhaps it’s just not getting the job done.  Why continue with a program that is supposed to teach your child something when there is zero improvement over the course of several months?  Or maybe there is some improvement but it is at the cost of tears, frustration, whining, and a completely negative view of learning– and that’s not counting how your child is feeling!

Ahhh… there is sweet freedom in quitting!  I’m not talking about quitting an entire subject like spelling or math, but having the freedom to find programs and books that DO work for your child and for you.   I challenge you to stop, take a step back, look at your school day with fresh eyes and be a quitter if you have to!

Marsha is proud to be the Mrs. to David for over 12 years. They have been homeschooling their rowdy boys in the Lone Star State for the past 5 years. When she’s feeling like a slacker, you can find her drinking coffee, reading a book and writing at her blog — and sometimes all at the same time! You can find Marsha at Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings.