This post will most likely be a tad bit controversial. I'm just gonna come out and say it. Sometimes there are bigger issues than academics that need addressing. If you can't get your child to sit for even brief periods or pay attention to anything you are doing then you have problems that academics aren't going to fix.
When we took Logan out of our local public school, he was stressed beyond belief. It wasn't until after we brought him home to learn that we learned why he was melting down every afternoon. It was taking everything he had to keep it together at school. The sensory load coupled with an academic load that clearly didn't fit him was all he could handle. I was stressed too trying to come up with ways to make it work. I was trying to fit a round peg in a square hole so to speak.
After we brought him home, we wisely listened to the advice or our
RDI consultant. She suggested we spend a few months "deschooling" him. In effect, we spent several months just hanging out with him getting him to trust us and enjoy our company. Once he realized that we were going at his pace, he was entirely more apt to do what we asked of him. Sure, we read a lot together. We colored a bit and did some great activities but nothing was required of him. Some days, we just played with baby Madison all day.
Our next step was to gradually add in the basics. Never making him do more than he could handle. We didn't push him out of his zone at all. It was all about making happy memories. I wanted to him to see that school was fun. You know what happened? He learned to trust me as his teacher. I learned his learning style and triggers. It made our homeschool day so much easier even when we added Princess Madison to the mix.
If you have a particular behavior or other issue that is hampering your day, I encourage you to stop academics. Correct the issue then pick it back up later. There is plenty of learning still happening in your day to day activities. There will be time later to catch up on formal academics. Take the time to make it work better for your child and for you. I promise you won't regret it.
Read original post
Recommend
Comments (4)
Is it controversial that academics need to take a back seat sometimes? I would have thought most people would agree with that. (Teacher speaking here.)
@TheFifth@xanga - teacher here too. and I also thought most people would agree.
It makes sense to me. You can't force academics on a child not ready to learn. You took the time to understand your son better and create a learning environment fit for his needs. All that matters is you got to a place where academics could start to resurface and formal learning could start to occur.
You know exactly what youre talking about, exactly where other people are coming from on this issue. Im glad that I had the fortune to stumble across your page. Its definitely an important issue that not enough people are talking about and Im glad that I got the chance to see all the angles.