Dear Mom,

Your letter was so sweet. It is obvious that you have a keen interest in homeschooling and in particularly the success of your dear daughter. This is lovely and will ensure that your little girl finds learning to be an exciting challenge all her life. When parents are involved in the education of their children the single most important ingredient for success is in place.

Remember that a 6 year old is a very young learner. They have all the time in the world (as they see it) to sit at a desk or table and do assignments. Their hearts and minds are focused on many things. Their imaginations are active and their bodies are eager to explore the world around them. When introduced to a new challenge children of this age are all about mastery of the challenge. Once this is accomplished they are quickly bored with the challenge as it does not pose the stimulation it once did.

Think back for a moment to the time your little girl was learning to walk. Once she learned to scoot along on the floor on hands and knees she was not satisfied until she was struggling to overcome the next challenge, pulling up on the furniture. Don't you find it amazing that children just have a keen sense about always going to the next level? I know that I am fascinated by this. I watch my teenaged daughters and with interest see how they challenge themselves continually. No they are not begging for harder math homework but for more challenges with regard to driving the family car. heehee

My suggestion would be to begin today to discover what challenge your little girl needs in order to find her work stimulating. This is not to imply that you should change curriculum, etc. No, I rarely believe that the curriculum is the source of the trouble unless the curriculum is tedious and didactic in content. I am suggesting that your little girl may need to change up her routine or the method she is homeschooled. For example, perhaps she would like to go to the library for a portion of each day and do school work while at the library. Suggest that to her. You could suggest that she sit at a table (like a big girl) and work on some school work independently while you browse for books with her younger brother. Purchase a back pack just for the purpose. It may make a nice St. Valentine's Day gift. Consider purchasing a bulletin board that you can hang up in the kitchen so you can display her finest work. Reserve this privilege for that work which she does independently. Stickers and rewards are always a welcome surprise. At any rate, talk with her and invite her input into the solution.

Teachers the world over find the time between Christmas and spring to be the most challenging with regards to performance of their students. My daughter teaches first grade and she laments that if she had her way she would move some of the celebrations to this 'doldrum' time. She thinks that there should be fewer celebrations before December and more after when children are naturally getting bored with the routine of school, kept indoors due to weather, and seem to lazily drift off to daydreaming at the first opportunity.

Sometimes and with some subjects it is possible to set certain disciplines aside. History is a good choice. If she has been reading the text, etc. maybe it would be ok if you read it aloud to her and asked her to draw a picture about what you just read. Children love to depict events in pictures. I wouldn't take a million dollars for one such picture that one of my daughters drew when she was 6 years old. I had just finished teaching about Adam and Eve being sent from the Garden of Eden. Her picture showed Eve complete with earrings, an evening gown and a purse (she had a huge frown on her face however) while Adam was dressed in a fig leaf. The caption read 'Adam and Bean Have to Leave Home'. Though I read about Adam and Eve, her little ears heard Adam and Bean. Priceless.

An empty wall in your home is a treasure. Fill it with school projects and work. Think like a trained teacher with regards to stimulation of the classroom. Remember that a trained teacher has to be trained to have imagination and a heart for children or at least how to channel her imagination and desire to best suit the needs of her students. You are their mom and in that you have an advantage. You do not have to think about a classroom of students with many different needs but only to focus on your little girl and her needs. Think about ways to spotlight the efforts of your precious little student.

I admire you very much. What a loving and patient mom you are for your children. I especially admired your choice to teach poetry to your little girl. Wonderful. I teach puppetry to small children and we often use our own handmade puppets to act out poems we read and memorize. It is easier to memorize a poem when one is acting through the efforts of a puppet. Keep up the good work that you are doing. This is the winter and it is certainly a temptation to fall into the doldrums of study. Pray for inspiration from the Holy Spirit. You will be empowered through the efforts of the tender Jesus who wants to help you master this challenge.

Let us pray together a Hail Mary and offer our prayers for all those children that find that their little spirits are overwhelmed with adult anxieties. Lord, we ask that You guard and protect the efforts of parents so that they may understand that childhood is a time of innocence and purity. In joy is found inspiration. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn