Dear Mom,

Your situation is quite a bit like my own with two of my girls. The older girl having challenges with her reading and the younger one with her math. For a while it was possible to keep the two of them together and allow each to complete the same lessons in their own time and through their own method. However as the stronger of the two in reading really started to enjoy reading (owing to her comprehension) she became very restless with the slower progress of the daughter who struggled. In the same respect because it was the older of the two who struggled with reading, there slowly began to creep into her spirit a feeling of being unable. This would never do in our homeschool. I decided it was time to separate them for the core subjects and bring them together for non-core subjects. I made that transition when they were in 3rd and 4th grade respectively. In retrospect I probably should have done it sooner.

The younger girl still struggles with math but not to the degree that she did when she was younger. Amazingly enough the older daughter who seemed to do well in math is now able to help the younger sister with her math lessons. I believe that her self esteem was lifted when she no longer struggled in front of the younger sister while she was reading. They are in grades 8 and 11 now. The older daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was in the 3rd grade and certainly this has been a challenge for her to overcome. She does very well with the challenge but will always probably find reading certain materials to be difficult.

By focusing upon core subjects with each girl I have been able to give attention to those areas that are in need. The worth of this is as follows. The core subjects are foundational subjects. In other words reading comprehension must be mastered so that a student is able to progress to the next level of learning. A student still reading on a 2nd grade level is certainly going to find the increased reading of 3rd grade to be a challenge. Therefore it makes good sense to concentrate our one on one time with a child in the core subjects. Because subjects like history and science are not core subjects at the elementary level it is only reasonable to combine these subjects when possible. In so doing you are able to have the wonderful give and take of the interaction between the children as they learn about a topic together. For this reason I do not give homework in non-core subjects preferring instead to concentrate my tutorial on the core subjects which will bear the greater burden for knowledge later in their education.

For example take history. If two children who are very close in age are working together on the Civil War then it is fun for them to research together, build models together, etc. and explore all aspects of this topic. There is great energy in the give and take of a type of classroom environment. They can ask questions and bounce ideas off one another. History is one of those subjects that lends itself so well to this type of method. Science is another subject that is easily combined. When we do this, we may have one of the children actually build the model of the solar system while another does the research on the computer, etc. The children have found this to be great fun.

Approaching homeschooling in this manner makes it far easier for mom to concentrate on those areas that are indeed fundamental and most important.

As far as the dawdling. Remember that this is the nature of children. Children do not come to the schooling experience like very short college students. They must learn to budget their time, work efficiently, concentrate on their studies, and to overcome the temptation to do work in a sloppy manner. Teaching them to deal with these normal yet real stumbling blocks to lifelong learning is the most important lesson of any school experience. Sometimes it is necessary to speak with your students frankly and find out if there is something bothering them and preventing them from working in an industrious manner. Maybe the work is boring, tedious or just the opposite. It could be that the work presents an overwhelming challenge. Teachers in the school system face these same challenges in their classrooms. Remember that teaching children to be independent learners is the greatest gift we can give them. I have found that if I change my daily routine in the approach of our studies this spices up the day just enough to make the doldrums of school more interesting. Though I am a creature of habit and prefer not to have my routine interrupted my children do not necessarily feel this way. For example, we used to have our morning exercise at the gym and then come home and get straight to school. The girls were getting bored with this routine and now they prefer to rise early, do school right off the start and then go to the gym in the evening. The change in routine has brought about a positive result. I noticed that we were dragging through our day but now it seems that they are off to a better start and finishing up earlier. Who knows I may need to change it up again before the school year ends.

Keep up the good work. You are experiencing the normal ups and downs of teaching. This is to be expected and worthy for its own challenge. Each time we face a challenge in our homeschool as teachers we are discovering what works and what does not. This serves to help us later on. God is good and He is teaching us constantly. Each lesson serves to prepare us for the days ahead.

Let us pray together a Memorare for all those children who find reading a challenge. Understanding that reading is the most important skill that a person can master let us offer up our prayers for those children that do not have the care and devotion of a loving parent who is willing to take the time to read to them and help them each step of the way. Let us offer up our prayers for those adults that are unable to read effectively and in such a way as to better themselves and open doors of opportunity. For these things we pray. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn