A good read

I often check one of my favorite websites daily; The Pioneer Woman.com. She posts new blogs or updates every few days on topics including her life on a ranch, photography, cooking, home and garden, and homeschooling. She is a homeschooling mother of 4, and although I'm quite sure I would never homeschool, some of the articles written are otherwise convincing. A new article posted today I find particularly interesting. It's about using the word TEACH as an acronym. Training, encouraging, assisting, creating, and honoring your children.

As I've been going through speech therapy with Caleb, I've found myself questioning 'the experts' sometimes. Are these standards we place on our children true and necessary? Or is every child different and unique? I understand there are "milestones" kids should be around at certain ages, but to me, I only get stressed out when I think about my child not hitting every single step in the correct time period. Here's a couple paragraphs from the blog;

"I cannot make my children learn when they are not yet ready to learn, but I can certainly assist them as they move along the path. Please understand I am not promoting laziness, but just because my children’s time-table doesn’t always match up with mine, or any national standard for that matter, does NOT mean they are being lazy. Sometimes it simply means they aren’t ready.

The amazing lesson I learned along the way is that when they are ready, if I have trained them (provided instruction), encouraged them (inspired courage and confidence), and am available to assist them (give support or aid), the day will come when they will leap over whatever hurdle that has held them up to date."

Sometimes as a parent, we're bombarded with so much information that we become impatient and worried about so many things. I know patience is not my strong suit, but in the case of children, and in particular, my Caleb, it's essential. Maybe if you have a few mintues you can read the whole article for yourself. Let me know what you think. Here's the link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/

"Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves."