LearnTogether-Kids Have Preferences Too

Homeschooling can be hard and stressful. It can be hard and stressful especially when you're constantly receiving push back from your child.

"Mom, I'm not ready to start my schoolwork" 

"Do I really have to do this?"

"This is boring!"

These are all things I would hear on not just a daily basis, but an hourly basis sometimes. Its hard to get your child motivate to do anything if they are not interested or ready. 

So, I started asking for feedback from my kid. Yep. I sat down and asked my child what I could do differently for her. She was only 5 but she made some really good points. 

It was at that point I realized, kids have preferences too. 

I know it sounds crazy. And I know you are thinking, duh. Of course they do. 

But, do we really understand? We adults, have our own way we do things at our job, in our daily life, etc. Why cant kids? I'm not saying we need to let them make all the rules but just hear me out....

Homeschooling is already hard. We have to protect our relationship with our kids at any cost. Putting extra strain on our kids during homeschool could hurt our mother/child relationship and also my child's relationship with school. 

So, I let her make some changes. For the sake of strengthening our relationship and to cultivate the love of learning for her. I want her to enjoy learning. Not think of learning as something she just has to do. 

She expressed that she would rather start school after lunch and school in the afternoon. 

She expressed she wasn't interested in some of the curriculum I bought.

She said she wanted to play more learning games. 

Easy fix. Did I have to change MY preferences? Yep. Did it create a little more work for me? Of course. Was it worth it? Totally. All of those complaints that I used to get, flew out the window. 

All of that to say, give a little when it comes to homeschool. Let your child take the lead in some of their learning. You do not have to let them run free and do whatever they want, but just get some feedback on what would make school more enjoyable for them. 

Kids are still human and they have preferences too. Sometimes, we need to listen to what they are saying and give a little.