A mother of three children not only mastered the 1st grade with her son, but also published a book to help other parents.
Parents of first graders know how difficult it is for a child to get used to school. But even mothers who have chosen family education for their child will soon find out that, contrary to expectations, “walls at home” do not help immediately. Evgenia Justus-Valinurova decided that her three children would study at home. She thought about this in Bali: there her kids went to the Green School for two years – a unique educational institution where classes are held in nature and in bamboo huts. Ramil Khan, the eldest son of Evgenia, these days begins to study the second grade program. The young mother told about the year of the first-grader homeschooler in her book “First Steps to Family Education”.
“Ramil Khan and I had very difficult first 2 months. Sometimes I could not stand it: I shouted at him, cursed. But I am a living person, and this was a completely new experience for me – teaching. And it was unusual for him to overcome himself, write, read when he wanted to play. Yes, and it’s also a shame: he is studying, and the younger ones play at this time, frolic in the same room. All this was superimposed on a change of place of residence, climate, environment. “Sausage” and him, and me in full!
First advice: in periods when everything is annoying and infuriating, just turn on cartoons for your child or give him the opportunity to do what he wants. And do the same for yourself. Give up. Relax. Let the whole world wait.
My conscience is beginning to torment me that a child has been watching cartoons for so long, playing with an iPad. You have to agree with yourself that this is for the good. Better than if he runs into an angry mom or “stupid” an hour on a task. Moreover, my children mainly watch cartoons in development or in English, so this is useful. I promise myself that tomorrow morning we will sit down with him and in 5 minutes we will learn to solve such problems. Difficult, but it turns out.
Second advice: if you have already abandoned the rigid school system, then use the advantages of the home one. Flexible schedule, for example.
The first subject that we began to study with Ramil Khan was “The World Around”. Thanks to the interest that arose, he gradually became involved in studies in other subjects. If I focused on writing or reading right away, I would discourage him from learning.
Advice three: think about what subject your child would start learning with great pleasure, and start with it!
Ramil Khan at the Archeology Museum in Athens
I confess that sometimes I still talked about the very janitor who you can become if you don’t learn to read and write. And I don’t think it’s terrible. It’s true – you can become a janitor. And, by the way, the son thought about it and then began to study. He is definitely reluctant to remove snow and debris.
Fourth tip: you can read smart books and learn from them how you can’t. But only you know what will work for your child. The main thing is that you are sure that your teaching method will not harm him.
Each child has his own reason why he does not want to learn. Maybe at some point he was pressed hard, and this is a protest against violence. Perhaps he lacks parental attention, and the child decided to get it in this way: I will be harmful and bad – my mother will talk to me more often. Perhaps the child is once again checking the boundaries of permissibility. Children strive to control their parents, as we try to persistently influence them.
Fifth advice: if your authority with a child tends to zero and he even puts a cat a step higher than you, then there is work to be done to increase his trust in you. It will take more than one day and will not magically appear on September 1st.
What if you want to quit everything and go back to school?
All homeschoolers have these periods. You are not alone, and if this happened to you for the first time, then I can reassure you – definitely not for the last. It also happens in everything else, right? Sometimes you want to quit your job, although it is your favorite and brings money. Sometimes you want to quit healthy eating and gorge on cakes and pastries. Sometimes you don’t want to go to do yoga, although you know that it brings peace and good health.
To be sure that you are doing everything right and this is just such a period, you need to clearly know why you need family education, if it does not contradict your (and your child’s) values and goals. If there is no disagreement here, then just live, keep learning, and everything will work out! “