When do you stop the creativity?

I am tired of nagging... tired of repeating myself over and over.  My children are supposed to be doing their school work.  Sure they have done some but we are not finished for the day and that bothers this OCD mommy.  However, my kids are in the dress-up box and pretending.  They are using their imaginations and not asking to have an electronic device turned on.  So what do I do?  I could sit here and tell them to stop having fun and get the school work done.  I know what will happen.  They will do as I say but the second they are done they will want to be fed something fun from me.  The juices that I want flowing and being used will stop dead in their tracks and they will want my help to start them up again.  So, I am choosing to shut up and let them have recess.

Most of the homeschooling books I have read tell how important it is to allow kids to explore the world through play.  I read that and say to myself "Yes!  This is why I homeschool!"  But then if I sit back and am honest with myself, I don't...  I require them to be working hard until all work is done.  I have a schedule that allows some free time but I never let them run with it because I want school done at a certain time of the day.  When, in fact, if I allow and hour of recess in there the kids will probably enjoy school more.  Why am I like this?   Well I have two trains of thought... The first is that I am OCD and want to be able to check off all the boxes for the day. The second is that since my children are homeschooled I feel like we are examined more closely.  We are held to a different standard because I have to prove to the world that while I don't have a degree in teaching, I am qualified to teach my children.  I am tired of people questioning my children in checkout lines, at doctors offices and every other place that we might end up while the world feels we are supposed to be "in school".  So I strive to have my children be so "above and beyond" what people would expect that there is no questioning that I am doing ok by my children.

But, is this really fair to them?  Should they be stuck in a harder school system because I feel like I have to prove to others something?  Should they lose some of the items that make it so that I wanted to homeschool them in the first place?  The answer is NO!  So, I am choosing right now to allow the mess in my house of forts they created to do their school work to remain while the dress-up box is being spread throughout the house and listen to them be some of the most creative creatures I have heard them be in a while because I am not hounding them to be little soldiers in the home school.  I am choosing to be a mom right now and not a drill sergeant.  I need to go clean something to take my mind off the fact that I am not checking boxes off in the list of curricula for the next hour...

Comments

  1. You aren't alone in this struggle!! Sadly, it gets worse as your oldest gets older but your youngest still needs to play. The constant battle of a homeschooling house ;)

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