Curriculum

For a while I've been stressing myself out thinking I needed to choose a curriculum right away. I've been thinking that what I'm doing isn't enough and negative thoughts along that line. I had a curriculum picked out and I've been looking around for a while to find a good used set. (I love to save a little money!) Then the other day I was exploring a website with a kindergarten readiness check list. I realized that while Kaydence doesn't have every thing on that list, she's got the majority of it already learned. We have been working through a learn to read program. (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons) I started getting really frustrated because she is a hard time putting the sounds together. I wasn't frustrated with her, I was frustrated because I didn't know how to explain it to her. She can easily identify the sounds and tells me each one, it's just hard for her to put them together. So after asking for some advice I decided that since she is only 4 there is no need to rush it. I decided to take a break for a while and pick it up again when she is ready. The very day I decided not to do it anymore she started asking me for reading lessons. Every day she asks all day if it's time for her reading lesson yet. This weekend I wasn't going to do them, (hey, it's the weekend!) but she was begging for it. So we sat down and worked on it, and then she asked for ANOTHER reading lesson. This time Daddy did it. I've been making an effort not to get frustrated with myself and to give her serious praise when she sounds out a word right. I mean like over the top cheering and high fives and gut squeezing hugs. I think that's what made the difference, she loves the praise. 

Anyways, I started to see that I don't need to push a full curriculum on her right now. She is learning at such a fast pace and what we do is very easy and fun for her. I wish someone had told me to take a breath and calm down. But since I didn't actually tell anyone how much I was stressing that would have been pretty hard to do. 

So I just wanted to write this in case someone else out there is stressing over all the curriculum options. It's easy to do. Being responsible for your child's education is a big deal. I for one am constantly worried that I'm messing it up. Take a breath and remember that it will be okay! Especially at this young age.