My 5 year old son has only homeschooled for 6 full days.  We went to visit my parents today and when my mother asked him how he liked school he said "I don't really like it, it's boring.  But don't tell Mommy because it will hurt her feelings". When my mother told me this I didn't know whether to cry out of happiness that my son is such a caring and empathetic little person that he wants to protect my feelings or cry out of frustration that the very thing I wanted to avoid is happening.  My goal is for my son to love learning and enjoy being homeschooled. It is absolutely crushing that he finds it boring.  I know I should not take it so personally.  He is just adjusting to a new schedule. He used to schedule his day however he wished, now he needs to sit down and do the work I have planned for him to do when he would much rather be doing his own thing.   I need to find a way to make the work more appealing to him.  I know eventually even homeschooled children may dread doing their work, but this should not be happening in Kindergarten!

So, now my goal is to try to figure out how to tailor the material we are learning to his interests.  He likes using the computer so perhaps we will do more of his reading and math lessons there.  We are Charlotte Mason type homeschoolers, so her idea of living books is working so far so I should be glad about that at least. I need to eliminate the things he doesn't enjoy, like the phonics songs and coloring pages.  It is difficult because my 3 year old enjoys these activities and I felt doing it all together would save me time.  But apparently I am going  to have to do Kindergarten and Preschool somewhat separate in order to accommodate both of my son's interests and learning styles.

Tomorrow is a new day and we'll be doing school outside before we go on our Nature Walk.  My son will enjoy this, though I am sure he'll ask me more than once if we're almost finished with our lessons so that he can go exploring.  I am thankful that we are beginning homeschooling with Kindergarten rather than an upper grade.  At least I am starting with a "grade" that doesn't require so much work and can be done in a fairly short period of time.  Hopefully he will adjust to our new life and schedule before we need to move on to the real academics. I am looking forward to the day when he no longer feels learning is boring and a chore, but something he looks forward to each day.  I think once I get a real hold on his learning style this will occur naturally.  I'd appreciate your prayers!