Reading! Actually I would not mind teaching reading to normal children. Teaching reading to dyslexic children is slow and exhausting and I probably have many years of it ahead of me (two with dyslexia, 3 more coming up with a 50% chance of having it).
I love teaching phonics and reading. I love doing memory recitation s with my kids. I look forward to history and the narrations. For some reason, I cannot stand teaching science. we have tried apologia more than once and it has never worked out. My 6 yr old and I are enjoying the simplicity of outdoor secrets but I just cannot seem to get around to it as often as wed line to.
Mine will be science when we get to icky stuff like dissection. I hated that in school. Fortunately, my homeschooling sister was a science major and I hope to talk her into doing that part of science with the children when we get there. 🙂
There have been frustrating times during math and reading, but we seem to get through the rough spots in a reasonable length of time.
After the meltdowns and brawls we have had during math lessons you would think I would hate to teach math, but persistence, changing our pace, and recently implementing the Feingold Diet have made math almost a joy now. Science is the subject I would love to love. But those experiments… I want it to be hands on, but the prep time all while wondering if the experiment is going to work is what gets me. If I know the experiment is going to work and produce awe and a passion for science I am all in, but the concern that the result is going to lack amazement makes me shy away from the time investment. I am working to get over this by doing some basic food science this next term. Making our own natural food colourings is on the agenda.
While I understand wanting science experiments to work according to plan, do not overlook the learning that can take place when an experiment fails. The critical thinking that occurs to figure out why an experiment failed is sometimes more valuable than the ah factor of an experiment that succeeds. Being able to problem solve is a valuable skill!
I don’t know if I would say hate, but my biggest challenge is writing. I have 2 kids who love to write, but helping them improve is giving me headaches. They want to write better, but don’t want any advice. They both are intent on writing novels, actually fantasy series, and so they just have these long stories that never seem to end. So it’s hard to do any teaching about structure or editing. Not to mention that the writing is tedious, which is to be expected at age 8 and 10, but still. I describe my daughter’s book as run-on dialogue and my son’s as a run-on adventure. Seriously, the kid has his main character survive an earthquake, race a spaceship, get abducted by aliens, fight a fire and got lost in a tunnel, all in the first 2 pages.
Sigh. I know there are much bigger problems in life than kids who like to write, but that’s the subject that drives me crazy.
That’s funny, jawgee. My dd, now 15, has been writing her dystopian novel for at least 4-5 years, now! She has so many notebooks, it’s ridiculous.
I’m a natural writer, but have struggled to implement the teaching of it, so I’ve lessoned my stress level and outsourced to The Inspired Scholar this year for her, and my son, to take Write shop 1 & 2 course. He already took The Elegant Essay.
I’m actually going to take the WttW course for myself at my own pace starting in Jan., and then teach them.
<span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>After that, I think she’ll enjoy the One Year Adventure Novel, as an elective, perhaps?</span>