I don't think we will be home schooling in this home.

I decided long ago that home schooling is probably not for me and my kids. I don't have anything against home schooling. In fact, I have a lot of admiration and respect for home schoolers.

Unfortunately, whenever I try to teach my kids anything, they resist. It's almost as if they will do anything in their power not to learn what I am trying to teach them.

So I have become a "stealth teacher". If there is something I want them to learn or to know, I casually mention it, tell them something about it and then leave it at that.

For instance, I am trying to teach Peter to count to 100. I have offered to give him $1 when he makes it all the way without any help from me. (I'm sure bribery is not a Charlotte Mason approved technique, but money always talks in our house.)

And he's doing pretty well, except that he wants to get to 100 and that 1 dollar bill so badly that he will count from 1-29 and then will scream out "Ninety?" and then I will help him to remember what comes after 29 and he will count from 29-39 and scream, "Ninety?".

You get the gist.

But he's getting there. He understands the concept and he is starting to remember the numbers so he will be there before too long. It would be so much easier though if I could just sit down with him at the table and teach him about the "tens". If I try to get him to sit at the table to learn anything, I am met with a lot of resistance.

The only time I can teach him anything is if we are in the car. If he is strapped into his car seat, he will listen to me briefly as I try to explain something to him. But I only have about 1 minute before he becomes completely bored with me and asks me to turn up the music. So whatever I am trying to explain has to be quick.

Sarah is much like her brother. She doesn't want to learn anything from her silly ole mother so I have to use my stealth teacher mode on her as well. For instance, I would like her to know how to write her name. But every time I try to sit down with her to go over the letters in her name she tells me to go away.

So after she began making scribblings that looked like her attempt at letters, I wrote her name down on a piece of paper and said, "This is your name. See if you can write it."

And then I walked away as instructed

We have done this a couple of times now and here is what she produced yesterday...

Sarah has never really liked her name (that's a whole post for a different day) and has decided to change it. She will know be known only by this tracing of her hand and these letters. So from now on please only refer to her as the symbol above.

And if you are speaking about her or to her, please refer to her as "The Preschooler Formerly Known As Sarah".