Am I doing the right thing? Wibble wobble :(

[bubbleymummy]

DS1 would have been P1 this year so we've just finished our first year of HE. He's learned a lot, he's happy and content, I've made sure we've gone to lots of outside groups and met up with friends so he's socialising etc but part of me is just worrying that he's missing out on things. What if he's losing out on all the fun in these early years? What if he could be learning more? What if my disorganised attempts to educate him end up stopping him from achieving his full potential? What if he needs a more structured, formal environment? :(

I think we all get wibbley-wobbly from time to time.

One thing that really helped me was looking back from time to time. Earlier this week I cleared out my eldest's (who would just be finishing year 1) work cubby area and found some of his things from the beginning of the year. Looking at his abilities now to where he was really put my current worries into perspective. Also remember that more is not automatically better - there was a lot I learned at school that I've forgotten or had to relearn because they were wrong.

If you thinking getting a bit more organized would help him and/or you, maybe consider something like this at the top of the page. We have our own version and the ticky boxes help me feel we're getting things done and helps my son feel accomplished (and prevents the 'are we done yet' on his antsy days).

How old are your children Prince? Why did your daughter start school?

Thanks for the link NJK. I'm going to try to get myself more organised over the summer. I think part of the problem is a very demanding 2 yo who I'm hoping will become a bit less demanding and easier to involve in some activities over the next few months. At the moment I'm doing a bit too much damage control with him and only snatching time here and there for 1 to 1 activities with DS1.

Yes, younger kids certainly add to the chaos when HE. I have a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and an almost 2 year old (plus pregnancy) so the chaos is well known here.

I tend to do the things my eldest has the most difficulty doing (literacy) when the almost-2 year old is napping or on days when that's just not happening, I try to set up an activity for the younger two to do while I work with him (which mostly involve a lot of paper and coloured pencils/crayons, and snacks). I also alternate things that can include them to a level (reading out loud to them, watching the library's BSL DVDs) with ones that can't really include them like helping my son's reading (though he's gotten very good at reading out loud to the 4 year old, the 2 year old typically needs distraction...oh how handy crackers and sippy cups have been this year).

As the little ones get older, it does get easier in terms of damage control issues and they tend to want to join in more rather than pull you into what they want to do, so my 4 year old is quite happy to work alongside her big brother and be involved in those things at her level, while the almost 2 year old pushes her baby doll into my face for kisses. I try to view it as teaching everyone patience and try to enjoy it, but it does get very chaotic on some days, but it does get better.