Learning Curve

I have a severe dislike for Valentines. Not Valentines Day, but actual Valentines. More specifically, I detest helping Tyson prepare Valentines for his preschool class. All he has to do is write his name on 15 pre-made Spiderman cards from the grocery store.

Easy, right?

Last year I sat him down the day before his Valentines Party. I gave him a pencil and instructed him to write his name, in his very best handwriting, on each of the cards. The result was me, red faced, doing my best not to scream and Tyson HATING to write his own name. That was the first time I realized that I make a HORRIBLE teacher.

Truly horrible.

I was shocked by this realization. I am a good student, I am a pretty good mom, and an above average primary teacher. I never would have guessed at how badly I would tank as an academic instructor for my own child.

Over the summer I attempted to teach Tyson how to read. I had a book,

"Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons."

We made it to lesson 44 when I realized the damage it was doing to our relationship. I just knew if we continued Tyson was going to HATE reading and he wasn't going to like me very much.

So we quit.

I may be a bad teacher, but I do learn from my own mistakes. This year I pulled out Tyson's valentines several days in advance. I had him practice writing his name a couple times before he started on the actual cards. Then I walked away. I let him do it by himself without me hanging over his shoulder. After four cards his attention span was gone for the day. I inspected his work (which was very good) and put the cards away until the next day. He has done a few cards each day by himself. They will be done in time, and no one was injured in the process.

Bribing him with candy didn't hurt either.