Learning to Read

He was certainly an energetic boy. As he zoomed past his mother and me, I realized this fellow now registered for home education through us was not ready for formal education.

I asked his mother if she thought he was ready and her answer somewhat baffled me. She did not think the lad was ready but she was convinced she should proceed with “schooling” anyway. When I asked her to explain, she said the authorities expected a child to start formal training by age six.

“What authorities?” I asked. She named government and schools. I explained to the mother that since the government had not given birth to her child, she and her husband had greater authority than the government. I further explained that I was the representative of the school and that I was fine with leaving things until the child demonstrated proper readiness.

Although the mother had her reservations, she decided to follow my suggestion not to abuse this young fellow by making him do things he was not ready for. When I returned the following spring, I was very pleased to hear there had been no “schooling” done since my last visit. I applauded the mother’s decision and encouraged her to continue allowing things to happen naturally. She did just that.

All summer and fall there was no formal training. The following spring found the boy still playing and still not interested in much else. The third year was a repeat of unschooling. When I returned in the fall of the fourth year, the boy was still not reading and had little interest in any other subject despite being nearly eleven years old. By now mom was getting nervous, but I assured her she was doing the right thing and that when her son was ready, she would see serious progress.

When I returned the spring of the fourth year, I was stunned to see the young fellow lying on the couch reading Lord Of The Rings! When I asked what was going on, the mother was confused until she realized it had only been a few months since the boy had asked her to teach him to read. Three months later he was constantly immersed in books and serious ones at that!

The moral of this story is very simple. Force children to do what they are not ready to do and you will develop children with a negative attitude about academic learning. Wait until they are ready and they will not only quickly learn, they will excel.