Saturday night I had an interesting conversation with a friend. Her son is close in age to Peanut (2 1/2) and she was sharing how another boy about their age knows all of his letters. She felt like a bad mom because her son only knows his colors and some shapes.
But then she said (half serious), “Whether he can count, read, is potty trained, or can speak in a different language at age 3, it really doesn’t have any effect on whether he will have a job as an adult.”
My friend’s comment has stuck with me all night. I find myself planning my children’s future because of when they walked, talked, learning to count, or could write their name. But yet, I am reminded that every child develops at a different rate and has different strengths. If you follow this blog, you know that we have a child with multiple learning disabilities and another child who is smart beyond his years. Same family. Same opportunities.
I am also reminded that there is more to training than the 3 R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic). God has called me to teach my children about His love for them and how they are to love Him.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when
you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. ~~Deut 6:4-9
ABCJLM Family, as you begin this preschool journey remember that every child is a gift from God. And God made every child unique with special gifts and talents that He desires that child to have, to further His kingdom.
The ABCJLM Curriculum is a guide to help every child reach his or her full potential. To give them a solid foundation in God’s love for them and the world around them. Not so that we can tell everyone how smart he or she is. But so the child will be prepared for whatever God calls him or her to be.
Update: After reading this post, Diane shared this thought on the ABCJLM Facebook Group.
I have been teaching for 30 years, and in all those years, there is ONE seminar/speech I sat through that I remember constantly. The woman who spoke told us these words, and they have always stuck with me: “No child dropped out of college freshman year because they didn’t know how to read at the age of four. They drop out because they don’t have the proper social skills that are necessary. … Childhood is a journey, not a race.“
So as we teach the children in our lives, we are reminded that training involves the body (gross and fine motor skills), the mind (academic concepts), and the spirit (the Bible).
Welcome to the journey.
