This is, originally, intended to be two posts, I've combined them into one, as they are both related to the perception held by many people that children like ours are made due to parental "pushing" and my frustration with the pervasiveness of this line of thought.

Part A:

This is a mini-vent that I am sure most of you will be able to relate to.

If I hear any more direct or implied comments re: stop pushing, I am going to bite my tongue off to keep from screaming. Seriously, I don't push. I follow. Heck some days I am dragged along and others I am running like a maniac to keep up. Pushing? No way!

I want to say to those people: "Read my lips: It's too much work! Really!"

Yes, I have tried to explain that I am simply following my child's interest and presenting things that are within her level of ability and that yes I do provide challenge, but within her realm of capability, etc. but that those things aren't pushing. I have enough to do without "pushing".

Pushing, ha! It's almost laughable. End rant.

Part B:

I must confess!

Part of my vent stemmed not only from the comments I encounter from people in the real world, but also from things I have read in different venues. Specifically, we home school and have always (and always will) consider ourselves "life learners". As such we have been very unschooly in our approach to education. My children, however, have shown a desire for more structure - beyond our usual scheduling of events and activities; so after much research and contemplation, I've started with the Charlotte Mason methodology. It's working really well for us and is a nice blend of very short "lessons" (I'm still getting used to the idea of lessons, thus the use of quotations, but am finding that I enjoy it and my children do, too. They are quite engaged.)

Ah, but my dilemma/frustration/anxiety/whathaveyou comes from things like the FAQ page on Ambleside. There's a question re: when should a child start and addresses "advanced" kids that are younger than the recommended age of six. The answer from the FAQ page is, basically, "'[W]hile it may look good to onlookers' don't start a child before then". The "may look good to onlookers" part is what irks me! The implication that a person who starts a child on the program before age six is doing it for the benefit of "onlookers" sparks my ire. It makes me feel as thought I am being a pushy parent, when I know full well that that isn't the case - not even close - "onlookers" don't even factor into my reason for starting. Admittedly though, other people and their comments and reactions *are* a reason why I have dragged my feet and am always wary of sharing things that my children know/do (when it's appropriate to the conversation). So since we are starting at age 4.5 with my eldest (and my youngest age 3 participates whenever/however he chooses), I have this feeling that I am doing something *wrong*. Still, I'm breaking the rules and in my local homeschool group, from the moms that use CM, I keep hearing "Why rush? Your kids are little; you have time."

Many of the regular group members have commented on my DD's precociousness in various ways and have seen bits and pieces of her intellectual ability. I think some of them think it's *me* doing it to my DD and don't really believe that I don't "do" anything to her - in fact, I firmly believe that education is not something that is "done" to a person; so the idea of pushing education into a person's mind is antithesis to my convictions re: learning and education.

Add to this that we have already read most of the books in the CM Year 1 booklist, *last year*, for no other reason than my kids were interested in the books - purely coincidental. We are starting CM at Year 1, which means we will be repeating some of the same books. I could substitute, but I feel some of the books are worth repeating and everyone enjoyed them so much. I want to be able to step fully over the line and say, "Yes, we are in Year 1 of Charlotte Mason. Yes, my eldest is 4.5. Yes, I'm aware that CM is geared to start at age 6 or later. No, I am not being pushy - my child is ready and has been for sometime. In fact, I should have done this or something similar last year, but dragged my feet" (or something similar).

Really, I just need to stop caring about what anyone else might think. They don't know my kids the way I do. I know what I need to do, even so...it's difficult for me.

Thanks for reading!