It’s Okay to Stop
It’s okay not to finish the program that doesn’t work.
When you adopt a curriculum or start tutoring with a paid professional service or person, or join a sports team or take up ballet or participate in a co-op, the rule of thumb to discover if it’s a good fit goes like this:
- Read the directions, understand the requirements, get to know the plan and objectives. Thoroughly. Give all your attention to understanding how it should work.
- Implement for six weeks.
- Listen to your child—their reactions, notice their energy, pay attention to what they retain or what they forget.
- Adapt the method to suit your child. Make adjustments in pace, time devoted to execution, add enchantment, provide help. See if you can fix what isn’t working before you quit.
- If everyone is miserable after 6 weeks…STOP the madness! QUIT.
It doesn’t matter what it cost you, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have a replacement, it doesn’t matter that you are disappointing other people (btw: sports for kids aren’t “real”—they are play, you can quit).
ALL that matters is that you not persist in a program that deadens the life and learning capacity of your child. If either of you aren’t happy and energized…it’s over.
To Review
Give a good college try to a new program of any kind.
QUIT, if in six weeks, you’re miserable.
It doesn’t matter how much everyone else loves the program or tells you it’s the best one.
The only metric you need is how you and your child discover more life, more joy, more learning.
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
