one step back, two steps forward applies

The young ones and all of us, for that matter, need to be well founded in the basics. I used to get frustrated when a child would be going along just fine and then stall out or change on me. I see, however, that these stalling times are just part of the process and an opportunity to make things a bit easier. Rather than pushing them ahead in concepts they are reluctant to learn, I take them back 15 or 20 lessons and I let them feel how fun the learning is again--now that it is easier and the stories are shorter and the math problems are more direct. We work our way forward again, experiencing success and when we get to the point they were at when they stalled out, we almost invariably, are able to move further forward with a stronger understanding of the concepts being learned. So now, when we stall, I know I don't need to fight, manipulate, bargain, or beg my children. I can just say, OK, lets go back a few weeks. This, I find, is much more effective than just feeling overwhelmed and not doing the lesson at all, or fighting with them all day. If Four has employed the stool at great length for more than two days or so, I take him back and he likes it again.