For lack of comparison

We took last week off for an involuntary spring break, aka stomach virus and cold. Husband actually had to stay home because he was sick, I can't remember that happening this millenium...

Then we had some lovely visitors over the weekend. There's just nothing like the comfort of old friends. Their two sons and our two daughters complement each other beautifully, and I'm told some talk of marriage has occurred among the junior set. We shall see!

Today we're back at the dining table, learning all about King Dominic Divide who shares equally. As the lesson progresses with drawings of the fair King on his horse (Oldest's idea, and a fine job she did, too) I once again start to realize that in some respect as a homeschooler you operate in a vacuum. When children sit in a class with 25 or more others, they get a pretty good feeling how good the quality of their work is. When Oldest works at home with me, I am her yardstick and she frequently gets frustrated at not being able to draw/knit/paint/whatever as well as I can. Now I'm no great artist, and I make a good effort to really screw up so she can see that I, too, make mistakes and go back and correct them... but it's not the same as comparing yourself to peers.

Similarly, I am also struggling with the lack of comparison as I have absolutely not the foggiest what to expect from a child her age. Generally what I expect is that she tries to do a nice job, and if she wants help (or is trying to draw a horse), I will give her minimal amounts of assistance - enough so she can do the job, but not enough to make it easy. But sometimes I forget that writing for a 6 year old is hard work, as is sitting at the table for more than 30 minutes. So we continue to strive for standards that are just right.

And yes, I am aware of the upsides of this lack of comparison as well. It's just that sometimes it's hard to know what to reach for. But this much we have both learned today: Oldest can draw a horse that looks like a horse, not a dog, a cow or a giraffe. And that's good enough for both of us.