Sometimes I wonder if my expectations for my children are too great or not enough. All children are different, of course, and no list will apply to all. But sometimes I second-guess myself when I see younger children with better self-control than my own girls' or kids allowed to get away with more. I read this article today and thought she listed some very good goals, especially for obedience, for different stages. Not that she is the final authority, ha,ha, but it was helpful to me to read them and evaluate them.
Some thoughts I had:
*I would say these are definitely goals for the end of that year. For instance, Karis could care less about colors and would get mad if I tried to "fix her fingers" when coloring when she first turned 2, but by the end of her second year, she was obsessed with pink and knew how to handle that marker so she could scribble to her heart's content :)
*Gender makes a huge difference. My Karis can happily sit still over an hour if you are reading to her, but most boys her age will not. I don't really think it is a matter of discipline, but just gender differences.
*I personally think any preschool "work" for kids 3-5 should be FUN! I'm a teacher by nature and have a blast planning out educational activities for Karis and I to do. But if she's not interested, I ditch it and try again in a couple of months. There is no reason for a child to get burnt out on school work before school even begins! (Sorry; as a former preschool teacher who saw kids being forced to sit and do worksheets too early, it is kinda a pet peeve :) No kid has to know how to read and write before even going to kindergarten. And honestly, most boys really should wait til the age of six before going to kindergarten. They simply have too much energy and not enough fine motor skills to sit still and work so much. But that is just my opinion :)
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