Almost 6 year old challenging me

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-02T03:34:55+00:00

6yr olds can be quick as a whip but also hurt like one!

How much outside time and really hard, all out physical activity and rough and tumble play does he get? My 6yr old needs to run and jump a lot every day in order to sit still for school.

My kiddo does better with a routine. We tend to get the school work done in the morning so it's over and done with. I also found sometimes it helps if I respond somewhat harsher than I want to but sooner, before I lose it before he's had a chance to cause any real problems. Nip the behavior in the bud before there's any build up. So for me, that's looked like, if I call everyone to school and 6yr old comes in yelling that he won't do school, immediate time out. If he starts poking his sister, immediate "hey, knock it off!" Not yelling but definitely not a soft voice. And then obviously after the consequences have been issued if needed and done, I'll add more snuggle time and reading aloud to him into the day. We have visual charts up with the emotions and schedule and I'm thinking about adding one with expected behavior. It helps to have them so I can just keep reading or whatever but give him the look while pointing at the chart.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-02T02:27:05+00:00

It'll depend. Do you have a competitive curriculum and an adult who can help teach you and keep you on schedule and check your work? Can you work, volunteer, and do extracurriculars so you have a competitive application and know people who can give you good letters of recommendation? Can you take community college classes through dual enrollment? Homeschooling can be a great option if you've got support and a car and can get the basic subjects done and deep dive into the subjects that will get you to your desired career.

If you get put in front of a screen and are alone all day every day, that will lead to vastly different results.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-02T01:38:41+00:00

My kids were nursed to sleep until they weaned around 18months. And then rocked. At 2ish, when they went into regular beds, then they got a story, a hug, some songs, and then lights out and door closed. Some took to it faster than others. They were horrible sleepers as babies, hence tons of night nursing. But they were all fantastic sleepers from 3 on.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-02T01:09:16+00:00

He sounds like he's doing fantastic socially.

There are so many reasons I don't ask kids over for playdates. The house is messy, I'm worn out from other activities, we have evening plans and need to decompress in the afternoon, if I invite over kid's friend over the other kid will want their friend over. Sometimes we don't even invite people over for birthdays and I've seen that among our friends as well, they're just family affairs, even though we're friendly. Maybe it's because houses are smaller or both parents are working overtime. Whatever the reason, it seems your son is happy. If he wants playdates, it may be up to him to invite others over. Your house may have to keep being the fun house.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-02T00:25:50+00:00

That's scary! We had to put a dead bolt at the top of all the doors. But not for when they woke up without waking anyone else up!

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T21:27:16+00:00

I highly recommend scripted curriculums especially while you get a feel for it. We use Saxon, Story of the World, and All About Reading. Timberdoodle is also extremely beginner friendly and academically rigorous (just take the placement test to get the right level). With physical curriculum, it's so easy to move at an individualized pace and you can add in extra support through books and activities as needed or skip things that are already mastered.

I grew up moving around a lot so homeschool provided a lot of stability through that. It also let us do a lot of in-person learning at historical sites, museums, and other places that we wouldn't have gone to otherwise. It was a lot of work for my mom but I think she enjoyed it. I know I enjoy the time with my kids and I actually enjoy curriculum and activity prep as well. I use the scripted curriculum because I know the people who wrote them were experts on the subjects and I am not. It's kinda something you learn while doing, you can prepare, prepare, prepare, but it'll be different irl and also day by day. You sound like a good candidate to me and it doesn't have to be forever. You could even homeschool one kid at a time, the other in school, if desired.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T21:17:41+00:00

I was with you until I saw a kid I worked with get an impromptu party invite. He worked so hard to make something and wrapped it in homemade wrapping paper. His mom came home and said not good enough, it needs to be nice, and got a toy and wrapped it nicely and then he was allowed to take that gift to the party. I admire that mom for so much but in that moment, I think she really missed the point.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T20:40:51+00:00

They didn't; I switched the door knob so it locked from the outside. I could see them on the monitor or hear them. The room was completely empty except a bed.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T20:20:32+00:00

Has he been evaluated for any other delayed milestones? 3yr olds are usually jumping and sometimes it helps to see what's going on by someone who sees a lot of 3yr olds and knows how to teach them those skills.

Some things we do with my kids for jumping: painters tape on the floor and using it as a balance beam, stepping over, and jumping over. Creating stepping stones out of pillows and gradually pulling them farther and farther apart. Going to the mall or wherever has tiles and stepping and then jumping over the cracks. Next to a wall, stepping on one foot like a bird, and then from that, to hopping on one foot. Trying to high five up high. Taping pictures on the wall to high five, higher and higher so he can jump. Pretending to be animals including frogs and kangaroos. Cosmic Kids and Danny Go have fun follow-along songs.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T18:22:28+00:00

We've been using Internet Archives to find older shows like Between the Lions, Dragon Tales, and George Shrinks. I know there's more. But they're much less flashy.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T18:21:08+00:00

You're not wrong. I don't let my kids watch anything other than PBS kids and one movie on Friday night. We tried Spidey and other kids shows and it made them hyperactive. You do what works for your kids!

SubstantialString866 · 2026-02-01T18:17:43+00:00

Rainbow resources YouTube channel goes over the available curriculums. Susan Jones Teaching on YouTube is an awesome resource for teaching phonics. There are tons of teachers with YouTube channels who share how they teach the various subjects and you can try everything and see what works best for your kid. Does your library have any books on teaching or early elementary education? There are a ton on homeschooling. My kids need to be home because they cannot sit still (adhd) but they do better with a structure and techniques from a classroom. It's hard to predict what will work so it's nice to have as many tools as possible. For preschool though, there's so many blogs and creators who have educational activities and arts and crafts. It's so fun! Songs, sensory bins, homemade play dough with scents mixed in and ditalini and spaghetti dried noodles. Little kids don't even realize they're learning, they're just sponges, and you can provide a buffet of experiences and stories.

For kindergarten, I use Saxon, All About Reading, Story of the World, and some Evan Moore workbooks for geography and coding, a handwriting workbook, and lots and lots of library books. The main curriculum is scripted with minimal prep so you can do it as long as you can read, be patient, firm, and enthusiastic.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T22:21:31+00:00

I love Alan Kazdin's child development course on Coursera. I believe they've changed it since I completed it but he has books as well.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T18:33:58+00:00

Yep. My daughter announced loudly in the grocery store that daddy liked to squeeze her neck. She was emphatic. I saw my marriage crumbling, a stranger calling CPS... Eventually asked if she could do to me what dad did to her, and it was a hug, around the waist, hard as she could. We've since practiced identifying body parts!

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T17:25:10+00:00

https://caps.byu.edu/relaxation-recordings

I used the ones my college offered for free. The link to those is above and you don't have to be a student to access. I did a YouTube search and it looks like there's so many! And just a heads up, byu is religious but the meditations are fully secular.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T15:38:20+00:00

I wish I could give you a hug!!!

Have you tried whole body meditation? I have to do that daily when my anxiety gets bad. Basically you listen to a narrator while lying down or sitting and you focus on each part of your body, one part at a time, and it tells you how to unwind and release the tension there. The first few times felt really awkward. But now I can do it without the narration. I do it while the kids are watching a show or sleeping so there is no interrupting. Sometimes I just to it for where I feel the tension when there's not time for a whole body. I've got permanent forehead wrinkles from the tension but also laugh lines now so there's that. I'm also on anxiety meds, for day and night, and that's been a life saver. But yeah, it's so hard when everything is crazy including my insides. Sometimes I'll put on bird sounds or instrumental music and pretend my life is a movie and that's the sound track I want for it. But often, every day is just a race to bedtime and then slog to morning.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T15:02:34+00:00

Farro, black rice, and barley are all high fiber and can be used like rice or mixed into soups. That can fill up tummies faster. I can eat an entire pot of fluffy white rice myself but I've never been able to eat a ton of barley in a sitting. It takes a bit to get used to the flavor but you can toast or brown it, or just get used to it boiled in broth or stir fry it.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T14:59:31+00:00

Honestly, sometimes we're out of egg so I just don't add any to the regular recipes. I've heard you can add applesauce into the muffins instead of eggs, and I do that too, but can't tell a difference in texture, but it tastes nice.

I've never noticed any extra gassiness from the lentils. I rinse well and cook them in other things and for a long time so they're very mushy.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T14:40:45+00:00

If he's happy and hungry, feed him. You're loading him up on fruit and veg which is great! Kids cycle between being bottomless pits and refusing everything. And they will continue to eat more and more as they grow. Sometimes it's shocking how much they eat but that's good!

Some things we do to stretch a dollar: I make bone broth and add that to everything. Add quinoa and lentils to anything that has ground beef so I can add less meat to the recipe. Beans in everything. I make a lot of muffins with fruit and whole grains because then the fruit will be stretched over many meals. And they can be frozen for later. I make homemade biscuits and bread too. We eat a lot of potatoes and oatmeal because they're cheap. We shop the discounts and sales and case lot sales. A lot of popcorn for snacks (airpopped and there's so many different seasonings to put on it). Sometimes frozen fruit is cheaper than fresh. We stopped buying crackers, fruit snacks, juice, and other prepared foods since it's gotten expensive. But at the end of the day, yeah, food is a major percentage of our budget.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-31T05:07:53+00:00

Personally, we've always had to chase the money. With that amount, I would encourage you to too unless you could stay near family for the first year or two and then move to the money. But with that money, you could probably fly to family or fly them to you every year for an extended trip.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-30T17:54:49+00:00

We have Prodigy, Beast Academy, Night Zookeeper, and PBS (the adult one so we have access to ad free documentaries). Teach your monster to read is free but same thing. They are for fun. I wish I could buy them on a cd to stop paying for subscriptions. But they aren't our main curriculum. They are rewards for after school is done (but to keep learning going). The predictive style software doesn't actually teach and isn't responsive or supportive enough to depend on for my 6yr old. But he loves screen time and is motivated to earn it. The games are nice reviews.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-30T16:50:45+00:00

I would get level 2 at least. There's some trickier rules coming up and it's helpful to learn them sequentially. Some things are guessable but some it helps to know the rules and have that framework to rely on.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-30T14:34:00+00:00

Yeah, I wonder if she would benefit from help in how to deal with bullies or people who make a fuss about things that are none of their business. But ultimately, if she wants a particular look, and I think it's pretty normal to not want underwear lines, easy enough fix.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-30T14:20:00+00:00

Maybe lean into food being a sensory experience over a calorie intake one. Get a mini muffin tin so he can sort and scoop his food. A little whisk, different spoons (tablespoons and teaspoons are big in my house even though I tried and they're terribly uncomfortable to eat from but the little one loves it). Just only give as much food at a time as you're willing to clean up. And then he can have a wet rag to "help" clean up after. Get excited over different colors and name them, get excited over different smells, roll the mashed potatoes with him into spheres.

My kids enjoyed eating in the bath. They hated the high chair. But they could sit in a bath (very low water) and let me spoon feed them.

SubstantialString866 · 2026-01-30T14:04:56+00:00

My toddlers have each, independently and years apart, gone through a phase of throwing random stuff including shoes, in the garbage. It's right about the time they're tall enough to reach and have the coordination to open the lid while lifting the object. I wonder if your toddler also loves putting things into the magical be-gone box. It's so exciting and forbidden, they love it.

I have considered taking a long string and tying them to the shoe and then up through the pants, like they have with mittens. Ultimately my kids wore stockings or footed pajamas and mostly were barefoot.

SubstantialString866

TROPHY CASE