Homeschool Mom Criticized After She's Unable To Understand Her Child's Very Basic Phonics Lesson
Her mistake was really just a simple misunderstanding, though commenters were concerned.
Dragon Images / Shutterstock Homeschooling is no easy feat. Suddenly you have to be your child’s parent and their teacher. Many parents would readily admit they could — or would not — not do it.
One mom who was preparing to homeschool her daughter found the workbook she would be using to be a bit too difficult for even her to understand. However, when she posted her confusion on TikTok, she drew immense amounts of criticism.
A mom who planned on homeschooling her daughter faced criticism for not understanding her phonics lesson.
She faced the ire of fellow TikTokers after demonstrating that she did not understand the phonics lesson she was going to teach her young daughter. In a video, the woman, Jared H. Melendez, showed viewers her daughter’s phonics workbook.
The problem was a simple one. “Find two words on each train that end with the same sound. Circle them. Then write the letter of the ending sound in the caboose,” the book instructed. Above the directions was a heading that read “matching ending consonants,” providing a clue as to what the page was about.
Below the directions was a set of trains broken into four parts. The first three parts had small pictures in them, while the fourth was blank. For example, the first train featured pictures of a rug, horse, and flag.
Melendez was insistent that none of the pictures made the same ending sound. “I’m over here trying to be a homeschool teacher and I don’t even understand it myself,” she said. "What the [heck] am I doing wrong?
Photo: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock
Commenters on the video were not very understanding of Melendez’s mistake.
Others online were not willing to give Melendez a pass for the simple misunderstanding. “Please don’t homeschool,” one person commented.
“This is why I think there should be a test parents have to pass to be able to homeschool,” wrote another.
"Do not homeschool. Rug and Flag have the same ending sound (g)," a third user wrote, answering the first question in the workbook.
Melendez made a follow-up video explaining her mistake.
“I wasn’t understanding the question,” she shared. “I was focused on the sound.”
Melendez explained that she believed the question was referring to rhyming sounds, like those at the end of “cat” and “mat.” She didn’t catch on to the idea that the question was simply referring to the last letter of each word.
She added that she would have been able to understand the question had it "said letter, not sound."
Commenters on the second video were not much kinder to Melendez.
“The decision stands: don’t homeschool,” one person concluded.
“Girl … letters make sounds …” another user wrote.
A third commenter questioned, “Do you know what a consonant is?”
This time, Melendez did not end the video after addressing the question in the workbook. Instead, she explained why her family decided to homeschool. “We are homeschooling because we live in Mexico and my daughter doesn’t speak Spanish,” she said. “She’s been struggling.”
Photo: antoniodiaz / Shutterstock
Still, her explanation didn’t seem to sway viewers’ opinions of her ability to homeschool.
There was no reason for commenters to be so rude to Melendez.
While Melendez did make a mistake, it’s one that is understandable and frankly inconsequential. She addressed her error and asked for help — what more can we ask for? Melendez is simply doing her best, trying to help her daughter during what has been a difficult time.
While it’s easy to scroll through social media and comment on the life of someone you don’t know, it’s something that should be done with caution. People like Melendez are not sharing parts of their lives to open themselves up to ridicule. Perhaps we can all show each other a little grace and understanding instead of hate.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.