If you've ever tried to teach your kids sight words, then you know just how utterly defeating it can feel. It doesn't help matters that the English language is chock full of words that make no logical sense as far as pronunciation goes. But most parents who aren't teachers themselves don't know all the tricks of the trade, either, when it comes to teaching reading skills. It can often make for an uphill, exhausting, and sometimes, hilarious battle.
One mom, Tiffany Jenkins, who has a massive social media following due to her funny and truthful posts, just hit the nail right on the head when talking about the torture that is teaching kids sight words. She shared a video on her page Juggling The Jenkins and honestly, we can't stop laughing about it.
"It's funny because it's true" has never been truer than when it comes to Tiffany's sight word critique.
Tiffany is the hilarious and honest mom behind the page, Juggling The Jenkins. In recent years, Tiffany has made some incredibly funny videos and her latest, a dig at sight words, is no different. Her recent post about how ridiculous trying to teach your kids to read sight words is now going mega viral.
Tiffany has three kids and she often documents what's happening around her home. Like many parents, she's taken over helping her kids with their schooling. According to the funny mama, it's not going so well.
On Instagram, Tiffany shared a video about sight words and it's one we can probably all relate to. She begins by saying, "I'm not trying to be dramatic, but if sight words had a face, I would punch it."
Already, we know this video is about to get real.
The first example Tiffany gives is the word "know." That's a tricky one for sure. Like, how can you try to make a kid who doesn't know how to read yet, understand that you should ignore both the first and last letters when saying the word? If you aren't a natural-born teacher, it feels utterly astounding.
Tiffany is clearly over it. "Whose idea what this word?" she continues. "Here's me trying to explain this word to my kid who is sounding it out. 'Great job. Love that. Um, the problem is, see this k in the front. It doesn't exist. Just pretend it's not there… do you know what I mean? Me neither.'"
The video goes on to examine a slew of words that don't make any sense in terms of how to pronounce them and parents everywhere are nodding in solidarity. Seriously, helping your kids through school is tough. But teaching kids sight words is an entirely different battle.
Tiffany's posts are always popular, but this one is really resonating. It racked up 901K views in the last week. It just goes to show that all of us were really not meant to be teachers. Also, it goes to show that the English language is pretty funky.
There are so many reasons to follow Tiffany. Not only is she completely hilarious, whether that means being blatantly honest or self-deprecating, she has also been through a ton in her life. She's upfront about her past struggles with addiction — something she says nearly claimed her life.
Now, the mom of three is immensely grateful for the life and family that she has. It's probably why she's able to find so much humor and joy in the mundane. And we definitely love her for it.
Tiffany is absolutely one of the most real moms out there. It's not always easy to find people who will give it to you straight, but now more than ever, we all need to laugh and feel seen. As she juggles her brood, Tiffany always helps us to feel understood in our own struggles.
That's probably why so many of us simply adore her.
