Posted in Homeschooling
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I've seen a lot of posts lately, in blogs and on message boards, from parents struggling with getting their kids to do their school work. It seems there is a similar theme in a lot of these posts....staring off into space, takes hours to do work, has a bad attitude about school. While there can be a lot of reasons why a child won't do their school work I wanted to suggest a couple of things that may help. First consider that your child may be bored. Perhaps the "curriculum" you have chosen isn't working for that child. I have a lot of experience in this area. In the beginning of our homeschool adventure I believed that I had to use a boxed curriculum consisting of text books and work books in order to provide my children with an excellent education. Years of struggling, and finally some wonderful advice from others who had the same experience, have led me to understand that this was not the way for us. Work books and text books were suffocating the life and love of learning out of my children. We have since begun a different journey for our education...lapbooking, unit studies, copywork, and notebooking. I haven't thrown the text books and work books completely out the window. We still use that approach for math, and grammar. We are using Saxon math and Easy Grammar this year. I love Easy Grammar because it is just what it says. They make it so simple, yet it is so effective. If your kids seem bored with their work take a break of about a month from those text books and work books, and find some things they are interested in to study. What do they like? cooking, sewing, cars, boats, sports, fashion design, history...civil war, WWII? Ask them if they could choose just one thing they want to learn about what would it be. Then go to the library with them and help them find an armload of books, picture books, books they can read, and books that you can read to/with them. Spend some time "with" them going through these books, and give them a little alone time to look through or read the ones that are most interesting to them. Then sit down with them and help them to put together a book or several mini books of information they found interesting in the books. If a child doesn't like to write (or gets frustrated having to write too much), then have him tell you things he wants to put in his book(s) and you write it or type it out for him. He can add in pictures copied from books, or his own illustrations. This is what notebooking is all about, and he is learning while doing this. When his book is finished he will have something that he can look back through over and again. This is called "review" in school LOL! He will want to keep his work for a very long time. It will be special to him because it is something that he made, and is interested in. I believe that if you will try this you will find that your children will have a lot different attitude about school. Second, it may be as simple as keeping their attention. I have found that (with one child in particular) a timer is an excellent encouragement to finish a task on time. Sometimes a child doesn't realize how much time has passed since the assignment was given. They don't really have the concept of time that we do. If your child is putting a lot of time and effort into an assignment or project it may be that they enjoy what they are learning. A report on Ben Franklin that should take an hour may be taking 2 or 3 days because that child is really delving deep into the history of this fascinating man. At these times, I would make sure all other assignments were done for the day, then give them all the time they need to complete their report (as long as they are working on it and not dawdling). Just think how much more they will learn if given the time. There is no rule that says we can only allow them 1 hour to learn about something. Set them free to learn and love learning! Here are some things I've found that my kids need.... 1. Short lessons....I give my 5th graders a max of 15 math problems, and I choose a mix of problems from the lesson....what they need to practice to cement the concept in their minds, and what they should review so they won't forget. If they understand the concept there is no reason for them to do 5 or 10 problems on addition. One or two will be sufficient to keep them in practice. Sometimes they do math games on the computer (lots of free ones on the net). My second grader is much the same. I don't make her do all of the math problems either. If she understands the concept she just needs one or two to practice so that she retains what she's learned. 2. Time to play and explore - This is where kids learn the most....fort building, playing school, creating with paints or clay, building with legos, playing "grocery shopping", or family. Make sure you make frequent trips to the library and help them find books of interest to them...sea animals, the farm, how things work, heavy equipment, space and the stars, etc., so that when it is too cold to play out they can look at/read books as well as have inside play time. Education doesn't have to take place in a textbook or workbook. 3. Chore time - Make this a part of their education. You are training them for adulthood, and that is an education in itself. They can pick up toys in a room, make their beds, fold laundry, help put laundry away, help put dirty laundry in the washer (with supervision)...my kids are thrilled that they get to put in detergent, start the washer, and fill it with clothes. They load the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, sweep, clean mirrors, wipe counters, dust. We do house cleaning as a team. Each child gets an assignment and we tackle it together. It takes less time that way. In the beginning it was a little slow, because I was teaching them "how" to do these tasks, but now that they know they can get through it quickly. Having a chore and completing it gives them a sense of accomplishment. 4. Time with me - This is one I struggle with. I love spending time with my kids, but I have a lot of responsibilities. It was more difficult when the youngest was very little, but it does get a little easier. This is the most important reason we homeschool. We need to be spending time with them and having fun. Play a board game together, read a book together, work with them on a project they want to do. I had to learn to let the house cleaning and laundry go a little more, and focus on them. The window of opportunity with them at home is so small compared their adult years. We have to make the best of that time, and pour ourselves into them teaching them all we can through daily life.
If what you are doing isn't working then change it. There is no time like the present. Your child will not suffer for your efforts to make it better for them, and they won't be behind. If your child is struggling, then he may suffer more if things remain the same, than if you make a change. Correcting what doesn't work by changing to something that will work is not failure, it is simply doing what is best for your child. Blessings! |
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