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I think the hardest thing about homeschooling to me is discipline. I have such a hard time getting up everyday and being motivated enough to motivate my kids to start school. It seems like a constant struggle with all of us. The morning starts off every day like this:
Me: Boys get up
Boys: (Silence)
Me: Boys really! Get up now. I have let you sleep in a little and now it's time to get up.
Boys: Groan.....
Me: Boys!! Now! Get up and get dressed and get your chores started!
Boys: (whiny voice) I'm tired.... I didn't sleep well... I feel bad....
and on and on at nausea....
~ Finally after about 10 minutes of dragging they stumble in the kitchen. ~
Boys: What's for breakfast?
Me: You can choose from cereal, toast, eggs or fruit this morning.
Boys: You didn't make us anything?
Me: No, we have had this discussion. If you want a hot breakfast, you can make your own. (My boys have to make their own breakfast and lunch now since they are older)
Boys: (Silence)
And on and on this goes EVERY MORNING!!!
After breakfast and chores the next question always floors me.....
Boys: Do we HAVE to do school work today ? (same whiny voice)
Me: Of course we do....
Really? Do they have to ask EVERY day if we do school? I mean I know there are times that we don't due to crazy schedule or a all day field trip or ELO days but those are no where near every day!!
This struggle wears on me. I have tried punishment or taking away privileges or threatening but it's always the same.
What's hard on me is that I don't want to do it either!! Maybe they are picking up on my negativity toward school? I know I have a bad attitude alot. It's hard for me. The discipline of it all.
I guess God is teaching me something too :)
Do you struggle at school with your kids? Even if it's motivating them to do homework after school?
The oldest liked to get his school work out of the way early and have the rest of the day (so did I, lol!). So we usually started school at 7:30. As they got a little older we started at 8:00.
ReplyDeleteBut the youngest was the one that complained, whined and moaned. It was usually only the first week of school that he did it the worst.
He quickly realized that school got LONGER if he whined and complained. Not to mention our three strike rule (two time-outs in a day and the next time you need one you get a spanking instead) would go into effect, so he usually did pretty well watching his attitude. But that first week was a doozy, lol!
Also, I built a little extra time into their schedule for each class. So (for example) they knew that if they finished their math a little early, they could have that extra time as "free" time until the next lesson was scheduled to begin.
I also built in a 30 minute break in the morning for each kid during the school day. I also built in a 30 minute chore time per kid.
So, during the school day they got a half hour break, and they got a "break" in the schedule with the chore training. Not that they loved doing the chores, but at least it wasn't school, lol!
Plus, the added incentive of working diligently and having some free time before the next class. So if I scheduled an hour for math, and if they finished in 45 minutes, they got the last 15 minutes for free time.
I was homeschooling two kids (four years apart in age) so I really needed to stick with a schedule in order to have one-on-one time. Also, it actually made MY day go better, because we got school out of the way instead of making it last all day.....which is would seem to do if I didn't stick to the schedule, lol!
Homeschooling is indeed a challenge! Consistency and discipline are so important. But most of all, I have found my strength in the LORD. If it wasn't for His all-sufficient grace, I could never make it! I just started a homeschooling blog as well. Feel free to visit the abundant life at http://dlfehr.blogspot.ca. God bless!
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