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Getting Kids to Do Their SchoolworkWhat keeps your children from getting their schoolwork done? It may be the same thing that hinders my own children. Is school fun at your house? Learning can be a joyful experience that is looked forward to. Although not every subject is all fun and games, we can do a lot to make learning a delightful excursion into new ideas. Mother's attitude towards homeschool makes a big difference. I like to start each homeschool day with a prayer outloud. Enthusiasm is contagious as your children hear you thank Him for the right to homeschool, the joy of being with each other learning new things, and the blessing of being in the presence of your little ones. Let your children know how valued they are and that homeschool is your choice of how to spend your time. You could be tole painting, or shopping at the mall, or going to lunch with your friends. Instead, you chose to be with them. They are your friends! Dressing nicely makes school feel "official". When Mom starts school in a dress, things feel mighty special. All of us have "nightgown days", but generally if we dress for the occasion, the children will sense the importance of homeschool. Clothes can make a difference in creating a happy, productive homeschool atmosphere too. I like my children to come dressed in clean, matching clothing with their hair done. They look and feel ready to begin the day. On those days that I can't seem to find time to fix the younger ones hair, I spend the morning looking at them with an, "I need to fix that moppy hair" feeling. No one would go out to public school that way. Share yourself. You are a person, not just a teacher. I often bring something of my own interest to begin our homeschool day. It may be an interesting article I have cut out of the newspaper, or a book that I am reading that has a controversial idea to discuss, or a wildflower that I picked up on my walk. By sharing myself, the children feel more connected to me and to our common goal of learning together. Children can see your example of being a constant learner. Homeschool can take on a new dimension of sharing what we learn, rather than Mom shoveling information down young throats. Most of the work of homeschool lies, for me, in finding excellent resources that reveal the thrilling part of learning new things. I have seen science books, for example, that contain vivid, color photography and truly interesting text. They make learning pure pleasure and you have no challenge in intriguing your children. On the other hand, I have some science books in my possession that I must discipline myself to read. They are dry, void of illustrations, and focus on detailed facts and difficult names and dates. What you use to teach school makes a huge difference! Don't tough it out on something that isn't working. Be humble enough to change. Resources cost money, and I resisted spending much for the first few years of homeschooling. Now, I see purchasing wonderful learning tools as an investment. You only get one short childhood to teach them. Use the best you can and you will find your children are eager to do their work. Recently, I bought a Fun with Electronics, Junior kit to use with my younger children. We spent the morning reading through the book and building the electric experiments with great gusto. This didn't feel like school, this was fun! Had I tried to teach them about electricity using a dry book, I am sure no one would have wanted to do their schoolwork! Each of my children responds differently to the books and resources I use. My Julianna loves workbooks, thinks they are fun and begs to do them. Another child moans when I bring out workbooks. This child does so much better learning through hands-on projects and games. Whether a child learns his addition facts by practicing in a workbook, drilling flashcards or playing Math-it really doesn't matter. Study out each child's preferences and you will find them much less resistant to doing each day's schoolwork. Being flexible helps make school fun. Nathan (at age 16) had the assignment in his English book to write an essay about his room. That felt boring to him, so he suggested he would like to write about why he thinks Driver's Education courses should not be required for being licensed in our state. He did an excellent job on his essay, but I feel sure he would have had far less enthusiasm had I insisted he stick with the original assignment. Distraction can keep children from doing their schoolwork. At my house, the little ones seem to be a magnet drawing attention away from the books for the older children. We solve this as best we can by having school things for preschoolers to do. They have their own little schoolwork assignments, from playing with Pattern Blocks to practicing writing their numbers on the chalkboard. I plan and prepare their activities just as I do for the older children. I buy ABC puzzles, make play dough, and stock watercolor paints and paper for their use. With the preschoolers busy, only the baby is a major distraction. Giving homeschool enough time while giving the baby enough attention can be tricky. It helps to do the bulk of homeschool during the baby's long nap. If that fails, try rotating "baby duty" between your older children. For 20 minutes, one child has care of playing with the baby. Then it rotates back to Mom, or on to another child, depending on how happy the baby is. Any child can spare one 20 minute session out of their homeschool time and they enjoy and look forward to it. As the baby turns toddler, this can be a special playtime with each brother and sister. They swing, play in the sandbox, read stories, build block cities and enjoy each other, in another area of the house or outside, so that those studying in homeschool can have peace and quiet. To solve the distraction of the phone, simply turn the ringer off. It is helpful to have an answer machine to catch phone calls. People soon become accustomed to only being able to get you on the phone in the afternoon and some will respect you for taking your children's schooling seriously. Neighbor children can get used to you not answering the door until after lunch. I have used a sign taped to the inside of a window near the front door so that neighbor children can see from the street if we are "open" or not. When the sign is up, it means school is being done (or chores, or nap time) and that my children cannot play. That saves a great deal of distraction and explaining that children are not free at the moment. One house we lived in had a flag at the front door, and that was a handy signal. When the flag was out, everyone was welcome to visit. One mother told me she used the kitchen blind. Open meant "come and knock", closed meant "please wait until later". Many people appreciate having a sign as they don't want to disturb you, but are eager to visit if you are available. Some distractions are really learning opportunities in disguise. At my house, when the crop duster airplane flies frightening low over the neighboring fields in early summer, we all run out of the house immediately to watch their dangerous swooping turns at the base of the mountain. When the neighbor disks and harrows his field, or a baby horse is born; these are not a distraction but an education! The television is the major distraction in many homes. TV can absolutely ruin your homeschool unless it is completely controlled. My children have grown up knowing it is forbidden to turn on the television without permission at any time, so it has never been a problem for us. There are some (few) good educational programs, but generally we watch very, very little television. In homes where the TV is not controlled, many children find it impossible to focus on their studies. Besides, research has now proven that children who are accustomed to the fast-moving, flashing images of television have more difficulty learning to read. Unplug the TV! Children who stay up too late find homeschool hard to manage. If your children are consistently yawning, maybe it is not boredom but lack of sleep that is the problem! Keeping bedtime has always been somewhat of a challenge for my teenagers. Because sleep is important to their ability to concentrate and study, we finally invented a "bedtime game" to motivate them to shut that light off on time. First, we set a time to get dressed for bed and read scriptures (9:00 PM) and then a lights-out time (9:45 PM). If they were ready on time, they were given a dollar bill at 9:00 PM. If lights were out at 9:45 PM, another dollar bill appeared as a reward. 9:46 PM is too late! The catch here is that if they were not ready on time, they had to pay $1.00 at each check time. So they had a motivation to obey, and a penalty for disobedience: a double whammy! The dollar bills go into a jar labeled "Bedtime". This was a completely self-supporting game. All it required of me was to check twiceãno nagging, pleading, threatening, reasoning. The children agreed to this game so they policed themselves. When the jar got too full, we all went to the Mexican restaurant. When the jar was empty, there were no pay-offs. If the jar was empty for very long, I would occasionally add a few bucks to keep the motivation high. Whether you play a bedtime game or not, children who get their sleep sure can focus on their work better! Homeschool requires supervision, being there and being available. It means that Mom must sacrifice her time. You can't jam one more thing into an already overly busy schedule. To get my children to view their schoolwork seriously meant I had to arrange my time so that I was always there and focused on school. When Mom leaves for am errand, a meeting or to go visiting teaching, schoolwork is not always done. If mother lacks the vision and devotion to homeschool, it rubs off on the children and they don't take their studies seriously. Not knowing what's expected can prevent children from doing their schoolwork steadily. Parents must ponder what is really important for their children to know and come up with a plan: educational goals for each child. Half the battle is knowing what to expect. This is where a schedule and a routine are so very valuable. My children all use Student Planners and have a study schedule. They know what to expect and can go about their work efficiently. When I first began homeschool, I was not realistic about how much work a child can do in one homeschool day. Before dishing our assignments, realistically add up all you require. Can it fit in 3 hours? If not, your child will seldom finish his work. Being done before lunch and then being able to have some free time is the motivation that keep my children steadily studying in the morning. If the work load is too heavy, it can be quite discouraging. Ultimately, getting kids to do their schoolwork depends on whose in charge. We have a divine mandate to direct our children. Self-discipline is born of external discipline and whether we like it or not, we are the ones God put at the helm. Do you speed when you drive? If not, what keeps you from speeding? You control yourself because you are aware that an external force will control you if you don't discipline yourself. When Socrates was asked what was the best thing a person could learn, he replied, "self-denial". Children will learn to make themselves do their work if you consistently insist on it. Check up is a very necessary part of giving assignments in homeschool. Children must have the opportunity to be accountable for their work. The return-and-report process alone will greatly increase their desire to complete their schoolwork. If your children are bucking daily assignments, it helps to assess what is really happening. Perhaps the environment has too many distractions. Maybe you are too busy and conveying the message that schoolwork isn't important enough for you to sacrifice your time to be there during school hours. Whatever the problem, I assure you that you can get your children to do their schoolwork and be happy about it. It can develop into a habit that is never questioned. It's up to you. |
