Should school be fun?

[Elohcin]

I have six kids, four who are schooling. I have found curriculum that my husband and I like, that works for our children. If something doesn't work we look for something else. However, I am not a particularly fun teacher. We do school and get it done. Our days are busy. I have had some complaints lately from a few kids, that they really don't like school. If pressed, they don't like this or that subject. It seems to me that in those subjects, they are doing well and they are progressing. It may not be their favorite, but they are learning.

 

So this is my question, how fun should school be?

 

How fun do you make school?

 

Do you think it should be fun? Some of it? All of it?

 

Would you change or choose a curriculum just because it's fun?

 

Do your kids think of school as work? Do you think that's ok?

 

I think that this is just a season in our home. We are in the dead of winter and we have tons of snow and it has been very very cold. We also have a new baby so our life has been bounced into a new normal. I don't want my children to hate school, but I do in some sense think it is their job and that sometime there are jobs we don't like to do, but we do them anyway. On the other hand, my eyes have been opened to my "unfunness" as a mom. Maybe this should be a resolution of mine, to work on being more fun, to work on making school more fun.

 

Fun moms, how do you do it? :001_smile:

[Denisemomof4]

we have days where school is NOT fun (if mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!) but I do try to avoid this. Math is math is math, and that's not a subject I would consider "fun" and I don't think my kids would either. But I try to pull in fun elements, like last year in 3rd grade buying Timez Attack for dd to memorize her multiplication facts.

 

Grammar, not fun but we make it fun with silly sentences. Spelling today - dd was laughing HARD. She needed to make a paragraph using 10 spelling words. Hers wasn't really tied together nicely, so I chose 10 words from a previous spelling lesson to give her an example. I used words to tell a story which really made her laugh!

 

History and science - these are subjects I insist we REALLY enjoy and have fun. I know what my kids like and I have to like the curriculum myself. History and science are our favorite parts of the day! Latin - dd loves it, and I'm thankful for her wonderful teacher in our co-op. And talking about a teacher making it fun!!!

 

I'm a very goofy person who laughs a lot with the kids. If you find you're too serious with the school, which I understand - it's a huge undertaking and our kids education is NO LAUGHING MATTER! Try to throw in some curve balls once in awhile. Some days I wake up and say, "We're not going to school today! We're going to have a movie day! Or a day away! Or we're going out to breakfast and then will school!" We will do our reading or history sometimes at the river, or around a campfire. Mix things up a little so you can make it fun.

 

One mistake I made with my boys was "making" them do WOrdly Wise and they HATED it and speak of it to this day, many years later. I won't make the same mistake again. If one of my kids really doesn't like one thing we're doing, we'll look for another way to do it. A;ll; subjects need to be covered, but some curriculum is a better fit, or more fun, than others.

 

HTH

[Rosy]

Fun? I don't know about that. But I do try to select curricula that my kids enjoy, and have tailored my methods to their interests. I have found with my son in particular, he learns a lot better and is a lot less resistant to schooling when he is engaged in what we're doing.

 

How this works for us:

--We switched from Saxon to Math-U-See. Saxon is my preference for math, but he hated it. Now he thinks about what he's learning and is truly interested, rather than getting through the assignments so he could go play.

--We dropped Phonics Pathways once he got through long vowel sounds. Yes, he struggles with his blends. But reading a book he likes is so much more enjoyable for him than plodding along through phonics. In this case, an ounce of interest is worth a pound of technique/skill.

--He dictates letters or stories to me and then copies them for writing practice. It's still a struggle, but so much more fun for him than his HWT workbook.

 

It is still work and my kids have to do what they're told. They don't get out of chores. They don't love school. But I think making their work as palatable as possible is a win-win. We want them to know the joy of learning, right? Isn't that a big part of the reason we homeschool--so they're not doing page after page of busywork? My desire is that they'll be fully engaged in whatever they do in life. That doesn't mean it will always be "fun", but when learning becomes a drudgery, I'm not accomplishing my goals for homeschooling.

[Mrs Mungo]

I try to do a couple of lighter or more "fun" activities each day. It just makes the day go by faster and encourages them to do their work and get to the next fun thing. Not everything is going to be fun, such is life.

[MIch elle]

I don't attempt fun any longer. I tried to make homeschool fun in grades K-4.

 

Skiing was our fun for years. This is the first year we are not skiing every Friday instead of homeschooling.

[lionfamily1999]

On the one hand, fun is overrated. On the other hand, all work and no play make Jack grab an ax and destroy the hotel...

 

It's a fine line.

 

We have fun, sometimes. I think, though, it's more important that the work be interesting. Granted, it can't all pull you off into a wonderful world of knowledge, but there should be illuminating 'aha' moments.

 

I HAVE dropped curriculum, because I found it too plodding, too boring, too much work and too little joy. The cure for that, ime, is to diversify! Find lots of random books that teach what needs to be taught. You have a greater chance of finding something written by someone that truly loves the subject they're covering. If the author can't supply the enthusiasm, then it's up to the teacher and the student.

[IsabelC]

Depends on how you define fun. I think it should be fun as in interesting, satisfying, everyone feels good about having done it. But not necessarily fun as in we're laughing, singing and dancing the whole time. If the kids are crying, whining or arguing that they don't wanna do it the whole way through, then I'm doing something wrong. But if they are working hard so they can feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the session, I think that's fine.

[Greta]

Do your kids think of school as work? Do you think that's ok?

 

I just asked my dd if she thinks school is work or fun, and she said work. I was not surprised, and yes, I think that's okay!

 

Hard work and a deep abiding joy are not mutually exclusive, but hard work and fun are usually considered so. Maybe I sound like I'm splitting hairs, but to me the difference is important. The word fun, to me, implies a very superficial, short-term sort of pleasure, and I think it's something our society tends to over-emphasize. Of course I do want my daughter to experience the joy of learning and the confidence that comes with mastering difficult material, but I don't think the road to that destination is necessarily going to be filled with loads of "fun". I'm less concerned with my daughter's education being entertaining, and more concerned with it being transforming, enlightening, uplifting.

 

That's not to say we don't make time for superficial meaningless fun in our lives! In fact, my husband might say we do that too often. :lol: I'm only saying I don't think it needs to be part of school. Obviously, just my own opinion. Of course, going to the other extreme where school is mind-numbing, heart-crushing drudgery isn't the answer either. My goal is for her education to live and breathe. How well I meet that goal is debatable. But I try to find materials, resources, and methods that spark her interest and enthusiasm. If that fails, I make her do it anyway. :tongue_smilie:

[IsabelC]

I just asked my dd if she thinks school is work or fun, and she said work. I was not surprised, and yes, I think that's okay!

 

Hard work and a deep abiding joy are not mutually exclusive, but hard work and fun are usually considered so. Maybe I sound like I'm splitting hairs, but to me the difference is important. The word fun, to me, implies a very superficial, short-term sort of pleasure, and I think it's something our society tends to over-emphasize. Of course I do want my daughter to experience the joy of learning and the confidence that comes with mastering difficult material, but I don't think the road to that destination is necessarily going to be filled with loads of "fun". I'm less concerned with my daughter's education being entertaining, and more concerned with it being transforming, enlightening, uplifting.

 

That's not to say we don't make time for superficial meaningless fun in our lives! In fact, my husband might say we do that too often. :lol: I'm only saying I don't think it needs to be part of school. Obviously, just my own opinion. Of course, going to the other extreme where school is mind-numbing, heart-crushing drudgery isn't the answer either. My goal is for her education to live and breathe. How well I meet that goal is debatable. But I try to find materials, resources, and methods that spark her interest and enthusiasm. If that fails, I make her do it anyway. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree: Yep, you said exactly what I meant, only you said it better :lol:

[EKS]

Not fun for the most part. Challenging, yes. Satisfying, yes. Interesting, frequently. But not fun.

[joannqn]

I don't think school needs to be all fun and games, but it doesn't have to be miserable and boring either. That said, my kids have to do subjects that aren't their favorite, but I do try to find curriculum that works well for them. We gave up Saxon because it caused tears every day. My daughter HATED math with a passion. She understood everything, yet it was misery day in and day out. I switched to MUS. She doesn't love math now, but she never cries over math and does it without a fuss. Same thing with LA. She knew 95% of the new material being taught each year (I didn't realize it was THAT repetitive for her) and she always asked if she had to do it. There were a lot of tears for LA too. When I finally clued in, I found different programs that weren't so repetitive, that actually taught something new and harder each year. Does she love it? No, but she does it without fuss. My kids have to do the work, but I try to find curriculum that works for them. If you're spending an hour fighting with a kid who's crying over the work, they aren't learning anything, kwim.

 

I try to add the fun stuff into other subjects. My kids like projects and experiments, so we do as many of those as I can make time for and can afford. We do a lot of field trips...museums, science centers, nature centers, plays, etc. My kids asked for drawing lessons, so we added that in. My daughter spends her Monday afternoons at a computer club and LOVES it. I schedule around it so she can have that fun activity.

 

So, I think there's a balance between you have to do it, adding in fun stuff, and ensuring it isn't sure drudgery.

[LibraryLover]

I have some related thoughts about this. I am going to veer a bit and try to come full circle to the topic at hand. lol

 

OK. Interesting & engaging are words I prefer when I butt into my children's' intellectual lives.

 

I've had many misses in the 'engaging & interesting' departments, even when i have used their interests as springboards. There is just no telling sometimes. ;) There are many times I think something is going to be fun, but it ends up that my kids are not interested. So , we move on. If it's not something I think is important, we don't do it. If I do honestly think there is value, we revisit it at another time, often with my fingers crossed. They certainly don't worry. Heh. ;)

 

We need (ime, in my observations) to work on writing skills around our place, and that is not always interesting or engaging to present or muddle through. Yet, I don't feel that I can send my kids out into the world without solid skills in this area. (Of course kids often decide later, some times much later, that they are interested and then they do it. Quickly, easily. I get that happens for some folks, but not for others. Some will want it, and some will never, and I get that as well. People are free to decide what their needs are. No argument from me in this regard).

 

I envy that certain things come so easily to some children, just as a part of living. FI, I've met an unschooled teen who loves to write, and who communicates well this way. He's never had a moment's instruction, or instruction that was prickly with a parent. He was never even a particularly voracious reader, but this was a skill/gift that flowed from his very being.

 

I never push skills on unready children, and I feel our family members are partners in this world of learning. Not all of my children ask for certain instruction, such as the mechanics of writing, but it's important in our computer culture to be at ease with such skills. Since I do think this is important, I want to try and help all my kids become proficient in this area. Then you might see me 'encouraging', you might see them get prickly for a bit. These are the times I hope they understand and trust...and plod on...

 

Other things, such as history...you can get by not knowing...or you can look something up (you might not be able to link it to other issues, eras, and interests, but you can live fine not knowing the whole story). Yet one can't fake clear written or oral communication. Are parents/schools/society responsible for helping kids learn certain skills? Why does society deem these skills important when they are not important to many individuals? Are all of us who want to teach certain things simply lemmings who do not think 'outside' the box?

 

More than fun, I wish that the more difficult skills, like writing, reading comprehension, and clarity of thought in communication happened as seamlessly as learning to walk & speak does for most kids

 

All this rambling to say that learning some of these things can be a bit challenging and tiresome at times; not so fun for some people, no matter how you do it, or even when you do it.

 

What I try to be is respectful, compassionate, and supportive as we go about our hsing life. There is nothing in me that could possibly make each day fun, and I do not think that's my job. My children will gain knowledge and skills with and without me. I am simply trying to live an authentic life here with my family.

Edited January 12, 2010 by LibraryLover

[JennW in SoCal]

My 14yo ds says it isn't conceivably possible to have it fun 100% of the time, but it is possible that it can, at the minimum, be acceptable and sometimes even enjoyable. He said fun does happen occasionally and that I am at least good at making it entertaining. (Don't know how to take that)

 

He said kids are wrong in expecting it to be fun!!

 

I tried to make much of school at least interesting by utilizing their interests as much as possible, and I make lots of silly jokes and draw silly pictures for correct math problems, so that must be the entertainment value he mentioned...

 

Haven't read the rest of the thread, but thought his reaction was interesting!

[Dawn in OH]

I try to make school fun, but sometimes after dealing with bad attitudes and people being slow pokes, there's not always time for fun. Chores have to get done, the toddler needs me, and we have to get Dad off to work on time.

 

The rule is that we will have fun when everyone does what they are supposed to do in a timely manner. I make sure that when there isn't time for fun they understand that it was THEIR doing and not mine. I always have something fun planned, whether we get to it or not is up to them.

[TXMary2]

I try to keep things fun for my little guy. We are currently doing a Rainforest Unit and making a mural that represents the 4 layers. He is having a blast with painting, cutting, pasting etc and he is retaining the information.

 

My 13 year old isn't looking for fun, he is looking for fast. The one thing he loves is reading, so if I keep him supplied with his type of books he rarely complains.

 

I would like it to be more fun, but I like to just get our work done and have fun other ways.

[jujsky]

Haven't read the responses, but I'm guessing this might not be a popular opinion. I think there should be some fun in school, but I'm not a big-believer in making every aspect of it fun. School is their job. Nobody likes every part of their job, but it doesn't mean they don't have to do it. As I tell my kids when they're complaining about doing school, I don't particularly enjoy housework and driving them around all over the place, but that's MY job so I do it.

[elise1mds]

I've skimmed over the answer so far, and they pretty much seem to correlate with what I find is happening here. First, I only have my one student, so games can get old quickly and big projects that take days to complete aren't on the agenda most of the time, either.

 

However, when I was sitting down last week and asking my son if he liked or disliked each item of curriculum and why, he surprised me with very specific answers. He LIKES grammar and math and writing. That's not to say they aren't "fun," but he doesn't mind doing them on a regular basis. I don't feel guilty about making him sit down and do the work as long as I know he's not hating every second of it. He doesn't really like his spelling book, so I'm looking at changing it. He is a reasonable kid. He LOVES science and history and music, so I can't argue there.

 

We do have fun things that we do in history or science each week, and he gets a huge thrill out of understanding a new concept or rattling off a new poem or definition and filling up his points chart, but school will never be wholly fun, and it's good to know that he understands that. He's just happy to be HOME as opposed to sitting in a class with a dozen other kids with whom he can't relate. As long as he's happy being home, then the "fun" part comes more naturally, I think. :)

[KrissiK]

Well, for my boys school is definitely not fun. I try not to make their lives miserable and they do enjoy history and science, but learning to read and do math isn't their cup of tea. When we started the phonics program, we did all the games and stuff, but the boys weren't really in to it. I tried to make silly sentences when we're doing writing, but it really ramps them up and then they get silly and start hitting each other and getting - well, you know how 5 & 6 year old boys can get, so we don't do too much of that. We just try to get through our morning as pleasantly as possible and then enjoy ourselves in the afternoon.

[DB in NJ]

Fun? No. But it can be enjoyable, as should all learning. But sometimes, it's just plain ole' hard work (which again can be enjoyable, but it depends on the worker, no?).

 

Mind you I'm in the middle of my 13th year of homeschooling (having graduated my oldest), and I gave up on trying to make it all fun a looooooooooong time ago ;)

[Desert Rat]

At their ages, I try to do fun stuff with them. Of course, my boys don't like crafts, coloring, etc. So, fun for them is baking, science and sometimes a cool history project. I try to be silly when I can. As they grow, I'm assuming school will be less fun and more work. I think that's how it's supposed to be. :o

[missmoe]

Sometimes. Not always, but its satisfying to do a good job and fun should sometimes be the reward for getting all that satisfying work done.

[patchfire]

I think that overall, learning something new can be enjoyable. Mastering a new piece of knowledge can be satisfying beyond belief. I don't think that this usually translates into "school is fun!" though.

[presley]

"On the other hand, all work and no play make Jack grab an ax and destroy the hotel..."

 

Sorry, this just cracked me up tonight! :laugh:

 

I've LOVED reading through this thread! This is the kind of stuff that gets my juices flowing to start the homeschooling journey!

[elegantlion]

Haven't read the responses, but I'm guessing this might not be a popular opinion. I think there should be some fun in school, but I'm not a big-believer in making every aspect of it fun. School is their job. Nobody likes every part of their job, but it doesn't mean they don't have to do it. As I tell my kids when they're complaining about doing school, I don't particularly enjoy housework and driving them around all over the place, but that's MY job so I do it.

 

:iagree:It may also depend on how you define fun. :D My ds and I are both goofy and when the tension gets too high I do better trying to diffuse it with humor and antics. Tantrums and me yelling do not work, tried it. I have purchased curriculum because others described it as fun, like LFC and LOF. Both work great in our house.

 

Having the ability to infuse some of our personality into a curriculum is important to me. That can lead to some "goofiness" involved, but it also gives him some ownership of his education.

 

For instance last week in science ds had to read a long chapter in biology. Reading is not easy for him and it took him an hour to read the chapter. To make it fun he decided to yell out "Fungi" each time he read the word. It made biology the running joke of the day. To me that was fun and a great reason to homeschool. You can't go around in a traditional classroom yelling out words while you read. :lol:

[swellmomma]

It depends on the child and the day. I would say over all no things are not fun for my older kids. Somethings I have changed over the years, such as dropping writing strands and starting meaningful composition (which they really enjoy). But other subjects like Grammar I will not change the curric I chose. My dd hates grammar with passion no matter what the curric is, so I am making the stick with the one I feel is best (R&S). It does lead to lots of whining, arguing etc, but that is a character issue not a curric issue imo. Other things are fun, like art, and music, and foreign languages (well at least they think these are fun though I just read straight from the TM).

 

I do add fun elements for most subjects such as in Math we use Manip's with the book Hands-on standards and play math games on Fridays, or the grammar board games we will sometimes play, or the hands on elements of science and history. I do not however turn every assignment/subject into a party each day. There is simply elements that must be done no matter how much you dislike/hate it and other elements that are fun and entertaining, I try to keep it balanced as much as I can.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

"It may not be fun, but it has to be done." Sigh. I am just not a "fun" mom. It truly stresses me out to try to be fun all the time, or even most of the time. However, I do my best to try to use resources that don't torture my kids beyond their endurance. :-) I'm willing to change things if something is not working and people are not learning. I'm just not into big projects, messes, or spontaneity. Free time is for fun, or taking a break from work is for fun.

[Peela]

Trying to make school fun burned me out very quickly in the early years.

So I surrendered to trying to pick curriculum to suit the child, trying to keep things interesting overall, balancing dry subjects with ones they preferred, having together time every day on the couch, having several outings a week....but not bothering to make maths or grammar "fun".

[Elohcin]

I think I didn't exactly know how I defined fun. This thread has been very thought provolking. I think I really am looking for challenging and satisfying, not fun. I liked the poster who said that fun should be the reward. So maybe for our family, I need to work on the challenging and satisfying and make fun the reward for the hard work.

 

Thanks to all.

[eternalknot]

"Should" school be fun? My personal philosophy is: Yes, as much as it can be so, whilst still learning the expected information. That's part of why I homeschool; for me and my kids, delivery matters. If we can learn the same information in a more 'fun' manner ... we do so. That can mean different things to different students, so it's all relative - no?

 

Fun for my kids is a whiteboard instead of paper. Scripting and acting out plays instead of outlining. Memorizing prepositions via Charades. Learning math facts as songs and dance steps. Field trips versus movies. Board games to supplement math and spelling/reading studies.

 

Fun for my friend's kids is readalouds at Starbucks instead of the living room. Green ink instead of blue or black for book reports. Movies versus books. Typing instead of writing things out. Doing math facts on the computer.

 

I think the concept of Fun is more of an attitude issue than it is a school issue. I have a job outside of the home that some of my colleagues love ... and some of them hate (and it shows). We all do the same work, it's just our attitudes that dictate the level of fun we make of and have with it. We approach our school with the mentality that Fun is influenced by attitude moreso than it is by subject or chosen curricula. Same applies to life - it's largely about how you view and use the things you have available to handle a given situation.

[tdeveson]

School is not fun here. I try to make it as interesting as possible, but frankly, most children don't think it's fun to be forced to sit in a chair and do math problem after math problem when they could be outside playing.

 

It's not fun for ds, it sure isn't fun for me. I see it as an inevitable part of our day -- something that needs to be done so we can move on to the things we actually want to do.

 

Sad, but true. Some people say they have a crazy good time schooling. My hat off to them. They're either extremely inventive, or they're awfully easy to please. ;) Schooling, for the most part, is my least favorite part of the day.

[CalicoKat]

I've been feeling the same way. I am not a creative, fun, teacher either. But my kids get distracted if I try to be so it's kind of a not all my "fault."

 

However to combat some of the winter blues & feelings of drudgery I decided that we could do 15 minutes of fun crafting before school. We're listening to a libravox book on tape while they're latch hooking or embroidering. We're having so much fun this week doing that we actually listened to 30 minutes!!! :D Robinson Carusoe

 

For me during that time I've been helping when they get stuck, running toddler interferance, and teaching preK to ds4.

 

I'd hoped to add a bit of fun and to give my ADHDer more of a transition-to-focus moment. So far this is working. Not sure how long the honeymoon will last.

 

The rest of their academics have gone smoothly this week and there's been better attitudes (even me) towards school.

 

Fun doesn't have to be huge or tons of extra work. Rearranging and making time for something enjoyable that usually is stuck at the end of the day can be the new fun.

[KrissiK]

This is my second answer on this thread, but I was thinking about "what is fun"? For my boys fun is being entertained, and doing what they want to do, playing. So, they're not going to really enjoy school, at least not most of it. When I was a little girl, I made a desk out of a cardboard box and followed my mom around the house and "played school". So, needless to say, school was fun for me. I loved school. I'd been really struggling about my kids' attitudes toward school until I figured out what they really wanted out of life and discovered that what they wanted wasn't going to be provided in "school" so I wasn't going to knock myself out trying to make things super exciting for them. I went down that road once and got really discouraged because the level of their enjoyment was in no way proportional to the amount of work I put into creating the lesson.

[lionfamily1999]

"On the other hand, all work and no play make Jack grab an ax and destroy the hotel..."

 

Sorry, this just cracked me up tonight! :laugh:

 

I've LOVED reading through this thread! This is the kind of stuff that gets my juices flowing to start the homeschooling journey!

That was the first thing that popped into my head, him typing over and over 'all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.' :lol: Modern movies CAN have good influences on parenting.

[rafiki]

.

[lllll]

Our top goal in homeschooling is to promote a love of learning and realization that it doesn't stop when school ends. I guess I'm doing alright seeing how my boys constantly sneak school work into their rooms, the car, ask to do more in the evenings, on weekends, and school has even shown up in the bags they've packed for vacation.

 

:lol: This reminded me of something that happened when we first began WTM - ds's were in their teens. We were getting ready to go to the beach for a week and I suggested that they each take along the GB they were reading at the time. I said the beach was a great place to do some reading - between all the other activities. Weeeell, their mouths dropped open (like so :w00t: ) and they sputtered exclamations of disbelief and horror (like so :ack2::eek: ) and declared that was the most disGUSTing idea they had ever heard (like so :smash:) ! But, oblivious and ever optimistic, I persisted (like so :nopity: ) and they took the books. They didn't read them a whole lot, but they did pick them up a few times.

 

Fast forward to today. They haul GB's, encyclopedias, and every other kind of book every ... where ... they ... go. They ALL read in the car (it makes me carsick to do this). They carry their book bags anywhere we go where they think they might end up standing around doing nothing. Our 16yod was reading a book as we were shopping in Wal Mart the other day.

 

Sometimes ya just have to plant the idea and keep 'selling it' until it takes, seems like. ;)

Edited January 12, 2010 by ksva

[Garga]

I always like to follow the advice of Mary Poppins in these matters:

 

For every job that must be done

There is an element of fun.

You find the fun and,

SNAP!

The job's a game.

 

School doesn't have to be all fun and games, but there's an element of fun in every job. Find it.

[Daisy]

No, I don't make learning fun.

 

Neither do I make it a misery.

 

My children do that.

 

Their choice. They can view learning as fun or as a misery. It's all attitude baby!

 

Do I add variety to our day? Do I provide real-life learning opportunities? Do I present challenges, routines, drill, creative outlets, etc? Do I try to keep a positive attitude?

 

Sure.

 

My kids know that the only person they have to blame for horrible boring miserable learning is themselves since **I** know how to whistle while I work. :D