So frustrated!

[Susie in CA]

I just need to vent for a moment!

 

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool. We seem to be the only ones who don't. I always love listening to ideas from various posters like KarenAnne, Lori D. etc. I love the suggestions on how to make things more engaging for the kids, and how to include things to look forward to throughout the week, month or year.

 

Now to our household. It seems that nothing to my boys (10 and 12) is interesting or engaging. By nothing I mean anything which is not Yu-Gi-Oh or Video Games. All I hear is complaining. Enough said. I guess, I don't even have a question. I just hope someone here has faced this and came out 'alive' on the other side (if son please let me know).

[Colleen in NS]

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool. We seem to be the only ones who don't.

 

:lol: Oh, trust me, you are not alone.

[5LittleMonkeys]

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool.

 

 

:blink: Who is this everyone you speak of? I can think of many, many words to describe our homeschool, but harmonious and fun don't make the list. Okay, I take that back...maybe, out of the 180 odd days we school, there might be 5-10 of them that I could use both of those words to describe a portion of the day. Maybe if I only had two dc we could reach this elusive homeschooling nirvana. Then again, I think that in reality no one has perfect days all the time, even those with only one dc to teach.

[QuirkyKapers]

I

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool. .

 

 

Don't feel bad.....doesn't always happen in this household!

[Snickerdoodle]

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool. We seem to be the only ones who don't.

You're not the only ones.

[KristineinKS]

Now to our household. It seems that nothing to my boys (10 and 12) is interesting or engaging. By nothing I mean anything which is not Yu-Gi-Oh or Video Games. All I hear is complaining.

 

Oh no, you're not the only one, my boys are the same way (which is why 2 are now back in PS). Every single assignment is a battle and it gets really, really old.

[Mimm]

Some people talk about only the good parts. Sometimes because they want everyone to think they are perfect, but sometimes they just don't want to dwell on it or they aren't excited about the downside so they don't share it. I don't often talk about the negatives. I'm not trying to portray things as all rosy around here. But I don't really come on here to talk about the bad unless I'm looking for advice to solve a specific issue. I'm guessing a lot of people similar in this regard. I would have a very hard time believing that anyone has a perfectly harmonious homeschool. Really, we're all human and no one's kids are perfect. So I just don't buy it. :)

[Lily_Grace]

Now to our household. It seems that nothing to my boys (10 and 12) is interesting or engaging. By nothing I mean anything which is not Yu-Gi-Oh or Video Games. All I hear is complaining. Enough said. I guess, I don't even have a question. I just hope someone here has faced this and came out 'alive' on the other side (if son please let me know).

 

Oh, hon. I've been right there. Right down to the Yu Gi Oh. 5th grade was the year I said enough and included the Dangerous Book For Boys as part of his curriculum to kick his butt into other interests. I gave him the book, a pocket knife, compass, geocaching login, and a few other things to get him into the great outdoors. That worked for him.

 

Some people talk about only the good parts. Sometimes because they want everyone to think they are perfect, but sometimes they just don't want to dwell on it or they aren't excited about the downside so they don't share it. I don't often talk about the negatives. I'm not trying to portray things as all rosy around here. But I don't really come on here to talk about the bad unless I'm looking for advice to solve a specific issue. I'm guessing a lot of people similar in this regard. I would have a very hard time believing that anyone has a perfectly harmonious homeschool. Really, we're all human and no one's kids are perfect. So I just don't buy it. :)

 

And this. We all have our ups and downs. I just find that if I write about the bad things and vent then that's what I dwell on. Looking for the happy helps me to not throttle him on a weekly basis.

[mazakaal]

Well, I haven't 'come out alive at the other side' yet. I'm still hoping for that part. But I know exactly what you feel like. I completely freaked out to dh on Monday night because I was so frustrated with getting work that was sub-standard from dc. I know they can do better, but are just too lazy to really concentrate on a lot of their work. I've done everything I can to make it fun and engaging, but they're just not into it. So if you're not alone. :grouphug:

[lewelma]

In one regard, homeschooling is very much like teaching in a brick and mortar school -- 50% of your time is teaching the material and 50% of your time is working on behavior/attitude/study skills/motivation/etc.

 

Expect it, and you will be pleasantly surprised if it is not.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Guest Barb B]

Ah - I am right there with you! I still remember when it hit me - because we homeschool, I was expecting my kids to have fun at it and say how much they really love it. Well, it hit me - they are normal kids and just like kids who go to a public or private school - they really don't like it. My ex- h said they other day - you know they said they don't like school. He meant this as an insult to me and homeschooling. " Well, I just said - of course not! They are normal kids, not many kids say they actually like school!"

 

And ages of your kids - yep! Its just not cool to get excited about school!

Barb

[Jen+4dc]

Some people talk about only the good parts. Sometimes because they want everyone to think they are perfect, but sometimes they just don't want to dwell on it or they aren't excited about the downside so they don't share it. I don't often talk about the negatives. I'm not trying to portray things as all rosy around here. But I don't really come on here to talk about the bad unless I'm looking for advice to solve a specific issue. I'm guessing a lot of people similar in this regard. I would have a very hard time believing that anyone has a perfectly harmonious homeschool. Really, we're all human and no one's kids are perfect. So I just don't buy it. :)

:iagree: I can't think of a single day in my 4+ years of hsing that I could use both of those words to describe.:glare:

 

5th grade was the year I said enough and included the Dangerous Book For Boys as part of his curriculum to kick his butt into other interests. I gave him the book, a pocket knife, compass, geocaching login, and a few other things to get him into the great outdoors. That worked for him.

I'd LOVE to hear more about this!! I have one ds who would do nothing but watch movies and play computer games if I would let him. It's a constant source of conflict to enforce the screen-limiting rules around here. How did you schedule/plan/implement this??

:bigear::bigear:

[seraphina]

Sorry things are tough, it's certainly not all rainbows and unicorns here, well i don't think there are any rainbows or unicorns in this predominately male household. But yeah boys this age are tough. My ds (12) complains a lot, trying to get him to write is like pulling teeth and everything is boring. But I know one day he will grow out of that, it's just a stage, things will get better. Until then, hang in there and know you are not alone.

[Susie in CA]

Thank you so much for your upbear responses. I feel much better already. Off to start a new day! :001_smile:

[elegantlion]

I just need to vent for a moment!

 

It seems everyone has a harmonious and fun homeschool. We seem to be the only ones who don't. I always love listening to ideas from various posters like KarenAnne, Lori D. etc. I love the suggestions on how to make things more engaging for the kids, and how to include things to look forward to throughout the week, month or year.

 

Now to our household. It seems that nothing to my boys (10 and 12) is interesting or engaging. By nothing I mean anything which is not Yu-Gi-Oh or Video Games. All I hear is complaining. Enough said. I guess, I don't even have a question. I just hope someone here has faced this and came out 'alive' on the other side (if son please let me know).

 

I've been surprised by my ds this year, he seems engaged. We do have fun in school, simply because it's either that or go insane.

 

About 9 or 10 my ds told me he didn't like school. After a huff of a day or two, I told him it was okay, I didn't like school that much either. I pointed out the benefits of homeschooling vs. public/private school (like no shoes and sleeping in) and we plugged along. About that age I started listening to what he had to say about learning. He started getting opinions (no surprise in this family!) He started having preferences.

 

I listened and it made a world of difference. I didn't completely separate his love of Yu-gi-oh or Pokemon. I allowed him to read Pokemon for school, we had years of issues with reading. Reading ANYTHING was a small victory. You want to learn Japanese because of Pokemon, okay. We're working on that one still. You want to study Asian history? Okay. We took a year off and studied Asian history, probably our most interesting year of history.

 

You like video games, great. Do you like the art aspect, the gaming aspect? Do you want to learn more about computers? Ds edits video walk throughs of his games and posts them on youtube. He knows more about video editing than I do. When does he do this? AFTER the school work is done. Computers have become his thing, he doesn't play a sport, he explores computers. Knowing he has time to pursue that has made him a happier kid.

 

Also if you look at some of the cards you'll notice ties to classical education. Ds proudly gave me a few yu-gi-oh cards. The Trojan Horse, Athena, and Man Beast of Ares. Oh, and the Mechanical Hound from Fahrenheit 451 too. We discussed what kind of background people might need to produce those cards. Some of the artwork on them is quite intricate.

 

Ds got excited because he understood the background of these cards. We do make school fun by tying in cultural relevance to what we are studying. We still do that even though he has moved beyond Yu-gi-oh and Pokemon.

 

Finding some of those inside "secrets" in current culture has helped ds appreciate his education.

 

This year we're reading Lord the Rings, Beowulf, and Shakespeare. We're still making them relevant, but at a higher academic level. Last year we rewrote Shakespearean sonnets, we made a redneck and Dirty Jobs version.

 

It takes some creative thinking to bring their interests in, make it a skill learning activity, and not ruin the interest. Some days it feels like tug-of-war. I'm not sure my ds still really likes school, but he shows up everyday, we laugh a little, and his work habits are much better this year.

[missmoe]

I had a son that sounds alot like your sons. I just dropped him off for his first year of college last week! I'm rather proud that I didn't kill him some where along the way.

[Lily_Grace]

 

 

I'd LOVE to hear more about this!! I have one ds who would do nothing but watch movies and play computer games if I would let him. It's a constant source of conflict to enforce the screen-limiting rules around here. How did you schedule/plan/implement this??

:bigear::bigear:

 

It was our Friday afternoon "class". Each week he'd pick something from the book to want to do more of -starting with, of course, the knife :001_rolleyes:. So for Friday's lesson we practiced carving Ivory soap and over the weeks he slowly moved up to a "real" knife and soft wood (the first knife being a dollar store Swiss Army style). Any time he got stuck with trying to figure out what to do next I took my turn. I'd had a bit of survival training and love minimalist camping so I took him on long hikes and learning to read a map with his compass. The book has a list of suggested items to have in the front of it and I threw them all in a box as part of his first day of school gift so he was ready to do most of what was in there.

 

It really did bring out so many more passions for him! Currently he's into archery, so after some basic lessons I bought him a long bow to see if he'd stay interested. (he has, I think it's time for the short bow) And woodworking! We couldn't build the treehouse in the book but I did get a basic book and small tool kit for him so he could make some smaller things. Even the more boring pages in the book have been read over and over and he likes to use it as a quick reference guide now. But the main thing was he had to feel productive. Like, the lessons he was learning meant something in the bigger picture. He had an accomplishment at the end of the day that wasn't one of the three Rs. He's not into sports, doesn't like team activities, but this was something he could do and help him feel more independent (well, as independent as you could get with mom watching!)

[Jen+4dc]

It was our Friday afternoon "class". Each week he'd pick something from the book to want to do more of -starting with, of course, the knife :001_rolleyes:. So for Friday's lesson we practiced carving Ivory soap and over the weeks he slowly moved up to a "real" knife and soft wood (the first knife being a dollar store Swiss Army style). Any time he got stuck with trying to figure out what to do next I took my turn. I'd had a bit of survival training and love minimalist camping so I took him on long hikes and learning to read a map with his compass. The book has a list of suggested items to have in the front of it and I threw them all in a box as part of his first day of school gift so he was ready to do most of what was in there....

 

Thanks!! I love this idea. Dh and I will have to talk about implementing something like this!

[PeterPan]

Peace is what you get after you go through a storm.

[mazakaal]

I'm rather proud that I didn't kill him some where along the way.

 

:lol:

 

It's so good to hear that they can grow up and actually manage to get into college.

[Capt_Uhura]

I had a son that sounds alot like your sons. I just dropped him off for his first year of college last week! I'm rather proud that I didn't kill him some where along the way.

 

Congrats Missoe!!!!!

[Susie in CA]

Peace is what you get after you go through a storm.

 

Ah, you are so wise. I am looking forward to the peace. :tongue_smilie: Actually, yesterday has been so much better already. Maybe this is just the typical start of the new year. And as 8filltheheart said, the brain is a muscle and it takes time to build it up after a long break.

 

Thanks everyone for your encouragement.

[Lizzie in Ma]

Some people talk about only the good parts. Sometimes because they want everyone to think they are perfect, but sometimes they just don't want to dwell on it or they aren't excited about the downside so they don't share it. I don't often talk about the negatives. I'm not trying to portray things as all rosy around here. But I don't really come on here to talk about the bad unless I'm looking for advice to solve a specific issue. I'm guessing a lot of people similar in this regard. I would have a very hard time believing that anyone has a perfectly harmonious homeschool. Really, we're all human and no one's kids are perfect. So I just don't buy it. :)

 

:iagree::iagree:

There are some great, honest, day in the life posts if you search.

Maybe it is time for me to write another one, I think I will go do just that so check my blog in an hour or do, :)

Wrote one, the good, the bad and the ugly.

http://www.aworkinprogress.net/2011/09/day-in-life-or-how-it-really-works.html

Edited September 15, 2011 by Lizzie in Ma

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Susie~

 

No boys but :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:.

 

Dina

P.S. It can be like that with girls also!

[Momto3indians]

I love that 'Dangerous Book for Boys' idea!!!!! My boys would have loved that!!! (they're young adults now!) How about a co'op? We drifted in & out of those over the years. We used them 'upon need'...and it worked all the time! Some co'ops even had sports teams and hard teachers that gave ....gasp...'tests!' We would drift back to 'traditional homeschooling' each time but I'd say that those years we did co'op or found a small group mtg. in a home for a given subject like science...it was always a success on that accountability factor...sometimes pressure like that is a good thing!