Help w/ 5yo not wanting to do school...

[hollyh]

I just had a baby, kids all just got over chicken pox, the stomach flu and everything else that could possibly go around, I wasn't even home for 2 weeks b/c of the risk of the baby getting chicken pox, etc.... So this past 4-6 weeks we haven't really done ANYTHING. I am trying to start back up again, but just the mention of doing school work has made dd groan. She didn't do this before. She liked school. She says that she has enjoyed not doing any school and just playing all the time. ...That's nice, but I do believe she needs to do school and this child in particular is much better behaved when she has structure (which she really hasn't had lately and she is kind of driving me crazy).

 

So, any ideas on how to inspire her to LIKE school again?

 

Another thing I need help with is that she doesn't like being "tricked" into learning (as she would put it). If I simply ask her math questions when she is not doing school work - she complains that I'm making her "do school". I want to instill a love for learning - not this negative attitude re: learning that I am seeing right now. I'm figuring that somehow we have gotten off track and she is not enjoying things/ I am not making things fun enough for her, but in all honesty, I don't really feel that is true. I'm not sure what to think of her comments. How do I instill a love for learning all the time - what am I doing wrong? ... She is a very bright child and gets things very quickly - it's not that she doesn't like to learn so much as she doesn't like to be taught/to realize that she is learning - if that makes any sense?

[Rosie_0801]

I think it is perfectly normal for a 5 year old who usually likes school to go off formal school for a while and I would think that a good time to take a holiday. However, I know what you mean about behavior because mine goes feral if we take too long a holiday, no matter whose idea it was or what else we're doing with our time. If I were you, I'd try starting with phonics and art (or something new and different,) then leave it a while before adding the other subjects back in. I'd also do it when your baby is napping so it is focused mamma time.

 

My dd is a little younger than yours; she won't be 5 for a few more weeks. I wouldn't care how long a holiday she wanted to take if it wasn't for her speech therapy, so last time she went on strike, I reeled her back in with some Kumon workbooks and she tolerated the speech so as to do them. After a few weeks she got back into the groove and willingly did the rest of what we usually do.

 

Rosie

[melissad2]

Just make it fun...that's what I do. Everything is a learning experience at that age right?!? I focus on one reading lesson a day with my 5yo but he just turned 5 and we are not starting anything too structured til the fall. My goal is to have him reading by then ;)

[Leav97]

Ease back into it slowly. Start with just 1 or 2 subjects this week, add a couple next week, ... There seems to be level of excitement around the start of the school year that makes jumping in with both feet more doable then when it is the middle of the year.

[m0mmaBuck]

There are times with my younger that "school" looks like this:

 

-Why don't you draw something while DS10 does his math?

-Why don't you go organize your toys in bins while DS does English?

-Do you want to play Sum Swamp with us? (or War, Moose Tracks Bingo, Scrabble Jr, etc)

-You need to write your thank you notes for your birthday presents. Do you need help?

-Do you want to color this unicorn while DS10 and I are doing history?

 

You get the picture. I guess in a way she is being "tricked" into school but she doesn't seem to mind when she feels like she is just working/playing in the background while DS10 is the one really doing school.