mom31257 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 My ds is naturally funny, and I'm to the point that I don't want to do oral work with him anymore. I hate to crush his humorous nature because he really is funny, but it is driving me batty. The older he gets, the better he is at it and the more he is doing it. I want to be able to laugh and have fun with schoolwork, but I'm a serious person most all the time. What's odd is that he acts like he really wants to get school work over so he can play, but his humor makes it all take twice as long. If you have boys who are continually being funny, how do you deal with it when it comes to the oral work of school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 My ds is naturally funny, and I'm to the point that I don't want to do oral work with him anymore. I hate to crush his humorous nature because he really is funny, but it is driving me batty. The older he gets, the better he is at it and the more he is doing it. I want to be able to laugh and have fun with schoolwork, but I'm a serious person most all the time. What's odd is that he acts like he really wants to get school work over so he can play, but his humor makes it all take twice as long. If you have boys who are continually being funny, how do you deal with it when it comes to the oral work of school? I don't have the answers but just wanted to commiserate with you. My boys can be really funny and creative during school. Sometimes, it can make spelling, FLL, and WWE excruciating for me...CWP too. I understand not wanting to crush that creative spirit, but there's also a time to be serious about work. I haven't found the 8yo and 6yo balance for that yet. Most of the time, I'll let them enjoy the hilarity for a short period of time and laugh along with them before we get back to business. I've started limiting the number of sentences they can come up with during spelling. They could keep besting each other all day and I don't have time for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 I don't have the answers but just wanted to commiserate with you. My boys can be really funny and creative during school. Sometimes, it can make spelling, FLL, and WWE excruciating for me...CWP too. I understand not wanting to crush that creative spirit, but there's also a time to be serious about work. I haven't found the 8yo and 6yo balance for that yet. Most of the time, I'll let them enjoy the hilarity for a short period of time and laugh along with them before we get back to business. I've started limiting the number of sentences they can come up with during spelling. They could keep besting each other all day and I don't have time for that. It's at least good to know that I'm not alone in this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 My ds is always trying to be funny. Trying being the operative word here. It usually involves some talk of pooping, farting, etc. when asked for a verb....stuff like that. It makes getting through FLL excruciating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Does anyone have any advice? Please??:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 My ds is naturally funny, and I'm to the point that I don't want to do oral work with him anymore. I hate to crush his humorous nature because he really is funny, but it is driving me batty. The older he gets, the better he is at it and the more he is doing it. I want to be able to laugh and have fun with schoolwork, but I'm a serious person most all the time. What's odd is that he acts like he really wants to get school work over so he can play, but his humor makes it all take twice as long. If you have boys who are continually being funny, how do you deal with it when it comes to the oral work of school? Listening in as I have a funny guy too, one whose attention wanders too. When it comes to school, unless we're chasing rabbit trails, I'm a "get er done" type of person and it's nutty here too. Imagine next year when I'll have dd5 joining us too :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LillyMama Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 :bigear: Got a six year old version here. His little sister, although the better seat-work student, can be just as bad during read-alouds. One thing I've done, not that it's made it perfect, but I've let them "earn" one goofy day every two weeks. They have to do their chores and do school work well to get it and we keep track. On "goofy day," they can make jokes and laugh, get up and run, dance, choose the loud music, whatever. They still have to do their work, but our behavior standards are, for lack of a better word, relaxed That gives me this to say: "Today is not Goofy Day, so that behavior is not okay. But if you fix your behavior then maybe you can still work to earn another Goofy Day for next Thursday." This hasn't fixed my problem, but it's a little bit better. But I want to hear others chime in with advice! (On a side note, I've always found it interesting that we never hear much about SWB's brother. I feel like we know that he was homeschooled, too, but he doesn't seem to be writing books about it, unless I've missed something. I'm wondering if the classical method isn't a bit harder on boys. Not that we're not going to strive for it, but I'm finding I make a lot of creative concessions. I definitely don't remember reading about Goofy Day in TWTM...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeves Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 One thing I've done, not that it's made it perfect, but I've let them "earn" one goofy day every two weeks. They have to do their chores and do school work well to get it and we keep track. On "goofy day," they can make jokes and laugh, get up and run, dance, choose the loud music, whatever. They still have to do their work, but our behavior standards are, for lack of a better word, relaxed That gives me this to say: "Today is not Goofy Day, so that behavior is not okay. But if you fix your behavior then maybe you can still work to earn another Goofy Day for next Thursday." This hasn't fixed my problem, but it's a little bit better. That's a great idea, especially for younger ones! Because I have several goofy boys, I am dealing with this issue alot! But the thing I try to remember is what our goal is. Our goal is to train our children to recognize what is appropriate behavior in different circumstances. So if the behavior is interrupting or interjecting funny things while someone is talking, I would remind them that it's disrespectful to interrupt, even if it's really funny. If the behavior is that the responses to questions are silly or a joke, I remind them that it is disrespectful to someone to not take their questions seriously. If the behavior isn't necessarily wrong or outright disrespectful, but just slowing things down, I remind them that they are being disrespectful by taking up time that I had scheduled for something else (sometimes I have stopped a subject because of this and made them work on it during their free time--this takes discipline on my part because then I have to give up some of my time!). Those are just ideas, and by no means does it always work, but I find that if I start reacting to their joking because I'm irritated with their silliness, it just ends in frustration for both of us! If I keep the goal in mind, there's plenty of room and opportunity to be funny (even in the context of the lesson sometimes), but it makes it easier to see when they need to be corrected! Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeves Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Oh, and just a word of encouragement, as you train them, they DO get better at recognizing appropriate times for joking and then you can really enjoy the jokes (even if they're not funny :D), because every boy wants to make his mom laugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I have a ten-year-old boy like that. I have been working with him on *only* sharing things that directly relate to our current school subject. This makes him think about what he is going to say instead of just blurting out any funny thing that pops into his mind. He can still be funny, but it is far less annoying to me when he isn't interjecting every few minutes. Also, I have sat down and explained to him how his constant comments add to our school day. "Son, I plan on this subject taking 15 minutes. When you add your commentary to it, it stretches the lesson out to 30 minutes, doubling our time. If you do this four times in one day, you have just added one hour of school to our day." (I see "mom25boys - bless her heart!!! - has already said what I was trying to say.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Lilac Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 My main thought is that teaching our kids there's a time and a place for certain things is a huge life skill. I'd sit down and tell him that you love and appreciate his personality and sense of humor, but there's a time to be goofy and there's a time to get work done, and remind him that he needs to obey you. Let him know there's plenty of time for him to play and be silly outside of school time. After that conversation, I'd say make a schedule so he's aware how much time you have allotted to each subject. Sit down with him to do a subject, and let him carry on, and when the time's up, just say, "Well honey, the 15 minutes I had set aside for spelling are over. I'm going to go work on some housework, just let me know when you're finished." And walk away. Sitting there without an audience will likely get boring real fast. You may have a day or so where he sits there for a loooooong time......and where his other activities/privileges have to disappear in order for him to have time to get his school done. But after that, I'd think it would sink in. Another more outside-the-box suggestion would be wait till there's something he wants- say just before a meal or snacktime- and you can stand there in the kitchen in front of him with the steaming bowl of macaroni or the yummy granola bar in your hand and crack knock-knock jokes for a loooooong time. When he gets REALLY frustrated with you and wants you to knock it off and give him his snack NOW, you'll have a great teachable moment conversation about him knowing now how YOU feel. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 If it's any consolation, it may be a stage or something that changes. I actually had a CONVERSATION today with dd about school stuff she was reading, something that was sort of unheard of in our house for years and years and years. She was really prolific with narrations and whatnot when she was young, got tight-lipped, and then just spent years scowling at me not wanting to talk. Now all of a sudden she has something she wants to say, and she's saying it! So maybe when your ds is a little older the farts will go because he'll have something he really wants to talk about. :) BTW, I didn't really force lit conversations, etc. etc. during those years. It did no good anyway. If what he's got are go-bugs and wiggles, might need to give him more sensory or a more productive way to funnel that energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.