How do you keep from skipping around?

[mhaddon]

I find I get bored with certain things very easily. This isn't my children's fault. Although they will try to get out of school all the time. I feel like the new wears off and I'm ready to try something else. How do you push through and keep going? Is it because I haven't found the right thing yet?

[cherylw]

You just described me to a "T". I'm self-diagnosed ADD but if there is a good thing about being broke this could be it...I don't have a choice but to stick with something because I don't have to money buy anything else! Sticking with any sort of routine is also a big problem here.:001_unsure: Sorry, no help from me but know your not alone.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I find I get bored with certain things very easily. This isn't my children's fault. Although they will try to get out of school all the time. I feel like the new wears off and I'm ready to try something else. How do you push through and keep going? Is it because I haven't found the right thing yet?

 

I keep my own nightstand full of interesting reading. I work through The Well-Educated Mind. I have learned not to confuse their education with my continuing education. I make sure that my kids have a rich curriculum, with wonderful reading selections...most of which I've already vetted by reading myself. When I find myself growing bored of their materials (because I've researched, read, sometimes even worked through them myself), I remind myself that it is my boredom, not theirs. I entertain myself with resources appropriate to my own age instead of switching them from their carefully researched curricula and (really amazing) book lists.

[mom2boys030507]

I spend lots of time looking at many curriculum options. I have learned to only purchase what I am going to use now not what I am going to use in 6 months.

 

I have chosen what we are using for the basics -Math and Grammar - These do not change. I may add to them when I feel we need to. Or use something else to teach the topic but I always come back to my main choices for scope and sequence.

 

For History, I am committed to about a four year cycle being chronological. I have tried many things. Some working, some failing. Some fail because of me, some because they are not right for my boys. I am learning that I don't like to use the same thing for a long period more than 3-4 months. This knowledge has allowed me to have various plans while still covering the same basic knowledge. For example, we have been using Simply Charlotte Mason this fall, but will soon start Time Travelers. The time periods will be the same if I use either but the change in how we look at and work with the information will change. This is good in our house as our needs change and we are stuck inside more in the winter which allows more time for crafts. My boys love to the crafts but if it is nice I want them outside. Science ends up being similar except it is much more interest led in my house. I have certain things I want the boys to get but they also get to direct more of our science studies.

 

I am finding that having a balance in what we use is our key. I need to be able to change things up but don't want to create holes. My boys need some thing to be the same or they are always trying to figure out what is expected for school. At this point, this is working for us but is subject to change at any time.

[Hunter]

I have learned not to confuse their education with my continuing education... I remind myself that it is my boredom, not theirs. I entertain myself with resources appropriate to my own age instead of switching them from their carefully researched curricula and (really amazing) book lists.

 

:iagree:

 

And using this free

helps keep me focused. It's just a folded up piece of large art paper, but when I USE it, it helps me stay focused. To switch curricula, I need to erase things, and while I'm erasing, it makes me aware of what I'm wasting. I also write down what I THINK I will need to purchase a few months down the road, and WAIT till then to buy it. I also add my non education expenses to the grid, so I can see what else in other areas of my life will be neglected while I'm wasting resources.

 

When I'm about to make an impulse purchase I force myself to pull out the planner, and think "Ooops. That doesn't fit in with my big plans.

 

On my to-do list is to update my planner. When it's not up to date, it's too easy not to consult it.

[MerryAtHope]

I find I get bored with certain things very easily. This isn't my children's fault. Although they will try to get out of school all the time. I feel like the new wears off and I'm ready to try something else. How do you push through and keep going? Is it because I haven't found the right thing yet?

 

Possibly. Some things that help me:

 

1, using a literature-based curriculum. I LOVE reading good children's literature to my kids and have read aloud to them since they were babies. A good book should transcend time. And, this way I always have something new to read.

 

2, Find something to marvel at. When we read history or science, I looked for things I had never learned before. I was always saying, "I never knew that!"

 

3, Incorporate multi-sensory methods that you enjoy. I don't love project-based curriculum, but I do on occasion love a good art project, or a fun activity. When we read about Cleopatra (when my kids were about 9 & 7), my daughter "the actress" wanted to act out the part where Cleopatra hid herself in a rolled-up carpet. So we rolled her up in a blanket and let her jump out and surprise us. My son used to love to act out Beowulf around this age too. And when we studied knights and castles, we got a bunch of large cardboard pieces and turned the livingroom into a castle. The kids played in that castle for months. For math, find some fun manipulatives. The other day I caught my 13 year-old building with Cuisenaire rods! And she has made incredible designs with pattern blocks. They're just fun to play with and kids learn through play. Sometimes I get my kids started on an art project or manipulatives, and then I just leave them to explore on their own. The ages of your kids is a great age for pretend play, let them do as much as they want.

 

Not everything is fun, of course, but if you have something fun or interesting to look forward to, that helps us all to work through some of the more mundane but necessary things.

 

Merry :-)