ChristusG Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I thought we could be one of those fun, hands on learning type of homeschoolers who does projects and my kids have a love of learning. And then I began actually homeschooling my daughter. :glare: I try fun projects. They are met with rushed and hurried attempts to finish. My daughter would rather me hand her a workbook page, and her complete it, so that she can be off to do as she pleases. She's very much a "check the box" type of kid. She wants a list of what to do, she wants to check it off, and she wants to see how much longer until she finished. She doesn't want to "waste" time drawing a photo or coloring a picture to go along with a science lesson....she just wants to get it over with! Any other kids like this? I'm referring to my 8 year old 3rd grade daughter in this post. My kindergartener is still too young to tell what sort of learner she will be. No fun homeschooling here. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddykate Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Yep! All four of my kiddos are exactly like this. I say we get the " business " of school done so that we can move on to real life and real fun. They now do their own experiments and their own charts, etc. I just had to get out of their way so they could get to it :) Our latest experiment was hatching seven baby chicks in my entryway. They kept a scientific notebook and journaled about each step...all without my prompting. So, yeah, I feel you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I have one of those kids too. Very efficient, loves checklists, never has enjoyed projects or coloring or crafts. I'm just thankful that he likes to read and learns well that way. Great kid, just no tolerance for "nonsense", LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgiven Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 All three of mine are like this. Every time I've tried to do something fun, I end up disappointed because of their lack of enthusiasm. No fun crafts or lapbooks here. They like to get down to business and get their work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 We never do hands on learning experiences. No activities from the Activity guide with SOTW. They would drive my kids nuts. Mind you they sometimes come up with experiments. Today Youngest said he wanted to do an experiment with wax. We happened to have lots of skinny short white candles. So I lit a candle, gave each boy a pile of candles and a tinfoil container and said go for it. They made pools of wax, burnt candles at both ends (literally) and sometimes from the middle melting through the wax with a flame till they reached the wic. They watched how flames moved, tired to light smoke, tired to use coins and other toys to leave imprints in hot wax. They covered there fingers with wax to see that it creates a protective layer. They had candles hunks floating in water. They poured hot wax into water. They put out candles by dipping them in water... 2 hours of experiment later and they were done, but according to them they want to start up tomorrow because they have more ideas of what to do. Now if I had said, "This is the experiment and this is what you use, and .... (insert lesson here)... " it would have been a flop. My instructions were simple. "Sit far away from your brother so don't burn him. Stay at the table. Don't set anything on fire (With the exception of other candles, without asking first." (They did end up using the flame to roast frozen peas). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I thought we could be one of those fun, hands on learning type of homeschoolers who does projects and my kids have a love of learning. And then I began actually homeschooling my daughter. :glare: I try fun projects. They are met with rushed and hurried attempts to finish. My daughter would rather me hand her a workbook page, and her complete it, so that she can be off to do as she pleases. She's very much a "check the box" type of kid. She wants a list of what to do, she wants to check it off, and she wants to see how much longer until she finished. She doesn't want to "waste" time drawing a photo or coloring a picture to go along with a science lesson....she just wants to get it over with! Any other kids like this? I'm referring to my 8 year old 3rd grade daughter in this post. My kindergartener is still too young to tell what sort of learner she will be. No fun homeschooling here. :glare: I'm a grownup, but I'm like this, and I was as a kid as well. To me, projects are fluff. They disorganize my thoughts, distract me and make a mess. What I loved as a kid was outlining. Now that's a project ! Give me a bunch of information that I am supposed to learn, and leave me alone to outline it. If you give me the outline already done to begin with, I will be even happier, because then I will just get to work on making sure the information is properly organized according to the outline, and committing the entire outline and everything it covers to memory. I love to have information well organized outside of my head, and then use that to get it organized in my head. Projects only distracted me from learning the way I wanted to. But I will say that labs, real labs, in college, were very different. I like doing experiments that I design, or that I use the data from to write a report. I like to plan the experiment, collect the data, and get it plotted, and start analyzing it. Most school projects felt utterly pointless to me, but experimental labs were great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I was like that. My oldest two though would rather do the work and have me leave the creative stuff to them. I've now got the idea that past the very young grades I should just give the kids skills and content and stop trying to push myself into their creative lives. They'll do the fun stuff on their own, I don't need to be constantly imposing myself and school stuff on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceFairy Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 My DS is that way....and he is only 5.5 years old. He wants workbooks. Period. It actually makes things easier for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Just 'cuz I'm mean like that, I'd probably let the projects go but use things that don't involve any workbook pages at all, like Sonlight, or Beautiful Feet Books. :D Alternatively, there'd be major unschooling happening...again, no workbook pages, no checking things off, no parent-instigated projects, just children working out things on their own (although there would be reading aloud from good books, and regular field trips, and household responsibilities). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I thought we could be one of those fun, hands on learning type of homeschoolers who does projects and my kids have a love of learning. My boys prefer to get their school work done so that they can do projects of their own choosing. It is just their personality and as long as they don't give me sloppy work, I let them be. They have been like that way before kindergarten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicklepede Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I was one of those students. "Fun" projects were torture to me and I hated school. I couldn't wait to get home and just read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillian Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 DS hates projects if I won't let him put his own spin on them, so I do. Yesterday he was supposed to build an Egyptian style sledge using Popsicle sticks and he ended up carving the sticks with his dremel. Whatever. The project was extra and he used the time differently than he usually would (he tried something new). He loves any project if he's doing it with other kids. In addition to various outside classes, I'm trying a once a month science experiment class at my house. He loves going places, although he has definite opinions about field trips (not complaining, just saying, he doesn't love going anywhere). We go on a lot of field trips, mostly art and science museums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Can we swap kiddos? 'Cause mine loves hands-on stuff and projects. I'm cool with that, but I work full-time and don't have tons of time to plan all kinds of lengthy projects. If I had a check the box kind of kid, it would make life a lot easier on both of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 FTR, *I* would not have been inspired by doing a coloring page or a hands-on activity that accompanied a science *lesson.* If the project itself were the lesson, or if we just did science-y things, that would have been better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Both girls love activities, but Sylvia is the closest to no-nonsense. If she wakes up early, she'll get a head start on whatever she can do independently just so she'll be done and able to play sooner. That bothers Rebecca, for whom the concept of "getting work done" is foreign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I thought we could be one of those fun, hands on learning type of homeschoolers who does projects and my kids have a love of learning. And then I began actually homeschooling my daughter. :glare: I try fun projects. They are met with rushed and hurried attempts to finish. My daughter would rather me hand her a workbook page, and her complete it, so that she can be off to do as she pleases. She's very much a "check the box" type of kid. She wants a list of what to do, she wants to check it off, and she wants to see how much longer until she finished. She doesn't want to "waste" time drawing a photo or coloring a picture to go along with a science lesson....she just wants to get it over with! Any other kids like this? I'm referring to my 8 year old 3rd grade daughter in this post. My kindergartener is still too young to tell what sort of learner she will be. No fun homeschooling here. :glare: I will switch my 3rd grader for yours. She ONLY wants to do arts/crafts/projects, etc. for school and I HATE it (but do it for her) because I am this: I was one of those students. "Fun" projects were torture to me and I hated school. I couldn't wait to get home and just read. I'm praying I have just one child who learns like I do. My K'er is a workbook lover so there is hope. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misty.warden Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 You're in good company it seems, OP. Mismatches between teaching and learning style happening to homeschoolers rocked my world, I thought we were immune! I was that kid though. Group projects, art add-ons, trifold cardboard posters decorated to be "creative" as well as informative, all bored me to tears. Just let me read the textbook. If I want to do handicrafts it has to be because it was my idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Fun is relevant. When you skip all the things your daughter doesn't like (that are optional) you are the fun teacher. Your idea of a fun teacher also happens to be my kids idea of a mean teacher, since they to hate activities and crafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Oh, please let's trade kids! I am so not a fun mom, and my oldest wants all the hands-on stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'd never thought of it but I am not keen on fluff either. Why spend hours producing a poster to show information that you learnt in five minutes? If I want to do crafts I will do a craft that gives me a desirable end result not something that no-one including me wants. Also why go to great lengths to prove something you already know is true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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