30 min. on a handwriting assignment! 30!

[Sue G in PA]

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH! :willy_nilly: At this rate, the kid will be til midnight doing schoolwork! ARRRRGHHHHH. Forget math. Forget spelling or anything else. Handwriting. His assignment was to copy a scripture verse from ARFH...less than 10 words! It took the kid 30 minutes (actually more, but I didn't count the first 15 when I wasn't actually sitting in his lap holding his hand!). Please tell me this will get better. I'm ready to ship the kid off to ps! This is my 7yo, btw. I won't even get into the other children and their behavior. Chocolate. I.need.chocolate...laced w/ rum.:D

[Parrothead]

I feel your pain. Dd used to be slower than molasses on a cold winter day doing handwriting. I found sitting there and watching does the trick. Sometimes she would get lost between looking at the word/letters and trying to write them. If she got slow, I'd spell each word out loud for her to write. Things went much faster that way.

[~Tara~]

Well, I haven't any chocolate for ya but I do have the rum at least heehee

I soooo know that feeling. We've had those 30+ minute simple handwriting assignments as well. I just want to choke the child!!

 

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

[Unicorn.]

I'd like to tell you it will get better, but I'm an honest person and I just can't lie. I have 2 that are like this. Ds spent 1 1/2 hours and did a whopping 2 problems in math today. He is 12. He might not make it to 13. :D

 

No advice, just :grouphug: and lots of empathy. Oh, and lots and lots of virtual chocolate! With and w/out rum! :lol:

[Quiver0f10]

:grouphug: come on over I have warm chocolate chip cookies. We can hide from the kids and eat all the cookies.

[Twinmom]

BTDT. Over dictation, handwriting and the like, my 7 yr old DS will whine, cry, throw himself onto the floor in hysterics, wail, complain, insist that I am torturing him, complain that he has a hand cramp...the list goes on. Simple fact is, he hates to write. Nothing will convince him that this is necessary save age...and maybe a girlfriend! :D

 

I've got a stash of chocolate chips in the basement...want to come hide down there with me and eat 'em by the handful? :tongue_smilie:

[Erica in PA]

Maybe this will make you feel better, or at least know you're not alone... this morning I read from our Family Bible to my 12 yos, almost 8 yos, and 6 yod. It was the story of Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the temple, and Simeon and Anna recognizing Him as the Messiah. A simple, straightforward story. I had to shush my younger two several times as I read, and encourage them to pay attention. As I came to the end, I realized they weren't listening... after asking them a few questions about what I had read, to see where they had gotten off-track, I realized... neither of them had heard ANYTHING I had read. Nothing. I asked them to name one person that was in this story...they couldn't name Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna...nothing. There was the typical lame Sunday School guess (".......Jesus????"), but they hadn't heard a single thing I had read. In his defense, my 12 year old had been listening and could tell me what happened. But the other two... arghh!!

 

It's a terrible feeling to feel your blood boiling over the reading of a *Bible Story.* And yet, that is where I found myself this morning. After I somewhat collected myself, I thought about natural consequences, and told them that since they hadn't listened to the Bible reading, they would have to learn the story through copying it instead. I summarized the story in a paragraph for ds, and about 5 long sentences for dd, which was agony for each of them, and took them at least 45 minutes to write. I think they will listen better to my reading next time, though! :bigear:

 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, for both of us!

 

Erica

[Pata]

I soooo understand! My dd has been known to spend up to 45 min copying one sentence (this includes the whining, complaining, bargaining and various other anitcs). The only thing that has worked is to set the timer for 10 min. and tell her that if she doesn't finish by then, she will have the assignment doubled and she will have to complete it during her normal free time. So far, so good, but I really feel your pain!

[amyable]

:grouphug: I understand too. My oldest is giving me more gray hairs - handwriting and math together take forEVer. I can't do those first or the rest of the family never gets to the subjects we all do together - because the 10yo is still doing math!

 

I'll join you all for some warm cookies and laced whatever. :lol:

[Mom-ninja.]

This is why I've found I love this board. I learn that there are other kids like mine and other moms who go crazy dealing with them.

 

I like the timer idea.

[PeterPan]

Oh I can top that! Today my dd spent an hour on 4 minutes of timed abeka speed drills and one test! In the *2nd* grade book!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (she's age 9, and these usually take her no more than 10 minutes total) It was just one of those days, oh my. I told her she should figure out her problem and wake up more pleasant tomorrow. We'll see if she does. If not, I'll probably just send her back to bed. I declare I think half of it is growth spurts and needing more sleep. Bad enough having to put up with MYSELF being grouchy, tired, and burgeoning pregnant, but to put up with a grouchy kid is just too much. :(

[Sue G in PA]

So glad I'm not alone. Want to know what finally worked? My ds10, who can be so aggravating himself at times when it comes to schoolwork, challenged his brother to a "race". He said, "Bet you can't finish that sentence before I finish this whole page!". Ds7 loved that idea and finished the last 5 words in record time (which, for him, is about 10 minutes!). I am forever in ds10's debt. He got an extra 2 "chips" for that.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'd like to tell you it will get better, but I'm an honest person and I just can't lie. I have 2 that are like this. Ds spent 1 1/2 hours and did a whopping 2 problems in math today. He is 12. He might not make it to 13.

 

Yep....sometimes there are just THOSE days. Tues and Wednesday Algebra was what had ds in tears at a couple points, me ready to strangle him once or twice, and me discuss with dh shipping him off to PS.

 

And then I remembered Aunt Flo is coming soon and that Algebra IS tough and that there WILL be rough days. Oh, and the chocolate hubby brought me home helped too! Talk about a coincidence!

[jenn-]

Ok all you mommies with older kids are supposed to say "it's just a phase" so that us with 7-9yos have some glimmer of hope that it will eventually end. DD has been known to spend an hour doing a 5 minute timed test before.