Any wise words for this homeschooling family....

[Prairie~Phlox]

This came through on my local group, the boy is 7 for crying out loud. I want to respond gently, Any advice?

 

 

Oh Wonderful and Wise Homeschooling Moms and Dads! Our family is in our second year of homeschooling, and we are hitting some hard walls of reluctance to do school with my oldest son, 7. We are pursuing a dual curriculum (Judaic Studies (like he would have at a Jewish Day School) and Secular Studies), so our day is longer than the average HS kid his age (but not the average Jewish Day School student (8am-4pm)) Any suggestions or advice how to positively motivate a reluctant student -- I am not so positive by nature and I struggle greatly with this. I have tried intangible incentives, treats, unpleasant chores to do if the schoolwork isn't done. The only thing that seems to work is the threat that he won't be able to go to his fencing lessons and then he will still not do his work until the last moment!! The rest of my family is held hostage by this pipsqueak!!! Yael

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Oh dear, I wouldn't know what to say. My 7yo children didn't do more than 3 hours of school, with frequent breaks. If I were 7, I might rebel too. .

[turnin' 360s]

:iagree:

[lovemyboys]

This came through on my local group, the boy is 7 for crying out loud. I want to respond gently, Any advice?

 

 

We are pursuing a dual curriculum (Judaic Studies (like he would have at a Jewish Day School) and Secular Studies),

 

Any way to encourage them to look for overlap or redundancy and eliminate some of that? Are they familiar with WTM and love of learning concepts and all that? I'm not being facetious, I wonder if it's worth discussing/suggesting that? At age 7, he doesn't have to know all about everything but it's a great age to awaken and enrich that love of exploration and adventure. Good luck.

[Danestress]

We have this mental idea of what children a supposed to know from school - all the subjects they are supposed to master. And then we think of something extra as .... well..... extra. But if Judaic studies is really important to you, build a curriculum around that - don't just layer it on top of everything.

 

I would think of ways to use Judaic studies as a springboard for writing, handwriting, story time. Math, of course, might need to be handled as a seperate subject. But I would focus on what is most important to my family.

[Stacy in NJ]

I would point out to her that the average Jewish Day School (8-4) would include alot of non-academic time much like at regular public schools. I would gently suggest that this much time on task may be a bit much for a 7 year old.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Thanks everyone. someone who is very serious about early learning posted about the Robinson Website and this was the other response. I'm going to respond this afternoon. We have co-op that I'm leaving for here soon. Now, I do not know this family at all, so I probably won't respond very much, but I do want to encourage her to let him be a kid also.Thanks,

Phlox

 

This is what the mother wrote:

 

I have started to read through the Robinson website -- I do try to let him self-teach as much as possible -- most of our Judaic studies, but he has to read the verses he learning for the day out to me to make sure he is pronouncing them correctly (in Hebrew) and math (we use Saxon 3 -- I read the script out to him, but he does everything else by himself). For grammar we use a scripted program which I am not so crazy about but haven't seen/heard of anything I would rather use (has to be through but not heavily Christian), in science and history we read out loud to the family and do narrations, handwriting is all by himself again. The issue happens most when we all wake up and they would rather play than pray their morning prayers. Then they don't eat breakfast, get started on their day of school, etc. There is some dawdling through the day, but using timers seems to get him going and finishing his work. So, it's mostly getting him started. I do need to work on being creative in teaching methods, but I do feel he will learn some important skills in being self-motivated. I was speaking to his father (at work at the time) today on the phone about this ongoing issue and I said I should look into how to enroll him in the public school. He scrunched up his face and started to work faster :)

[FriedClams]

I have a 7 year old also, and we take academics very seriously, so I can feel her pain. What I see are a couple of things -

I do try to let him self-teach as much as possible - He's 7 and I think for most 7 year olds that's unrealistic. There are some, yes, that can do it. But I think it's way too much to expect a 7 year old to stay on task for Hebrew, math, handwriting, etc. Just sitting with my kid makes a huge difference - even if I still expect her to complete the assignement without my intervention.

math (we use Saxon 3 - Most 7 year olds are starting 2nd grade, Perhaps the material, while doable, is a little tough for the age and maturity and requires a little more intervention by the parent. It is a grade level ahead and isn't Saxon a little tough? (We use Horizon's so I have no idea). Mabe cut a few unnecessary problems, do some orally, etc.

 

Then they don't eat breakfast, get started on their day of school, etc. There is some dawdling through the day, but using timers seems to get him going and finishing his work. So, it's mostly getting him started. - I would build in 20-30 minutes of play time. Get breakfast done, dressed, chores by 8:00, school starts at 8:30. Then the kids are responsible for their time management - with reason and reward.

 

but I do feel he will learn some important skills in being self-motivated. - An admirable and reasonable goal - but not for a 7 year old. They are learning. They are growing. If they could self-teach and self-school themselves everyone would homeschool. We need to pick specific habits for our goal of them becoming self motivated and work toward it. She's well on her way - I think she just needs to see that he's really only 7.

 

HTH! They sound like a neat, focused family with great goals for their kids. I think our 7 year olds would be great friends!

[tricia]

Personally, I think it is overkill. With 21+ years of home schooling and 12 kids to boot I have learned this harsh reality. (The hard way)! For that age I think that 3 hours is tops. And that should be spread out through out the day.

 

Tricia

 

http://www.mommyx12.blogspot.com

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

No way would I recommend 3 hours of school for a child as old as 7. He would be doing way more than that even in public school. JMHO.

 

My dd7 does anywhere from 5-6 hours of schoolwork a day with 2 light days of around 4 hours each (she is in 4th though, not 2nd and some of her courses are middle school level). After the schoolwork is done dd has the rest of the day to do as she pleases. She has a weekly checklist and it is up to her to get the work done. She does do at least 50% of her work independently, usually a lot more but I do NOT have a typical 7yo.

 

I try very very very hard not to nag or show stress when she is taking too long to do her work. Her natural consequence for taking forever is having less time to do what she wants. I have to show her that this does not effect me- only her.

 

There have been times when dd has come in from the dance studio and instead of watching TV or playing before bed she has to finish schoolwork. Guess what- some of her public school dancemates are doing the same thing. I do allow dd to assign herself homework- as long as the assignment has been started during the school day. I think it teaches good time management and study skills that will serve her well as she continues her education. There will be no Mommy or teacher in college making sure she knows what she is supposed to know and meets her deadlines.

 

I am really lucky to have my MIL on my team. She also reminds dd what a good thing it is to finish her work early. She even told her last week, "One day when you are done by 2:00 call me and we'll go shopping." God bless MIL!

[Hen]

I'm thinking that is too much, too.

 

I am schooling 5 kids, 2 of them are 8 year old boys. Our serious schooling happens between 9 and 10- we do a very short bible verse or character study story then math, handwriting a short history reading or map work. Then at 10 they have a snack and a 15 minute break to go play. 10:15 or 10:30 we start up again till lunch. After lunch I grab them each separately for 20 minutes of phonics and sometimes for one more subject- another quick 15 or 20 minutes.

 

I make sure to get the core stuff done first, all the other stuff is icing each day.

 

I figure when they are 11 and up, then we can go for a longer day and self-teaching.

[Soph the vet]

Public school and Jewish Day school kids are going to have longer days due to the inefficiency of crowded classrooms, waiting for others to finish their work, lining up for bathroom breaks, recess, and lunch, etc. More than one veteran homeschooler (with academically successful kids) has advocated a half hour per grade level from grades K-4. That would mean 2 hours per day for your typical 3rd grader. I have a 3rd grader who spends 2-3 hours a day on everything except piano practice. He's working well above grade level. Kids need some unstructured time to explore, imagine, and create. So much learning does not happen at the table.

I hope her ds does not grow to resent school and learning in general.

[rafiki]

.

[In The Great White North]

:iagree: The half hour per grade sounds about right. My junior in high school doesn't spend from 8 to 4! The only way we get up to 8 hours is if you count snack and lunch, recess, violin practice, trumpet practice, free reading and PE (swim team).

 

One thing I noticed was that she reads the "script" to him (in Saxon 3). That is a waste of time and he is unlikely to understand it. Just show him how to do the problems and let him go. Say it in her own words.

 

The dawdling is a discipline issue, not a schooling issue. It will rear its ugly head no matter where he goes to school. In fact, public school usually makes discipline issues worse. She needs to work on this NOW, while he's 7, or she will be totally miserable for then next 10 years

[melmac]

No, I'm afraid it would be too hard to try to reason with this type.

[Aggie]

Public school and Jewish Day school kids are going to have longer days due to the inefficiency of crowded classrooms, waiting for others to finish their work, lining up for bathroom breaks, recess, and lunch, etc.

 

I agree with Soph the vet with no pet. :)

 

It takes longer to make sure 20 students get a concept than it takes to make sure one student understands. What used to take me 50 minutes to explain to 25 students, my one dd understands in 10 minutes.

 

Aggie

[Bess]

I'm trying to understand what in the world she is doing that is in line with the Robinson way. Robinson stresses the three r's only. Sounds like she is doing way more than that!

[mompotter]

I would point out to her that the average Jewish Day School (8-4) would include alot of non-academic time much like at regular public schools. I would gently suggest that this much time on task may be a bit much for a 7 year old.

:iagree:

[Tree House Academy]

I disagree with the 3 hours being too little for a 7 year old comment. You definitely do not have a typical 7 year old! My 9 year old, using Calvert and about everything else I can find to supplement the boring program with, is almost always done within 4-4 1/2 hours.

 

That said, before I brought him home this year, he attended Public school for K-3rd grade. In 2nd grade, he was 7. His school day was from 8:15-3:15. He had one hour for lunch, 30-45 minutes for recess, 30 minutes for extra type classes (computers one day, music the next, then PE, etc). They took bathroom breaks four times a day and spent 15 minutes doing that as a class. Then, when they did math, the spent a certain segment of time on it - say, 1 hour. If my son was done in 20 minutes (which he normally was), then tough turkey. He sat there until the rest of the class finished. That meant that, for 40 minutes, he doodled on his paper, talked and got in trouble with his friends, and so on.

 

There is a HUGE difference between 8 hours in a public school and 3 hours of one on one study in homeschool.