Ting Tang Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) Last year, we exchanged Valentine's Day cards with other homeschoolers from an online group. I didn't do that this year for my kids because I have been on a Facebook break and haven't been active in that group. My husband is on his way home with goodies for the kids, but for the last day or so, my son has said he should have Valentine's Day off and now today is just the worst Valentine's Day in his life. He also had a math quiz but basically wants me to do it for him with all the "help" he needs. My assessment of last week's lessons is that he should have this material down. I really do not want to return him to a physical school, but wow, I am having one of those days thinking my life would be so much easier if I outsourced his education. It's probably more of an attitude/work ethic thing. He tries to do the bare minimum far too often with everything, and he probably isn't too focused on really learning things at times. He's 10. Sometimes I wonder if I can do this homeschool thing long term. My other kids are much more cooperative. Edited February 14, 2022 by Ting Tang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Homeschooling isn't about doing the easy thing. But ten year olds are a difficult age. Ok - 10 to 12 year olds. . . Might be time to get out a "carrot"? ie. "We'll take a break for a Valentine's Day activity if you get this math done correctly." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 We had that last week with a barely 12yo who was working on not making it to year 13. He and dad sat down and worked out a solution. It includes a lot more "whole child" stuff and a day a week where dad takes over for a few hours so we stop butting heads. When I looked at each day as an isolated thing, it was an easy fix. When I looked at the bigger picture, it was a lot harder to see the fixes actually working. Best of luck to you. In the meantime, Jean has it right. The "When-Then" statements are easiest here to get results. "When you are done with this, then we'll do that." It sets the ball back in his court and allows him to wrestle with himself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianthus Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) @Ting Tang My ds10 is my most difficult, but he's also the middle child. My standard answer when they think they should get bday or minor holiday off is that kids in B&M schools don't get the day off. However, I am planning fun activities today. Do school differently today to make it fun. Maybe tell your son instead of math, he can bake cookies and half the recipe to get division/fraction practice. Make spelling a list of Valentine related words. Talk history of Valentine's day. Make cards for someone. Do a good deed to show love. That's nice your husband is making the day special. Edited February 14, 2022 by Spirea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Tang Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 5 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said: Homeschooling isn't about doing the easy thing. But ten year olds are a difficult age. Ok - 10 to 12 year olds. . . Might be time to get out a "carrot"? ie. "We'll take a break for a Valentine's Day activity if you get this math done correctly." It is definitely not about doing the easy thing, lol, I am discovering! Dad came home with some treats and he did a Valentine's Day word search, and his attitude changed, thank goodness! 5 hours ago, HomeAgain said: We had that last week with a barely 12yo who was working on not making it to year 13. He and dad sat down and worked out a solution. It includes a lot more "whole child" stuff and a day a week where dad takes over for a few hours so we stop butting heads. When I looked at each day as an isolated thing, it was an easy fix. When I looked at the bigger picture, it was a lot harder to see the fixes actually working. Best of luck to you. In the meantime, Jean has it right. The "When-Then" statements are easiest here to get results. "When you are done with this, then we'll do that." It sets the ball back in his court and allows him to wrestle with himself. Thank you. I will have to remember this formula! We recently enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do. Not to become a fighter but because I felt he needed interaction and I am hoping the discipline aspect will help. 4 hours ago, Spirea said: @Ting Tang My ds10 is my most difficult, but he's also the middle child. My standard answer when they think they should get bday or minor holiday off is that kids in B&M schools don't get the day off. However, I am planning fun activities today. Do school differently today to make it fun. Maybe tell your son instead of math, he can bake cookies and half the recipe to get division/fraction practice. Make spelling a list of Valentine related words. Talk history of Valentine's day. Make cards for someone. Do a good deed to show love. That's nice your husband is making the day special. Yes, thankfully my husband decided to do that because it saved our day, lol. I did let them do some Valentine's Day activities, and he did a word search. And I see our next math unit is a comprehensive review of fractions, thank goodness! lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 (edited) The only difficult year I ever had homeschooling my older was the year that he was 10. Some ages are just hard for some kids, whether they have social problems, an academic struggle, a puberty hormone surge that makes them act wacky... Edited based on the post below - my older has always done sports, but for a while in the tween years kid got up and shot baskets for a while first thing every morning. They said that it helped them to focus. They no longer do it, but for a while it seemed important to them. Edited February 15, 2022 by Clemsondana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 11 hours ago, Ting Tang said: We recently enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do. Not to become a fighter but because I felt he needed interaction and I am hoping the discipline aspect will help. I bet he enjoys that! We realized that sports were good, but the most important thing for my oldest was an hour of physical activity in the morning. When he started the day with something that worked his muscles, he did better for the rest of the day. It's what we're now finding with the current 12yo. Yesterday he did half an hour of yoga, half an hour of hockey drills, and then sat down happily for Latin and math. It is amazing what it does for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Tang Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 18 hours ago, HomeAgain said: I bet he enjoys that! We realized that sports were good, but the most important thing for my oldest was an hour of physical activity in the morning. When he started the day with something that worked his muscles, he did better for the rest of the day. It's what we're now finding with the current 12yo. Yesterday he did half an hour of yoga, half an hour of hockey drills, and then sat down happily for Latin and math. It is amazing what it does for him. We ought to try this… great thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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