Do you ever feel like your child would have more "fun" going away to school?

[MommyInTraining]

I feel like I don't have the energy or the time to provide my children with the stimulation they want/need. I hate hearing the word boring, because I feel like that is what it is like in our home when it comes to our daily routine. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Terri in WA

[Jean in Newcastle]

One idea: I get kid's fitness dvds/videos from the library. There is one called "Monkey Do" or some variation on that. It is a bit hokey but my dd6 loves it and my ds10 puts up with it. Actually once he gets into it, he starts to have fun. It is a good thing to put on for them when my brain/body is fried but they still need healthy stimulation that doesn't make a mess!

[Unicorn.]

Would they have more fun? Sure, and so would I :) (for a day or two anyway). When things start getting mundane and stressful, it is time to shake things up a little. Take a couple of days and only do the minimum. This week we are only doing math and spelling. However, my ds and I talked for hours yesterday about the issues facing us in the current presidential election. He is 11.

 

Take a walk, watch a movie, read something fun together, have a picnic in the backyard (or living room) for lunch. Sometimes just switching the routine around, doing math last instead of first, can help.

 

HTH

[Friederike in Persia]

I guess the others are right, they'd get bored there at times, too.

[Amy in Orlando]

I feel like I don't have the energy or the time to provide my children with the stimulation they want/need. I hate hearing the word boring, because I feel like that is what it is like in our home when it comes to our daily routine. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Terri in WA

 

Oh yes, they would have more fun. They would also have a bunch of dententions and they would most likely be learning very little.

 

Your kids are relatively young and I see you have new baby. Lighten up. Go ahead and have some fun. You'll find your way back to academics if that is what is important to you. (Think about it long and hard, what DID you learn when you were 9 that could not have waited until you were 10?)

 

Make cookies or dinner or both. Talk long walks. Visit the zoo or whatever you have near you. Start some art projects that you might or might not finish. Watch some Eyewitness videos or something else with entertainment and/or educational value.

 

Above all, do not underestimate the value of letting a kid get bored. Really bored. It's painful to watch (and to listen to the moaning about it) but once they're bored enough, they start doing some amazing things. Messy, crazy, strange and unexpected, but still amazing.

 

I say let it go for a few months until the baby is on a more regular schedule and you feel more like a human being. Then ease back into it. I promise you, the older kids will jump right up to where they need to be.

[MommyInTraining]

Above all, do not underestimate the value of letting a kid get bored. Really bored. It's painful to watch (and to listen to the moaning about it) but once they're bored enough, they start doing some amazing things. Messy, crazy, strange and unexpected, but still amazing.

 

 

Thanks Amy, I needed to hear this. I have been thinking that if they are bored then I am not doing enough for them.

 

I still would like to hear any suggestions though if anyone has them for make your homeschool "fun" for your children.

 

Thanks!

[Myrtle]

They'd have even more fun plugged into a Playstation II or permanently living at Disney World. :D

 

My kids have complained about particular assignments being boring and I ask them to propose an alternative. Sometimes it works. They'll say something like, "Can I just do phonics first?" Which is fine. Or, "I'd rather read this other book than what you gave me." And that's usually fine also. I've even let the younger ones spend the morning finishing up some play project they had going in exchange for a promise to do the work in the afternoon.

 

What's not okay is reject all school work as "boring" when it's really a passive aggressive form of defiance.

[Natalieclare]

:eek:

 

and focus on the concept of "interesting". ;)

 

This is Terri who met me at the zoo, right??? I am positive you provide a thoughtful and interesting learning atmosphere for your kids...and they are *neato* kids. I feel confident that if you treat them to a little "benign neglect" (as I've heard it called) they will rise up and find lots of ways to have fun.

 

Here, though, are 2 enemies of self-entertaining kids:

1)too much screen time

2)maternal over-addiction to neatness

 

In our house, it does seem like fun==creativity==mess.

 

But I enjoy that.

 

Do you think doing a little "delight directed" learning might be in order for you and your kids? Every now and then, we take a break from the linear learning for rabbit trails, and those are always our most fruitful times of learning.

[MommyInTraining]

Hi Natalie:D! So good to hear from you!

 

I don't think I am asking my question very well. I feel like I don't have the time to give my children what they need. I don't feel like I am engaging them enough. I have been thinking that they would be better off in a classroom setting where the activities are tailored to them. It really isn't an option. I would never want to send them away to school. But, I hate the feeling that I think I am not doing enough for them. I guess I just can't seem to figure out how to take care of a 5 month old, keep a 2 year old entertained, feed the mind of a 4 year who is yearning to learn, teach a 6 year old boy who wants adventure, and instruct a 9 year old who just wants mommy to give her some direction.

 

So, I guess a better title for my post would have been--- "How do I DO this???"

 

When do I take the time to plan everything out that needs to be done?

[Plaid Dad]

Only if "fun" means "easy enough that I don't actually have to think."

 

And I'm pretty sure that classroom "fun" would turn into "mind-numbing boredom" once my dd realized that she already knows everything being taught her in grade at the local school.

[Natalieclare]

wouldn't have dared to answer! I'm having a tough time figuring that out this week, too! :o

 

But here are a couple of thoughts....

 

I think when a baby is 5 to 8 months old is a really difficult time because you feel like you really ought to be past the newborn stage and be as productive as you were before the baby was born. In reality, however, you are still spending tons of time nursing and suffering from exhaustion because chances are the baby isn't sleeping quite as well as you'd hoped. Leastaways, that's how it always is for me!

 

I think at times like this it's really important to renew our minds, ask the Lord, "what do YOU want me to do? What is YOUR priority for me and my kids?" It's so easy to slip into patterns of expectations that are not necessarily bad but may be distracting us from our ultimate purpose.

 

(((Terri))) There have been some great posts lately about managing time and priorities--I got lots ta learn!

[Amy in NH]

More fun at school? Heck, yeah!

Mom makes them *work*!

 

If they're complaining about being bored, I always give them a choice of finding themselves something to do or me finding them something to do (more chores or schoolwork). We don't have TV, so that is not an option. They have invented a wonderful "pretend" game (kinda like a talking-only D&D) that they can play anywhere, and often fights ensue over when they'll be playing it next. They also spend lots of time outdoors on the swingset (even the 13 yo) or roaming around, and upstairs playing Lego or reading (on their own!!). IMO, boredom is the mother of invention, and too many kids nowadays don't get necessary boredom-time!

[Mrs. Readsalot]

Just kidding!

[EarleneW]

My answer is no. My ds's answer is no. He hated school....well the 7 months he was in it this year. OK, I take that back, he LOVED PE. A homeschool PE solved that. He is SO happy to be back home.

[Laura K (NC)]

I think the extent of it was that people who are bored are dangerous and you should stay away from them.

 

Kids really need not to have to rely on an external stimulus for their fun. That's one of the beauties of homeschooling, I think, that my kids have more time and inclination to generate their own fun. And if they can't do that, then there are always chores to do. The system is self-motivating!

 

Now if only "fun" didn't come tethered to a game system so often... :mad:

 

Edit: Now that I've read the post where you say how old your children are, I have to back up a bit and amend my words. I was referring to older children, not younger ones. I actually did enroll my kids in preschool when they were 4 so they could have more stimulation than just the channels on the TV. That did help, and I don't regret it at all. I wasn't one to get out the playdoh too often, so a teacher with a ready-to-go craft or other activity each day was very helpful to me when my kids were young. It does get easier! Hang in there!

[GreenKitty]

Of course, the grass is always greener, for a little while anyhow.

[Linda in Oregon]

and I only have 3 children. I can imagine how you must feel. What it comes down to for me is.....that it's just really hard being responsible for every aspect of every child's health and education. Are they being challenged and stimulated enough intellectually, is this curriculum a good fit for him/her, are they getting enough physical activity, social time, eating the right foods, sleeping enough, helping out around the house enough, one-on one time? And, then there's the laundry, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc., etc. It's just plain hard being responsible for all these things.

 

Every child is different, too. My kids are 10, 8 and almost 6. My 2 oldest kids hardly ever walk around saying they are bored because they will read for hours and hours on end and be fine with that type of stimulation. My youngest, however, is bored everyday all day - or so he says. Now, this child is quite a bit different than my other two. He totally needs a ton of physical activity and playtime and social time. Not to mention, the child really demands to be challenged and stimulated mentally - yes, an almost 6 year old. My reality is that I end up feeling like I can't provide everything this child needs. I don't have a solution for this yet, but I am aware of it and I'm thinking about how best to deal with it.

 

I like what other people have said about taking some time off to just do fun things with everyone. That has helped us in the past, too. I just don't know if it's enough (for us). I'm still working on this!

 

And for what it's worth, we don't watch tv (except on special occasions) or have computer games.

 

Best of luck to you and this situation!

 

Linda in Oregon

[momo4]

I don't know if anyone else said this, but my children are not allowed to get bored. Being bored is a choice. I always tell them, "(Substitute your last name) Boys don't get bored.) It works, they are never bored and never say they are bored. There is always something to do in life, even if it is just sitting and praying or thinking about something you would like to do.

 

But at the same time, I do wonder if one of my ds would enjoy public school, because he is so social. But then I think of what that would mean in our lives and I see the dc that are walking to or from school and I am so thankful we are not in the ps system. Way too many pros to homeschooling and cons to ps. The dc that are in ps here do not look very healthy or happy. They get a lot of terrible socialization too. I feel sorry for them.

[Audrey]

Of course, the grass is always greener, for a little while anyhow.

 

 

You took the words right out of my mouth.