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back from spring break, how to get back in the routine plus writing help
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I have 4 kids: ds11 dd9 dd6 dd4. My hands are pretty busy with schooling them and we also have a family business. It seems that all my kids are dreading school work. We just came back from spring break. Any ideas how to smooth the process back into work? Also,can you guys offer any great advice on how to make this more fun for them? My ds has difficulting writing, due to a childhood illness, so he dread anything writing. It takes him much longer to write than my dd9. So he is very discouraged in this process. Any ideas on how I should help with that? It is hard with my two yongest when I help with the older two. I don’t want to put them in front of the TV while I work with the older two. Any ideas on how to keep them going while I’m busy elsewhere?
Handwork and folding clothes (wash cloths and napkins are where we start) are a couple of options for the littles while you work with the older two.
Girls tend to take off in writing earlier (at least that was the case when I taught school and has been the case with our own children.) He will get the hang of it after some diligent practice. Is he able to narrate? How are his dictation skills? Being able to get words onto paper takes quite a bit of time to learn. Learning to get someone else’s words written from copying to dictation helps get that process flowing.
This might take a year more, or longer for him to be able to do, but it is possible that he just needs consistent practice for it to all come together.
Making it fun? Timers were a helpful tool for my kids. They liked the idea of short lessons, but dawdling and less than neat work needed to be nipped in the bud. Timers helped them see that if they focus on what they are supposed to be doing, it takes much less time to get it completed…..leading to fun games, or outside time.
Changing up the routine throughout the morning/day helps, too. Alternate written with oral activities. Do some fine arts activities, then reading. We like to start the day with Bible study and math. We don’t want to miss these, so doing them first means they get done.
Looking forward to out of the ordinary activities adds fun, too. I’m thinking kites!
Thanks for your reply.
He does pretty well with narrating after I tell him not to start with what happened last. So usually when I ask for narration he tells me what happened last from our reading. Once he tells me that I have to remind him there is a sequence to the story. Can he tell me what happened first that led to what happened last.
Towels and washclothes are a good idea. Thanks! We are usually behind in chores so that will help, thanks.
Thanks for the idea of the timers. I know that the kids can get their work done in a timely manner because they have done it before when they wanted to play with their cousins. 🙂 My dd though gets over anxious when she is timed and constantly thinks about the time instead of how to do her work. Any advice on that?
Thanks
Our youngest stressed over the timer. So, I had her just practice her best for a short time (I had the timer on vibrate to remind me in my pocket.) This way, she learned to build up length of time she’d work diligently, but didn’t have the stress of the timer. It worked in the same way because she learned to trust that I wouldn’t forget to let her take a break.
If you haven’t done this already, maybe try giving your older kids their own copy of the school schedule. Each of my older kids have a copy, and it has really helped my oldest in particular to keep going, he likes seeing when he is finished, but did not like the timer or clock. He spent more time worrying if he would finish than actually working! Their schedules do not have “times” marked (mine does), their copies have the subjects listed in order in blocks. For example one child has up to 30 minutes to work on math, reading, copywork, playing the recorder, etc. with me while the other child is doing independent work. My schedule says 30 min, theirs just lists those subjects in order for that particular day, since some subjects we don’t do daily. The daily subjects I changed the order on a little bit to help keep it fresh; some days math is first, other days it’s reading. The only actual time they have marked are when we start school and our snack time.
I also added in some morning outside play time this month. As long as everyone has finished their morning chores we go outside for a half-hour and they usually ride bikes. It’s been wonderful after the long winter. They are very motivated in the morning, otherwise they miss the extra outside play time and have to wait until the afternoon! When we come inside in the mornings, they get a quick break and then we go right to the couch and I read aloud. After this my 3 year old is ready to play quietly by himself on the living room floor while we do the rest of our school work. I think it’s helped him to get outside right away and he also feels more part of school now since the first books we read on the couch are for him. (Previously, one of my older kids would play with him quietly while I worked with the other one on school work, then they would switch. All that practice playing quietly in the same room has helped!)
Anyway, maybe seeing the order of subjects to be done would also help motivate them, if the clock is too distracting. My oldest also got upset about the timer/clock, so I had to quit using it. This has worked well for him.
Activities for the younger two: puzzles and floor puzzles, tangrams or pattern block activities (there are teacher books with ideas like tangrammables and patternables), play dough, cutting and pasting activities like cutting out your grocery coupons, Kumon books, or Never Bored Kid Books, drawing and coloring. These can all be done while listening to classical music and/or audio books. You can get free downloads at LibriVox, or many libraries have them. Tristan has a blog post about changing out activity boxes: http://ourbusyhomeschool.com/in-my-homeschool-sharing-what-works-linky-week-6/
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