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Frustrating day, advice needed
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Today we finished our second full week of school. My older son (almost 11) is settling in quite well, though he will still occassionally complain that his misses his friends at PS. I can leave a list of independant work for him and know that he will get it done while I am working at the office. At this point we can accomplish guided work (review/correct his math, and I can monitor his copywork etc.) in about 20 mins.
My younger son (7 with ADHD) requires a great deal of effort to keep him on track. Family subjects take far too long to get through because he is disruptive — talking about anything and everything that comes into his head, whether it’s related to the subject or not. He is constantly saying “sorry to interrupt, but…” If we work at the kitchen table where he can draw or colour while we listen to our lesson (my older son prefers this) then we have the challenge of him wanting to ask for a snack or drink constantly, even though we’ve just finished lunch. He will play with his pencils while he listens, but can’t seem to actually write or draw without talking.
This is becoming a real frustration to my older son who could potentially finish all of his lessons for the day independantly much quicker without his little brother’s interruptions. I am not sure what is the best way to approach this. Part of me wonders — could I just not require my younger son to be a part of some of the afternoon lessons — like science and our Biblical World View course? Could I perhaps give him the option of sitting in on those without requiring narration if he chooses, but send him off to do something else if he becomes noisy or disruptive? And what can I send him to do that won’t have his brother thinking “oh — he gets to play and I’m stuck here doing school”?
I think I am starting to formulate a plan in my head, but I am still very interested in hearing what many of you suggest. Thanks in advance!
First, it is only week 2 so take a deep breath, things will get easier as routine and expectations are learned. You are making big changes at your home and it will take time. The ADHD obviously adds another layer to this and will probably have to be addressed with the help of your doctor and others once you are aware of all your options. As far as being disruptive, many kids do learn better when they are able to manipulate things, play with a pencil, rock back and forth, or whatever. That is disruptive for other kids though so it does need to be something you all can live with. Do you get the feeling he is gleaning information from what you are reading? Are the courses designed for multi-age learning or is it really over his head and he looses interest? Maybe instead of the pencils, he could use a stress ball or play dough, his little muscles may just need to move in order for his mind to focus better. Two books I would recommend if you have not already looked into them are The Out of Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz and The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias. Both look at lots of way different people learn and how to work with that instead of forcing them into learning the way that makes sense to the teacher. Keep working, have patience, this all takes time and there will good days and bad ones. Just looking at other approaches shows that you are series about being an informed educator of your children. You can do this! God bless!
My 7 year old is very bright. The material is multi-age, and he is understanding fine. I’ve just got to figure out how to keep the lessons short and end them while they are still interested. I just don’t want my older ds held back by his younger brother’s inability to stay quiet throughout the lesson. Movement is not the issue — the interruptions is.
Is there a way to adapt the lessons to include your youngest for a short lesson, w/add’l. study for your oldest? My oldest complains sometimes if her younger brother (3 yrs. younger) gets done earlier, but I remind her that more work comes with age…she wasn’t doing as much at his age either. But she’s still done in less time than public school (and without homework:) Gina
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