I need help/advice.

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  • Lynae
    Participant

    My 6 year old son just started SCM homeschool on the first grade program his year. I feel like almost every subject I am forcing him to do. He does enjoy it somewhat but he has an attitude and I feel like we are butting heads. He is a person that doesn’t like to be told what to do or when to do it. The only subject that I don’t have to force and that he asks to do it literature. I have cut back on how much I do, trying to make lessons short and sweet. He does show interest and participates in most everything and asks lots of questions. But he is more interested in playing outside and doing his own thing. We also started a co-op and he thinks that is boring. Which I don’t blame him. Each class in one hour long. Too long for first graders! My husband is of the unschooling philosophy so he says to just chill out and not force him to do anything. I just wish he were more into it because I spent so much money on all these books, I was really excited to do this with him, and I want him to learn and be educated! What should I do? I was a school teacher before I had kids so I feel like I have a good grasp on how to make things interesting for kids and how to teach. But apparently I don’t know how to teach my son like I did other people’s kids!

    Kelley
    Participant

    Some kids are a very “young” six and still need a little more time before formal lessons.  Other kids are ready for them.  Either way is OK.  Keep lessons super short, and make sure he’s getting plenty of time to get the wiggles out and get that exercise and movement he really needs.

    I think it’s also important to mention that there is not being ready, and there is also not being obedient.  You have to determine whether this could be a heart issue of disobedience and address it, or whether he’s just not ready for anything super formal.

    Tristan
    Participant

    Well, a few things come to mind that I would do.  First, I would drop the co-op.  You can see it is not really a good fit (expecting too young a child to sit for too long).

    For the not liking being told what to do – I have one of those (ok, more than one, but one very very strongly this).  A key for her was giving her some control of the schedule.  So while I dictate ‘school hours are from 9am-12pm’ she chooses what order to work on her subjects within that time frame.  She has a list of what must be done that day and chooses what to do first, what to do next, etc.  This is for individual subjects – we also have family subjects with all 8 kids that she does not decide when we do them, she has to attend to those when I’m doing them.  We usually begin our day with family subjects and that frees her up for the rest of the day to do her lessons in her order choice.  So today, for example, this child chose to do individual subjects in this order:

    • Math
    • Copywork in cursive
    • Literature independent reading
    • Calendar work

    Even if your son isn’t reading well enough to use a list, you can have picture cards for each subject and he chooses which one to do (with you as needed, but he is in control of the order, not you).

    Also, relax.  Yes, you bought all this curriculum and you would like him to do it.  But is there a chance that you bought too much?  Consider setting some aside to begin at a later time, or take a year and a half or two years to get through some of the materials (history?).

    Kelley
    Participant

    Also to mention, so much of this SCM curriculum can be used over a long period of time, so you don’t HAVE to get it done on a strict schedule – there’s no expiration date!  Take your time!

    Monica
    Participant

    Six is very young, especially for a boy.

    When my 9YO was six, we spent maybe 20-30 minutes/day on school work – sitting down, working together.  The rest of the time he played and explored (often on his own).  He spent hours and hours outside, bringing in salamanders and insects and worms as he found them.

    He was my second child, so by then I was more able to let go of the public school mindset and let him learn more organically.  Each year he does a bit more “real school”, and he is a smart little kid – asking me to teach him Pre-Algebra, telling me what astronomers now think about black holes, and identifying plants and birds that even I don’t know.  It was difficult, but it was best for me to forget about what his peers were doing in school and let him learn as he learned best.

    I might suggest the following:

    -Literature:  continue with read-alouds, choosing books that suit his interests.  (So, for example, choose Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over Charlotte’s Web or Little Britches over Little House on the Prairie.  You know him.  Find books that he is going to enjoy.)

    -Reading:  Short – I am talking 5 minutes or so – phonics lessons each day.  I did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my son at that age, and we didn’t even complete a lesson in one sitting.  Very, very short lessons.  Also, incorporate a few games.  My kids like the Whizizzle Phonics game, which is a card game similar to Uno.  Simple to learn, gives an opportunity to sound out words as you play.  Also, incorporate some copywork, teaching him to write his name or copy Bible passages.  Again…SHORT is key.

    -Math:  my son naturally understands math, and he enjoyed having a math workbook around to work on when he was interested.  Otherwise we played lots of math games.  Money Bags, Math War, Sum Swamp, dice games, domino games, etc.  Also, he might work on his math facts on http://www.xtramath.com.

    -Science:  have him keep a nature journal.  My 9YO has been keeping one for four years now.  He’s not an artist or a great writer, but it is a joy to look through that book, remembering his “finds”, nature field-trips with his grandparents and woods exploration with his friends.  Perhaps round that out with science books that match his interests.  My son read every book in the “Let’s Read and Find Out” series at our library, just because that’s what he liked.  If he particularly likes science, have some colorful higher-level science books laying around for him to grab and read.  My 9YO’s favorite book is the Space Encyclopedia I found for him at a library sale.

    -Other:  Find other educational things that he enjoys and allow him to pursue them as he is interested.  Some interests among my kids:

    -Audio Books (Jim Weiss is a great narrator)
    -Extreme Dot-to-Dot books (some puzzles go up to 1000 dots)
    -Nature supplies (the book Snowflake Bentley, bird guides, bird feeders and seed, binoculars, science posters, grow-your-own butterfly kit, ant farm, etc.)
    -Math games
    -Legos and Robotics
    -Snap Circuits
    -Magazines (science, history, or nature-related)
    -Documentaries or science shows
    -Chess
    -Rubik’s Cubes
    -Art supplies

    Hope that helps you some.  One of the worst things I did with my oldest was to force the sitting time and the “real school” time.  It turned into a power struggle between the two of us and took all the joy out of the day.  At the time I didn’t know that there were better ways to do it.  I bought the entire Abeka K program and was determined that none of it go to waste.  Two or three years ago I sold a large chunk of it on eBay.  LOL.  Live and learn.

    Finally, don’t “make it interesting” for him.  To me that brings to mind bright, cartoon-y, juvenile materials meant to manipulate a child into wanting to learn.  Make it rich.  Make sure it’s “alive” (speaks to his interest).  Make sure it’s quality.  When you are able to better tailor your materials to his natural interests, genuine, joyful learning will follow.

    Hope some of that helps.  Honestly, my 9YO was the reason that we began homeschooling full-time.  I knew that full-day K (which we have here) wouldn’t suit his needs well.  It has been a learning experience, and I still need to adjust my expectations (shouldn’t he be writing more?  shouldn’t he know how to spell that word by now? shouldn’t he be making elaborate science fair projects?).  The fruits for me right now, though, are that I know that he likes to learn, has genuine interests, is testing above grade level, and is still naturally curious.  It’s worth the trade!

    Lynae
    Participant

    Thank you everyone for your responses! I truly appreciate the time taken to thoroughly ease my mind! I feel like I went through the same thought process last year when we did kindergarten. Although we did not have near the amount of workload that is on our plate for first grade. Your responses remind me of one of the main reasons our family chose to homeschool-because we wanted to have child-led learning and not “school in a box.” I guess my fear is that if I don’t have enough structure that I will slack off in all areas and have an end result of lazy kids.

    My brain has been churning and I’m thinking of dropping some of the material and subjects I had planned, like Spanish, and narrow it down to the basics. Instead of doing the bible reading I’m going to read from his storybook bible. I did this last year and he loved it so much that if I had enough strength in my voice he would have wanted me to read the entire book in one sitting. So far he has not much enjoyed reading out of the actual bible.  I’m also going to take all your advice and make the other lessons very short. He likes phonics and math but only for a very short time. I am going to listen to him. When he’s over it then we will be done. Or if he goes off on a tangent then I will let him. For example, we were doing phonics and handwriting for “c” yesterday. I had plans to have him write some simple c words using letters we had already covered. But he wanted to write “camping.” So I let him do it and then he drew a tent, a campfire and a waterfall around the word. When he finished he said he didn’t want to write anymore. So I told him that was fine.

    I felt so discouraged for the last several days because my plans weren’t going like the storybook homeschool I was dreaming of. But I’m coming back to the realization that if we’re following my plan there is no room for his plan. And it’s his education. Not mine.

      <li style=”text-align: left;”>Thanks, again!
    petitemom
    Participant

    This is good for me to read. My almost 6 year old is very similar and I have been struggling to understand if is reluctance to do school is just him being stubborn or not being ready.

    So far it is not much fun to say the least! I am trying to make it fun but he fights me for anything except me reading books to him. He doesn’t recognize his letters and numbers and seem to think it a waste of time. He would rather get busy all day getting into all kinds of mischief and creating art (and mess). Which is pretty much what he does!

    Lynae
    Participant

    Just another update. I followed my sons lead this afternoon and we spent all afternoon doing phonics and reading! My husband brought home some small white boards he got on clearance this morning at Walmart. I gave one to each of my three kids. My daughters are 4 and 2. Then I took one and started writing simple words for him to sound out and read while he was drawing pictures. He and I then took turns writing words for the other to read. His words made no sense but we were laughing at the funny sounds they made. Then he asked if he could read a book. My mom had gotten him a Dick and Jane book set. I got that out and we went over all the words in the first book and then he read it. After that he asked to do some letter people. So for the last half hour he and his sisters have been watching letter people videos on YouTube. We accomplished so much more today when I let him be control of what he wanted to do and by me not having a set plan that I had to stick with.

    Lynae
    Participant

    Also, thank you jawgee for all the helpful ideas! I sat down with my husband and read him everyone’s response. He looked up some of the games and books you suggested and bought them off of Amazon.

    Monica
    Participant

    I am so happy to hear that yesterday went more smoothly!  It makes such a difference, especially at that age, if we moms are more flexible and in-tune to what their needs are.  Good for you!!

    I was thinking about this topic more yesterday afternoon and I wanted to mention that my son really learned well on field trips and out-of-the-house trips.  A friend of mine just sent me a picture of a brochure from our local university.  It had a picture of my son on it from when he was 6.  He was standing one-on-one with a woman holding a live horseshoe crab.  I asked him about that day – three years later – and he could tell me more than I even remembered about the horseshoe crab.  He learns very well by doing and experiencing.  That wasn’t how I learned growing up, so it took a shift in my understanding to be able to incorporate that way of learning in our day-to-day activities.

    suzukimom
    Participant

    I also wanted to mention that this type of problem is a lot more common with the oldest child.  (not to say that it can’t happen with younger ones – depending on personality)  – but with the oldest child this is all new expectations.   They younger children grow up seeing school done and it is their ‘normal’.

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