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Interest led and CM
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For a long time I have been smitten with the CM philosophy and have incorporated much of it throughout the years with our children. Certain methods have served them well more than others. I have two remaining children at home , and its become apparent to me that much of what we attempt to do is like fitting a square peg in a round hole with them. For instance my 10 yr old boy who is VERY hyperactive, cannot seem to stay still or focus much. Yes, we do short lessons. But beyond our 20 mins of math, a chapter in a living book for history, and 1page in a penmanship book, that is all he can take in. Getting an oral narration from him is over the top. I usually incorporate anything else orally throughout the day, as we walk, sit. Etc. recently he sat down and took his coin jar out and made piles of nickels , dimes etc. and after he would count to $1 for each dollar he put the coins in a Baggie. When all was done , he counted up how many baggies he had, hence how many dollars , and how many more he needed in order to buy something he wanted. He spent over a half hour doing this. It was amazing. It leads me to my question of am I again trying to contrive his learning, by offering him a CM curr. In which he has no interest in artists, music etc, or is there a way to marry the two, A bit of C! A far as the living books , math. And allow the interest led learning to happen as well. I did want to add that he is 10 yrs old but I believe a couple years behind his peers.
I don’t think Charlotte would disagree with what you’re doing at all. There’s nothing “non-CM” about your son counting his money the way he did. It does sound like he needs to develop his habit of attention, though. You say that 20 minutes of math, a chapter of history, and some copywork is all he can take in, but are you really enlisting his will in challenging himself to go further and do more? An SCM resource, Laying Down the Rails for Children, might be a worthy purchase for you.
Also, and I’m only mentioning this because I’ve personally seen amazing results, what is your family’s diet like? We found that our dd, who also has many ADD/ADHD symptoms, was very sensitive to artificial food coloring, MSG, artificial sweeteners, and sugar. We removed those foods from her diet when she was three and have had major improvements in her behavior. Of course, we’ve also consistently worked on the habit of attention with her, but there’s no doubt that altering her diet helped a great deal. It really is incredible how much junk food has an impact on the brain’s ability to function.
It also sounds like your son just really needs movement to learn. Can he play with some Play-Doh or paint with watercolors while you read aloud? Or do something else with his hands that’s quiet and won’t be distracting to you but will still stimulate his brain while you are reading to him. Rather than sitting at the table (or wherever you do school) to read to himself, would it be more effective to let him go outside and read on a swing in the backyard?
I think the CM method is actually best for children like your son. I’m not an advocate for unschooling at all, but there are still ways to follow your child’s lead and figuring out his learning style without him directing everything. You are still the mother, and you know what is best for him, so he should not be totally in charge of everything he’s expected to learn.
When it comes down to brass tacks, there are always things in life that we don’t “want” to do, but have to be done anyway. For my ds, who is also 10, this is prepared dictation. He hates it. But, he has to do it anyway, and he is expected to apply himself and give his best effort when he does it. You know what, he has risen to the occasion and does his dictation with almost 100% accuracy every time. He still doesn’t like it, but he understands that growing up means you don’t always get to do what you want, so he knows he should do his best.
You can allow your son’s interests to go into other areas, such as hobbies or crafts he might like to learn. My ds was interested in WW2 for about a year, so I was constantly buying him books about that time. It wasn’t part of our school time, but something he did in his free time that he just really wanted to learn more about, so I followed his lead and supplied what he needed. Maybe your son has an interest and you just need to give him the necessary supplies to pursue it.
Hope that helps a little,
Lindsey
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