Get it done! Schooling at Home 5-20-2020
Its time to get some 20-20 vision on this helping our kids’
school at home!
Some of you have asked about how to ‘get your reluctant kids
to do their home schoolwork”? After speaking with teachers, and former home
taught adults I have come up with a few angles, and a few story lines that may
help you to push the issue!
First let’s assume your student does not get the idea of the
lesson they are doing but does not want to worry, trouble or annoy you by
asking for help. Let’s face parents we are often the ones who hinder our children
from asking because we get ourselves too busy. Sure, we have work to do other
than parent teaching but come on, we need to put time and effort into our
children so that we have something to work for right?
When I was 13 and just learning Algebra, I had a hard time understanding
how someone could add, subtract, multiply or divide one or more letters! You
can’t just count them by order of the alphabet either! I had a great math teacher that year. On Wednesdays,
the only day I could get there early, Mr. Wright would get to class an hour
early. This was the early start day for our school and that meant we were there
at something like 630 am! The effort I put in learning was only half what he
put in trying to get my mind to understand and grasp such concepts as algebraic
fractions and simplifying them! Somehow, I managed and by the end of High
School I had an A+ in Honors Algebra. It wasn’t easy for my teacher, nor for
myself.
I tell you this to say; sometimes it takes a lot of effort
to get the idea going. Once we get it, or our students get it, then they can
run with it! But if we do not get them or give them the assistance when they do,
they can become so frustrated that they may act out.
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| My son wanted to be making videos about interesting things... so we did some of his reports via video! |
If your student is not getting work done ask them-
1.
Are they tired from staying up too late? This is an
easy fix!
2.
Do they understand the work? Have them show you the
work they did the day before and today's to see if they really struggled.
Sometimes they just forget!
3.
Can they ask a teacher? Most schools have a way to
get assistance, or some of the links I have sent out such as Kahn Academy have
helps.
4.
Do they want your help? Sometimes this will take
more cooperation and communication effort on your part. If kids are feeling
like you don’t want to help, they will lie and tell you they are fine.
5.
Is there a problem with location? If they need a
better spot set up for them to work, find it! Your student needs focus just
like you do for work!
6.
Do they just not like that subject? We all have a class that is just not one that
we like, and it is easy to slack on that class. Find a way to make it
interesting enough to get it done!
7.
What would they rather be doing? This is where you
start really taking notes!
Some ideas to get your students working again are;
1.
Create a benefit plan! For each lesson completed
they get to do something fun for 5-10 minutes. Or something else, eat a snack,
get a juice box or something fun to eat.
2.
Make a deal day! This is what I did for a while
with my students. We had a day we could take off school if we finished our
weeks work early. That way if they wanted, they could be done on Thursday! Have
a three-day weekend each week! This was
extra fun when only one of them could have fun while the others worked, but it
also created a bit of competition to get that work complete. It had to be above
a C grade work though because I knew mine could do it. Go with your child’s
ability!
3.
If its an attitude issue, remove things they want
to do instead of school. Make them earn them back. For example, phones, Gameboy,
wii, or switch or even leggo or computer-generated games can be taken away and
earned back when they get with the program.
For the most part, kids need to realize that school is their
job. Just like Mom and or Dad go to work so that they have a place to live and
things in it; they will have to put for the effort to help the family run
smooth by doing their ‘job’ as well.
Youngers can have a bin full of toys that are only for when
they finish school. Teens can check in their phones at the beginning of schoolwork
time and add minutes to phone time with each lesson they turn in. You will have
to keep track if you are at home too, but otherwise create a chart and have
your students fill in the blanks when they finish a class properly. Remind them
that you can call their teachers too! Or email them! You can find out whats up
with their work at any time even if they didn’t tell you!
As parents we need to be sure we have the upper hand, both
in our students lives as our children and with our children’s lives as our
students. Let’s keep our focus clear! 2020!
Be blessed not stressed! You can do it!
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