Tag Archives: Homeschooling

HELP! WE HAVE A 6 YEAR OLD BOY..

Just a preamble to this post:

I love my children and they are really fantastic, but they are very normal children.  This post is about our No 2 son who is 6.  He is actually a really great kid, he is loving and caring and never cuts short the hugs or kisses.  So here goes….

No 2 daughter and son
No 2 daughter and son

HOMESCHOOLING UPDATE:

I must admit I am struggling at the moment with schooling.  Our no 2 son is giving me a run for my money and is really trying my patience (which isn’t my greatest gifting at the best of times).

It is probably because he is such a goer.  He runs everywhere and just wants to get outside to his tadpoles and the likes. He scratches, and sings, and hums and so on before even looking at his books.  He can ask a variety of questions (all in a very short period of time) that don’t relate to any schooling he is looking at.

Some of these questions are:

  • What’s for lunch mum (this is usually asked about 1/2 an hour after breakfast);
  • Mum did hell create sickness (this was this mornings – I had to be careful how I answered this);
  • Are we going to town today;
  • When will Dad be home;

and so on and so on, you can see a pattern here!!!

He can sit over a maths lesson for over an hour (I’m actually being very generous here!!!)

I am sure he is not unusual in homeschooling circles but he is challenging.  I am encouraging him in his reading and trying to explain how the world will open up to him once his reading improves, and he says that he understands this – but the outdoors just call him.

He loves playing the piano and is very good at it too, so practice for that isn’t too big an issue.  He can even sit still during the 1/2 hour of his lesson (much to his teachers amazement).

His older brother was the same but my memory doesn’t go back far enough to remind me how I dealt with it.

Don’t get me wrong, he is fantastic outside and helps his father a great deal.  His sister and him get in the cows for milking, he brings in our wood, he will take rubbish away for me without complaint.  He just can’t settle down and concentrate on his school work.

If anyone can give me any ideas on getting one very active boy to sit still and concentrate – I would be very grateful.

 

HYPNOTIZING CHICKENS – HOMESCHOOL JOY

No 2 daughter and son are out hypnotizing chickens.  It was something that they saw on a “swamp man” type reality show.

They say it actually works and if they keep practicing as much as they are now, I’m sure it will.  Though I do feel somewhat sorry for the chickens, but they seem to be very long suffering.

They have finished their school for the morning and our outside enjoying the sunshine.  Spring is here in Victoria Australia and summer is coming quickly.

I have been trying to teach them to get into their school in the morning and in the afternoon they can go and have fun, doing the things they enjoy.  Sometimes this theory works and some times it doesn’t.

Some mornings it is a hard slog just to get through a maths lesson.  I get frustrated and they get stubborn.  No 2 son spends too much time fiddling and scratching and singing and not enough time actually doing his work and No 2 daughter spends her time telling him to be quiet or poking him.

Oh the joys of normal, happy, healthy children.

If they were at school I wouldn’t have the pleasure of seeing them succeed with their schooling or seeing them blossom from being outside, creating games and camps and cubbies.

If they were at school they wouldn’t have time to help Dad when he gets home, because of their homework.

If they were at school I wouldn’t have the pleasure of helping them through their attitudes or squabbles.

If they were at school someone else would be seeing them achieve.

Some days are hard, really hard, but the joy and pleasure and good times override the bad and makes this homeschooling experience a totally right thing.

So if you want to see your children really achieve, keep them home, release the chickens, teach them all the good things and let them play in the dirt – it is our God given responsibility.

No 2 daughter and son
No 2 daughter and son

If you are thinking of homeschooling I want to encourage you to give it a go, you won’t be sorry, you may be tired and grumpy but in the long run you will never be sorry.

Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down, and when you rise.

PS: Today was one of those hard days so I am writing this to encourage myself as much as everyone else.

This post is linked to….

Hope In Every Season