My daughter WANTS to be in school with other children. As at home, she is alone. I feel so badly for her! Anyone have a child you can part with? Just kidding! We have tons of community activities and playdates and park dates but it is never enough for her. She LOVES children! Going back to school isn't an option at this point. Her behavior is so awful because she is bored. They will not give her different work or move her up a grade (due to her behavior). She needs to be challenged and loves to learn. Homeschooling her is easy! Is anyone else having this issue? Homeschooling only one child (only child).
My Jeannie is basically an only, because her brother is 21. This is one of the reasons I really don't like homeschooling her. There are absolutely no kids her age in our neighborhood. None. She sees kids at her classes and at Brownies, but that's it. Her ps friends are in school all day, and her hs friend's moms scamper off as soon as class ends. I homeschool her because I have issues with the school she would attend. I've even prayed to get over that, because I feel like she's alone too much. I guess I can commiserate with you here, but I've got no answers on how to fix it.
Madison is an only child. Madison does spend a good amount of time at her aunts house during the week(25hrs) while I work and we do various other things but during school hours we are home alone. I dont mind it, she doesnt complain so its ok right now. She might join brownies this fall and does go to church things but it all works out in balance for us.
She says the school was mean to her. She was always being pulled out of class for talking too much, just doing her own thing as she already knew the material. But still wants to be around the other children. This isn't going to change. No siblings in her future, poor thing! I sign her up for everything possible around other children. She has tons of time with children but she wants to bring them home. I keep reminding her of the advantages of homeschooling--on her birthday, we get to take fun trips! Other children can't take time away from school. We learn on our trip. I don't have a problem with homeschooling her and love it. I just feel sad that she is sad about not having other children schooling with her. Really this is an advantage too as she is too social for her own good. I think she does better one on one.
I have this issue. Bottom line: education is education & not about socialising. We make time for social activities & we allocate time for school ~ & we keep a balance between the two, but for my dd school & education are not a good mix & she knows it. Until this year her sister was schooling with her & she is really missing her this year as her sister graduated & now works.
My dd is an only as well. When we first pulled her from school this past year it was really hard. We went to homeschool park day every week and that helped. But she's been in preschool since she was 3. Going from being around other children her age every day, to none was a HUUUUUUGE adjustment for her. She's VERY social so that made it even more difficult. Now that we've been at it since last winter she's doing well. We have a lot of extracurricular activities and we don't stay home every day all day. We have art on Fridays, soon gymnastics on Weds. afternoons, church Weds. evenings, plus she goes to occupational therapy every Mon afternoon- she's not around other kids but she play with her therapist and as interaction there. I think once she got used to being home with me- and we do a lot together, she didn't miss the other kids around so much. And now she's at the point where she knows she's doing things she'd never get to do in school. She's made other homeschool friends that we get together with on a regular basis so she knows she's not alone in the homeschool world.
Emma is our only child in the home. The others already graduated from ps and are living on their own. When she does complain about being bored, I tell her SHE needs to find something to do. I think it is important for children to know that everything isn't going to be fun and games. We aren't always going to be entertained. It is important for Ems to entertain herself from time to time. Not only do I think it is important for children to learn to entertain themselves, I think it is important that they learn to be satisfied. My middle daughter was in the public school and she was ALWAYS bored and never satisfied. Patty
I am so right there with you on the finding something to do and learning to entertain themselves! I rarely hear "I'm bored!" anymore because the last time she did that I removed every toy, every coloring book, you name it from her room and she had nothing to do for 2 days straight. When we took breaks from schooling all she got to do was sit at the table or sit on the couch with nothing. I've noticed how much more creative she is since she's been home and not in regular school too.
This was part of RedBedHeads signature. I think it applies! I love it! " I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas. " --Agatha Christie
I don't see this as an 'entertain yourself' thing. For me, I want Jeannie to have playmates other than her mom and dad. She needs other 7 yr olds to run with, not 2 40+ yr olds. Jeannie wasn't even a thought when we bought this house, so at the time this neighborhood was perfect. Now that she's here, the neighborhood stinks because it's all teenagers and a few babies.
My words are in light of the original post. The child IS ALREADY involved in many activities. There is a world of difference in isolating your child and teaching them to entertain themselves because it isn't always going to fun and games. I, too, want my child to relate and commune with people outside the home. It is when being bored goes beyond the activites and friends they already have. I still think it is very important for children to learn to entertain themselves because we can't always do it for them and neither can anyone else. Patty
I don't ever even hear 'I'm bored'.. except for at lesson time, lol. Sports asked who else was hsing an only, and I am. This is one issue I run into- no playmates. 'I'm bored' can also be a coping mechanism for hyperactivity. Kevin used to pull that all the time if he didn't like what he was supposed to do, if he was in a situation he didn't want to be in- like a class, or if he somehow was on the spot.
My middle daughter, to this day, likes to be busy. We have become worried about her because she is doing things that we would consider dangerous, in the name of entertainment or keeping busy. Like I said, she has always been like this. It has proven to be her worst enemy, too. Our oldest is very much at peace with finding something to do. It is funny how they are sooooo different. Patty
I don't hear I am bored but dd does hang around waiting for me to tell her something to do. I thought it was because she is an only child and doesn't have built-in playmates--siblings.
You have to teach them to entertain themselves- the older they are, the harder it is. Dd has sensory integration disorder and we use some things the occupational therapy does. There is NO tv or computer till after dinner and ONLY if she's had a good day. When I give her an assignment to do on her own I turn some soft music on and she knows while that music is on, she can't call for me and she has to be doing something on her own. She also has time in her room every day. It may sound like she's grounded in there, but every day she has an hour in room to play- we started with 15 minutes. She can come out, but she can't bug the animals and she can't bother me. During the time I have music on. When the music goes off she can come see me. She loves to read so usually when she has time to herself she's laying on the couch with a book or in her bed with one. I found starting with a short amount of time that she couldn't bother me helped. After she did well with 15 minutes, we bumped it up to 20, then so on and so forth. My problem was getting over feeling guilty that I wasn't playing with her 24/7. She has no siblings so I always felt guilty if I WASN'T playing with her or doing something with her. In the end I'd created a child who always depended on me to give her ideas. Thankfully we caught it early enough lol.
That is me. I feel so guilty! It has always been all day long but now she is starting at nighttime too. I put her to bed and she keeps coming downstairs. The Treehouse series from the library has helped some so she will stay in bed and listen to the CDs. Thank you for the suggestion. We will start implementing this on our schedule a little at a time! Great idea! I am very lax about a schedule every but she really seems to do better with a schedule. So I think this year we will have a daily schedule.
I have a one and only child. She is incredibly friendly! In fact, my husband and I are seeking a new church because they one we have does not have anything for children at this time (and I think we just found what we were needing for her). I also just joined a really large homeschool group of 170 families from which we will have a number of activities to choose, including Keepers at Home. My daughter naturally plays by herself after lessons are done. However, I must say that she also has such a wonderful imagination that I have difficulty recalling all the names of her stuffed animal friends; baby dolls; invisible animals, including mammoths and dinosaurs; invisible friends, and her own four children, a boy-boy and a girl-girl. I rarely hear that she is bored, but when I do I suggest drawing a picture as she enjoys that most of the time and she reads to herself or to her "children" or any number of friends. Another thing my daughter likes to do with me, which helps me relax and get a new perspective is to do stretching exercises (or yoga) or take a walk. Physical activities actually give me a mental break and they occupy her at the same time. If all else fails and I really need a break from her, I go into my bedroom and close the door (usually to pray). She is not allowed to enter our bedroom without asking permission. Once she is in bed for the night she is not allowed to get out unless she needs to go to the bathroom.
Ems loves to draw and paint. She draws all the time. Now I let her paint whenever she wants to, too. This seems to really take up a lot of time and she enjoys it. At first I didn't like the mess but now she cleans it up so I do not complain. Besides, I told myself she is being productive, working on her talents, and she is keeping herself occupied. That is a good thing. Patty
How slow am I? I have been reading this thread the last few days, and it just occurred to me this morning that I have an only child! I guess I don't really think of him like that since we are planning on having another. Anyway, he is only 3 right now. He loves to play with other kids, so we are part of a moms group with play dates, etc. and I am going to start looking for a homeschool group this year. He doesn't like to go to his room to play, but he will play on his own if I am nearby. And that is okay for us. I know someday he will not want to play near me, so I will enjoy it while I can!:lol:
