Well, the actual learning has been going really well. I love our curriculum. The kids are learning. My oldest DS is nearly where he should have been at the start of the year. Which is more then I hoped for... Here is the problem... It is an ongoing fight with the oldest. We get through half the material and then it is major melt down. I have tried splitting it up, going slower, etc.. I can't go any slower or he will be doing 3rd gradish material at a freaking high school level. My other two are doing wonderfully with school. But they both constantly complain about wanting to be in school, have friends, etc, missing whoever. Even my anti-social oldest said "Oh I can get friends" when I mentioned them going to school next year. We have them in so many extra activities, I just thought it would be enough. But they dont' really get to play or interact at these activities. The activities are organized. The kids do the class and then everyone leaves. No time for playing, talking or getting to know the other kids. Now being pregnant with twins, I am so exhausted I have a hard time getting up in the morning. So we are losing ground this way as well. We are lucky to do school 3 days a week. I am just trying to imagine how much more tired I am going to be when we have two little babies here. I really do not have the same concerns as most of you do about the school systems in general. My problem was and is how poor the education system is in this state. It is soooo awful. I did find one private school that supposedly does very well in rankings. But I will have to pick up an extra day of work each week for us to be able to pay for it, unless DH gets a promotion... yeah right. I HATE HATE HATE this state. And I wish I wasn't so freaking tired and aggrevated at my son. I would say..oh yeah I just need a break. But we started late with this material and already (if we do 5 days a week) they won't finish it until the end of August. Well, I have already decided we are done in July IF I haven't been put on bedrest by then. I am venting. I know there isn't an easy answer. If there was, I wouldn't be so distraught about it. I don't know how much of this is hormones, tiredness, stress, combos, child attitude, whatever. Thanks for letting me sound off.
I am sorry you are feeling this way. But I understand. I have had many of those days recently myself....well...minus the being pregnant part!! LOL But I do know how hard it is when you are fighting against complaining kids who don't want to get their work done. It has been so bad here that dh is ready to consider putting them back in school. But I think, though that may solve some of the problems, it would be trading them for new ones. We did not begin hsing because of religious belief or strong convictions about hsing. It was because we were having trouble with our ds and didn't know what else to do. Well, being home has solved all the issues we were having...now it is just the issue of not wanting to do the work. We are working on it one day at a time. That's all we can do. I am not ready to give up and put them in ps. Ok...sorry...I don't want to make this post about me! I just want you to know you are not alone! Feel free to "sound off" any time you need to....it does help. Hope things will settle down for you soon and you can have a clear thoughts on what you should do.
You are perfectly fine! It does help to hear that others are dealing with the same and/or how they are/have dealt with similiar issues.
Aurie, My name is Paula and my thoughts go out to you. I am in SW Louisiana. Wishing you a better day and perhaps a massage. I have one son age 9. We are in our third year of hs and we still sometimes reach our boiling point. We don't get so much of the friend thing, but I have threatened to send him back to school on those certain days. I remind him that that will mean getting up at 6:15, eating breakfast before your awake, wearing a uniform, leaving the house before 7:30, sitting still in class, doing homework, no talking back or debating the teacher, no playstation before school etc, etc. That works for us, because my son usually comes to school in shorts, never wears shoes, sits on the desk while working, and likes to comment on every subject we do. Is there any subject that the oldest could teach to the younger? That might make him feel more important and give you some free minutes. Thanks for posting. It helpful to know other people have bad days too.
Aurie and Paula-- I am from south louisiana and the schools are so bad in this area, that i would not send a stray dog to them!! there is a reason why that this state's education system is the way that it is----all the fat cat crooked politians have taken all the money that was supposed to be for education... Remember a few years back when they had a vote to have the lottery. Remember they said that the lottery proceeds would go to education/??? yeah right! we have yet to see that happen some 10-15 years later!!
.....oh and yes---we ALL have our bad days. I promise tommorrow will seem better (or the next day or two!!) I have several friends that have 5 plus kids that homeschool---it can be done!! Keep your head up and keep coming to this forum!! We'll get ya thru!!
I'm sorry to hear that you're having a rough time. Are your dc not enjoying the curriculum? I know that it can be hard to put your attention into something that you really don't like. Do they have activities after school that they really enjoy that can motivate them to get their work done? Having a goal to work towards tends to help, sometimes not letting them take part in the activity if they haven't done their work in a timely and pleasant manner. I know that their isn't any one miracle fix or we would all be using it. Maybe change the role and ask your dc how they would approach school if they were the teacher. How they think the best way of learning it would be. You may be surprised by the answer. Maybe they just would like to learn it in a different way. These are just a few suggestions. Keep in mind we ALL have our bad days. Your not alone.:love:
yes, it might be they are bored or need more or something. Maybe you need to sit down and talk it over. Do what is best for you all. But, remember we are here for you either way. Best wishes.
Having teenagers is work/stress enough, but being pregnant with twins at the same time is huge, add homeschooling to that. I cannot imagine. Can you even lift your own eyelids? LOL Cyber-Lindt Lindor chocolats to you with Strawberry Hagan Daas. (and optional PICKLE) Your observation about the activities not supplying freind time is given with great timing for my benifit. I have been contemplating what to do this spring. I have decided to continue with one activity at a time and leave us open for more "play date" type time. Your words reinforce this for me. I had just been visualizing what you have related in terms of folks leaving after the classes. We go to church twice a week and fortunately we do not have that kind of church. Folks stay afterward and play football and frisbie in the parking lot on sunday morning and the kids love it. We also hang around on Wed. nights and the kids get to play. Since so many homeschool, many families stay until 10:30 or later. We are also going to have other activities a time or two amonth. I am afraid another org. activity/lessons would make us unable to participate Perhaps finding some less organized activities will alleviate some of the stress. Maybe if you ask the kids what successful/satisfying homeschooling combined with a satisfying social life would look like to them, you can all come up with a common vision to work toward. No this is not easy at all, I pray that God will share his wisdom and direct you all in this.
Well, that night me and DS talked about it and came up with a plan. He seemed encouraged and excited about it. But the next day came, and all H E double hockey sticks broke loose. Him and his brother fought so bad about nothing... It was a total disaster. I am thinking there must be something else going on with him that isn't about school, but I can't get him to open up. Heck, he may not even know himself what is bothering him.
How would it be to try school for a year to see if it helps? You'd have time to get situated with the babies and your older ones could have the friendships they want.
Aurie, it's really frustrating when you know that you know a better way for your children, but they just don't "get the vision." The older they are, the more "say" they think they should have in their life's decisions, even if they haven't shown responsibility in decision-making yet. The time may eventually come, even if it might be to their detriment, for you to say, "OK, have it your way. The door is open for you to go the the public school." I hope that time never comes for you. It did for us, for our oldest. I sometimes wonder if life wouldn't have been easier for the rest of the family if we had let him go earlier. It might actually have been better for him, too, we'll never know; but it's a waste of time to wonder. And, by the way, don't count on private schools to be everything your kids need, either. I wouldn't recommend you knocking yourself out with another day of work each week in order to provide a private school for them when they might not even be wanting to make the most of it anyway. I know this might not sound terribly encouraging. I'm just trying to think this through with you. It sounds like your goals and your sons' goals are not the same right now. They're still young enough, though, that at this stage, it should be a "no contest." In other words, "What Mom says, goes!" Another thing--consider your own health and well-being, too... Best wishes
It really sounds like both of you really need a break. What in your opinion is he just not getting? I agree with not relying on provate schools to get what he needs. You may be paying an arm and a leg for him to attend, but even than, think how the school allocates tutition and other donations. Unless it is more of an 'elite' academy, your basic private schools are sometimes in just as much if not sometimes more financial difficulties than the public schools.
I wish I could give you a hug! I know it's so hard at times. My oldest son was my "challenge"...especially around the 4th-6th grade level. The only advice I can give you, is, it will get better. You just have to let him know that you are more stubborn than he is. Let him know that the fun things he enjoys have to come after his schoolwork. I would also suggest working for 30 minutes, letting him have a 20 minute break, working another 30 minutes, another 20 minute break and so on. It worked when I did this with my oldest son. He knew he only had '30 minutes worth of work' at one sitting, then he'd get a break. Course, his day was also longer than his sister's, and he soon figured out that he'd rather work and get it done so he too could have a shorter day. Another thing you may try is letting him help with the lesson planning. Show him the end goal of what needs to be accomplished in say, 2 weeks, or a month, and let him help divide up the work for each goal (if that makes sense). Good Luck, and don't give up!!
Well I only have one and we butt heads A LOT lol. She's very strongwilled and we've been trying for another for 2 years now so I think this is why we still only have one lol. God is teaching us BOTH patience with each other. Anyhow, are they involved in any extracurricular activities and are you in a homeschool support group in your area? I know the group we meet with every Weds at the park has been a Godsend for both of us. I probably won't be much help since I only have one and she is only 6. But I have found that breaking up the day makes it harder for her. It really all depends on the day and the mood she's in- the teenage years should be fun! hehe Maybe you could have a family meeting? And then sit down with each one individually and find out what is going through their minds and what they are wanting to do, why it isn't going well ect. Another thing we do is graphing our time every day. I have graph paper and I do it for a 2 hour time period. I mark it for 5 minute incraments. When we first started I'd set a timer for 5 minutes and if she'd stayed on task for that 5 minutes she moved up on the graph. We had a goal marked on it and when she reached goal she got a reward of some sort. She now fills it out herself and it has worked really well. We still have some rough spots. But if she meets goal at least 3 days out of the week, then every Friday we go do school at Starbuck's, or weather permitting, the park or something like that. Daily rewards she earns things like walking down to the beach, a game of some sort, computer time, tv time, ect.
How do you do school at Starbucks? Ours has rock music playing and it's way too hard to concentrate! I take my kids there sometimes, but we don't study there, we just get a break by going there! I like varying the places we study also! My kids don't need it so much anymore, but sometimes we'll go study at the library. The boys will take along a soccer ball, cuz there's a park almost right next to the library, and it's right on the inlet (we live in a beautiful area!), so we'll go to the park after we've studied for awhile. The boys will kick around the soccer ball, and dd will play on the bars and things, or we'll go down by the water and try to find sand crabs. We always really enjoy those days!
Deena, The Starbuck's we go to is always really quiet- it's fairly new and parking isn't so great so most people use the drive thru. There is a table in the corner and usually they're playing jazz or something slower and quieter. We usually take math and reading with us. We only do it about once a week.
Kim, I think that is so neat! Ems loves Wienerschnitzel. We have taken her math with us to lunch many times. The owner of the Wienerschnitzel is a nice elderly man and he always comes and sits next to us to talk. Sometimes that change in scenery really makes a difference and makes certain subjects more exciting. I think next time we will go to Cold Stone for ice cream and sit in the patio area. The only thing is it is right near the busy street. Still, I think we will try it. It is right next to Starbucks, she can get her ice cream and I will get some coffee! Patty
I so WISH ours didn't play that rock music! I'm a weird one that never liked rock music, so sometimes I go in to order something and I can hardly wait to get out!
Well it's kind of funny actually. We are in there so much they know us now lol. They even give dd free cocoa sometimes! If the manager is there that knows us she'll turn the music down. But never hear rock music in any of them. They play whatever cd's they are selling.
