Rory is perfect for the stereotype of a little guy with tons of energy but very little ability to focus and concentrate on his school work and get it done. Every morning is spent at the table with him and my house work was really suffering.
He dawdles. He drops his pencil. He squirms. He drops his pencil. He stares out the window. He can't find the next word in the sentence he's reading. He drops his pencil. He picks it up and sticks it his pants. He guesses what the next word might be. It's not even close to being right. He drops his pencil. And my patience gets worn rather thin.
I've tried rewarding him with stickers (if he gets enough, he gets a new bike) but that just wasn't doing the trick. I've threatened him with all kinds of 'creative' punishments....to no avail. I've explained, begged, threatened, pleaded and explained some more. And then I got it.
Since it's my housework time that's being eaten up... I now keep track of how long it takes him to do a page of work. And then we get up and do that amount of time in housework. And then we do the next page. If he does a page on his own and I get to work during that time, he's off the hook.
It's been working great because I win either way! Either I get help with some housework or he gets his work done on his own and I get to do the housework during that time. It's made a world of a difference as I don't get upset that he's 'wasting' my whole morning every day. And it's not a punishment...it's simply, if I help him with his work than he helps me with mine.
And he gets to have a break from sitting at the table and be involved in contributing to our household in a practical way that can only be good.
3 comments:
Hi Andrea -
I'm enjoying reading your blogs about your life. I have two sons - 7 and 4 - and have the same problem with schoolwork! Little boys have such wiggles! I think that's a great idea for getting your housework done, but also helping him to get through his schoolwork with something interesting thrown in to break up the monotony. I read once that boys are so wiggly, we should give them challenges to accomplish WHILE they're trying to do their schoolwork. For example, have him hold his paper up against the wall to write on, while standing, during his spelling test. Or stand on one foot while doing his multiplication tables. I thought this would be too distracting, but it's been great! My sons like doing laps around the living room as many times as minutes it took to do a subject - if it took 15 minutes to do a worksheet, they run around the room 15 times.
Keep up the good work and creative schooling!
Welcome Elise! I really got a chuckle thinking of Rory standing on his head to do his school work (he just about does it already *grin*) Some great ideas and it gives me hope that I'm on the right track!! Thanks for the encouragement.
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