Grasshopper New Media Presents...

Alright, I’m sure you guys are getting a little tired of me talking about all the changes to our homeschooling routine. I just have one more to share with you. I’m actually a bit ashamed that its taken me this long to finally do it!

My big, life-saving change? I sit at the table with Eeyore while he does his math. I know, I know. That sounds like something that any normal homeschooling mom would do, but in the past I would just go over his work with him to be sure that he knew what he was doing and then leave him to complete it on his own. He would take HOURS to do one worksheet. We both ended up frustrated with each other. He got tired of hearing me tell him to FOCUS! HURRY UP! ARE YOU DON’T YET? HOW ABOUT NOW? and I got tired of trying to squeeze the rest of our school work into a day that was mostly taken up by a math worksheet.

I refused to just sit with him the whole time because I wanted him to learn to focus on his own. I wanted him to BUCK UP, DARN IT! He absolutely understood the work he was doing. Sure, he would make a mistake here and there, but his inability to get his math done wasn’t because he didn’t know how to do it. It was because he just disliked it and couldn’t manage his time on his own yet.

Eeyore used to dread math. When I would tell him it was time to start school he would immediately start whining and ask if we could save math for last. Now we do it first thing in the morning. And he doesn’t even whine. Its a miracle.

I finally realized (thanks to some of your advice on this post) that me just saying that he SHOULD be able to complete it on his own, didn’t actually make it true that he COULD complete it on his own.

For the most part I am seated at the table next to him, but every now and then I will tell him to keep working while I go put some laundry in the dryer or get myself a drink and when I come back I’m amazed to see that he really did keep working while I was away.

This single thing has made SUCH a difference in our lives. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out.

by Karly Campbell

[tags]kids, children, parents, parenting, homeschooling, education, math, success, idea, concept, company, companion, accomplishment[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by foreversouls, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved