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  • Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum? What to do when homeschooling frustrations abound

    Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum? What to do when homeschooling frustrations abound

    12-1-2016-1-46-42-pm

    Last week we began a series on mid-school year self-evaluations, and how to trouble-shoot your homeschooling frustrations. This week I continue my discussion with Debra Bell, as we look at how to determine if it’s just a bad day, a character issue with your child/children, or simply a child in need of more support.

    Is it just a bad day?

    Heather Eades: In trouble-shooting issues with your homeschool, last week we talked about what to do when the problem is with you, the homeschooling parent. But what can parents do when they determine that the majority of schooling frustrations appear to be coming from their child?

    Deb Bell: When I see frustration in my child, I stop and ask, “Is this child just having a bad attitude today?” Because that is a very real possibility. But we also want to consider the child’s character, because sometimes kids are prone to laziness and don’t enjoy putting out extra effort. However another question to certainly consider is, “Is the child being over-challenged?”

    Does the child need extra support?

    HE: What should parents do if they feel their child is being over-challenged by specific subjects?

    DB: Then we either need to provide more support as a parent or make a change—I’ve found at different times that, even though I’m all about raising independent learners, at times my kids just needed me to sit beside them and help them with that subject on that day.

    One of the hardest challenges of being a homeschooling parent is keeping ourselves free from distractions. We have goals for the housework; we’re always multitasking. For me to homeschool with integrity, I had to turn off my phone (at least for the morning.) I tried to frontload the day with our homeschooling, in order for me to be solely focused in the morning on my children’s individual needs.

    Does the problem exist outside of schoolwork?

    HE: And after you’ve given your child support, what if you suspect a character issue with your child? How does a parent determine this?

    DB: My husband had excellent wisdom in this! If I thought I was dealing with a character issue, my husband would always ask, “Well, is it pervasive?” The character issue can be determined as a rule of thumb, I think, by asking yourself, “Does the problem only emerge when my child is doing school, or do I see the problem during other aspects of the child’s life?” If your child doesn’t want to do math…but he also doesn’t want to do anything…it might be a character issue and no curriculum is going to fix that.

    HE: So, what is a parent to do with a character issue?

    DB: I would start by telling my child what I’m seeing, couching it all with empathy. I remember one time my husband concluded the resistance from one of our kids was really just laziness. We’ve all had those moments when the real reason we don’t get something done is we are being lazy. Fortunately, our child listened to our perspective and asked for help and forgiveness—which we both immediately offered on both counts. We prayed together and asked the Lord to help all of us put more effort into our responsibilities. We need to come along side our kids when they struggle with a character issue or immaturity. Let them see that parents have to resist these temptations as well.

    Allow  your homeschool to be HolySpirit-led. We need to be asking the Lord, “What is my child ready for? What does he/she need from me? How can I challenge each child appropriately?” As you become more in tune with the Holy Spirit’s leading, you will become more in tune with each child.

    Finally, in our next post we look at what to do if it is the curriculum.

     

  • Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum?

    Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum?

    What to do when homeschooling frustrations abound

    Some things are probably working wonderfully for you this school year but others are not. How do you figure out how to address those problem areas? I sat down with Debra Bell for practical advice on trouble-shooting your homeschool.

    This week we look at how to pinpoint the root of homeschooling frustrations, and 4 steps to help when the source of the issue is . . . you.

    1.Trouble-shoot.

    Heather Eades: Many of us are re-examining the investment we made in the year’s curriculum. What are some questions to be asking through this process?

    Deb Bell: We need to be asking, “What’s working, what’s not? What do I need to adjust or flex to make the rest of the year a success and help my child feel successful?” Give yourself permission to stop and take a break to pinpoint issues.

    2. Shift your focus from a curriculum-centered plan to a child-centered plan.

    HE: Can you share some personal experience you have in doing this as a home educator?

    DB: When asked what homeschool method I ascribed to, I always said my homeschool approach was intentional and strategic. And in order to be that, you have to be child-centered. So, at this point in the year I would look at each of my kids, and I would take a day—strategic and purposeful—to sit down and think about, “How is each kid doing? Where do I see focus? Where do I see interest? And if I saw those things, then I knew, “It’s working; I don’t need to adjust.”

    HE: And when did you know to make changes?

    DB: When I’d identify where any of my kids were losing self-confidence, were discouraged because they couldn’t be successful, or where I saw a lack of motivation and interest. I always want each child to feel successful—I can’t overemphasize how important a child’s own sense of success and accomplishment is. That doesn’t mean a child should expect things to feel easy. Hard is good. But sometimes parents may persist with a curriculum or resource even when their children are failing, or their confidence is being undermined. Many parents don’t know what to do, so they just keep going. When kids are losing confidence, parents really need to stop and prayerfully discern the root causes.

    3. Set aside your timetable; adjust to the pace your child needs.

    HE: If a parent has been pushing through a curriculum for quite awhile, without seeing gains, would you suggest backtracking–not being bound by a grade level?

    DB: (laughs) I avoided buying resources that had specific grade levels for that reason. Dropping back might be an option, but just slowing down the pace often worked well for us. We can get very anxious about slowing down and moving at a pace that allows our children to be successful, but we really need to do that. Continually setting a pace that is beyond the child’s readiness is self-defeating. It only makes the problem worse. Whenever you’re undermining your child’s confidence, you’re actually making it much more difficult for that child to ever catch up or to ever like that subject. As a parent my goal is to make them confident in the subject. An inflexible schedule? That’s an issue with me. The schedule is not child-centered, and I need to change that.

    4.Give yourself permission to use curriculum as a guide.

    HE: I think many times, we parents feel like we have to keep pressing through a curriculum by the end of the year—we have to check all the boxes or we didn’t do enough. How would you respond to that as an educator?

    DB: I think parents often feel like that!  They feel like, “OK, we bought this curriculum, we’ve got to get through it by the end of the year!” But what many parents don’t realize is that as a classroom teacher, I never got through an entire curriculum in a year. Classroom teachers are very comfortable not doing everything. We’re picking and choosing, modifying (curriculum), not completing it. Give yourself permission to adapt, skip, or take a break.

    Next post: Is It Me, the Curriculum, or My Child Pt. 2: What to do when it is your child.

  • Aim Science: Air Pressure Experiments

    Aim Science: Air Pressure Experiments

    Watch the video below to see two great air pressure experiments.


    There is also a handout so you can replicate the experiments at home.

    AimScience-AirPressure-Handout

    See Dr. Joseph’s science classes here.  She loves sharing her knowledge and love of science with students of all ages.

  • Aim Science: Even More Fun with Candy Experiments

    Aim Science: Even More Fun with Candy Experiments

    Watch the video below for the third installment of Dr. Karen Joseph’s candy experiments.


    Dr. Joseph created a handout so you can easily replicate the experiments at home. You can grab it here:

    AimScience-EvenMoreFunWithCandy-Experiments-Handout

    See Dr. Karen Joseph’s science classes here. She loves sharing her knowledge and love of science with students of all ages.

  • Aim Science: Candy Experiments

    Aim Science: Candy Experiments

    Do you have a lot of candy laying around the house this time of year?  Watch the video below and try out some of these candy science experiments from Aim Academy science teacher Dr. Karen Joseph.

    Dr. Joseph created a handout so you can easily replicate the experiments at home. You can grab it here:

    Download the AimScience-M&M-Experiments-Handout

    Dr. Karen Joseph teaches The Wonders of Water, Sensational Senses, and Zoology for Aim Academy. She loves sharing her knowledge and love of science with students of all ages.

  • Aim Science: More Fun with Candy Experiments

    Aim Science: More Fun with Candy Experiments

    Watch as Dr. Karen Joseph performs four more candy science experiments. Each of these packs a real WOW factor. Then grab the handout below so you can try it at home.

    More Fun With Candy Experiments Handout

    Dr. Karen Joseph teaches The Wonders of Water, Sensational Senses, and Zoology for Aim Academy. She loves sharing her knowledge and love of science with students of all ages.