Help
With Your Rule
Managing Double-Duty With Children's Schooling
Dear Holly,
I have a question following on from your comments on "How to Finish School in the Morning". How do you manage to stick to your time frame when you have two (or more?) children who need one on one instruction to complete their work? I have one child with special needs and another who is very easily distracted. Therefore they require much attention. They are 10 and 8. What you wrote about keeping academics in it's place resonated with me. I've been homeschooling for two and a half years. In that time I've devoted too much energy to curriculum and to ensuring we cover it all! Thank you for your wonderful book, and this encouraging blog
Labels: Homeschooling
posted by Holly at 2:45 PM
2 Comments:
A few ideas strike me here:
1. Group Lessons
In any way you can, group your children to school together - in such things as faith-story times, catechism topics, history or science or geography themes. In other subjects where they must do individualized work - such as Math and Reading and English - try to put them on the same topics: ex: Geometry at the same time, or Sentences or paragraphs,etc, so that whenever you can, you teach them together and then divide them for their practical work.
For example, if you are working on nouns, you can teach the idea to both at the same time - your children are very close together in age - then assign a written response from the one least needy, and work actively with the other.
2. Sit them on either side of you - perhaps you at the end of the table and they on either side- so that you are right there, present to each just by turning your head. I do this with my two youngest - I can point with a finger to a sentence on a page to 'call back' the distracted 10 year old on my right, while I work hands-on on something with my 8 year old on my left.
3. Make a list of their school activities and your methodologies - which things can be done independently? with supervision? or with intensive instruction?
For example, coloring a map can be more independent, but learning a new Math concept may be intensive instruction. Then, you can alter activities - while the youngest colors, the oldest gets your instruction. Then when he moves into answering some questions on paper, you turn back to the other for instruction. A list of which things can be done alone v.s. which you help with, will assist you in getting into the swing of assigning each child varying levels of activities to help you attend to one only.
This swinging back and forth is a skill - it will take some time to learn, but it is what one-room-school-teachers used to do in multi-level situations, and it also fosters independence with your supervision/physical presence right there.
4. For the distractible one, use various types of methods to keep his/her attention. Answer math questions on the chalkboard, or at the white board (standing up). Or use plastic letters to practice spelling words. Or computer math drill exercises instead of in a book...
5. Vary the types of things you are doing - reading one minute, writing the next, then a group activity - anything to break up the monotony. For highly distractible kids, limit types of tasks to 20 minutes and then provide a different type of activity. So, reading for 20 minutes, then 20 minutes at a hands-on activity, or house chore, or computer work. Then to a group situation, then...
6. For the distractible one, attend to his/her diet. Food coloring, too much sugar, and other possible food issues can aggravate this. I'd research it.
7. And I'd also limit too much television, video games, and computer games - I think they train the child's mind to not attend to less-visually stimulating activities. Add also, lots of physical exercise to get some of that energy used up wisely.
8. Develop great patience on Mummy's part. Your task is challenging. Relax, love your kids, go slow with less to cover so that you can have a nurturing learning environment, reduced in stress for you and kids. Kids tend to forget a lot of 'educational stuff' over the years, but they won't forget a warm loving environment where Mummy could freely attend to them and help them learn according to their abilities.
Perhaps MROL readers will have some more suggestions. God bless you.
Oh! And if you have other children, as I do, the fostering of independent skills is essential. But also, the inclusion of these other children in group activities mentioned above, helps bring the family together and not abandon them. Also, teaching the dependent ones to wait for you while you answer questions from the older is a valuable skill too - have the older child bring you their books or materials, so that you can remain in place - that way your dependent ones won't get too distracted. You can always have 'wait' activities planned for times when you are not available, or even give them a little break.
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