Oct 27 2009
The Demand is Great These Days
Seems these days the demands on mothers is greater than ever. I say I’m feeling this more than ever now. Not only do I homeschool my kids, but I also work from home part time.I thought I had things fully under control until yesterday. My 11 year old son told my husband that he doesn’t have any help with his schooling. He works in the mornings while I am in my home office and his studies seem to come with ease to him. He completes his work and calls me when he is ready for me to check everything before moving on to his tests. If he needs help- he typically will come ask me for assistance. Being that he has not done this & he moves through his coursework with minimal errors- I was shocked to find that he feels he needs help with his studies. Granted his tests are sometimes lacking - which I always attributed to the fact that 1 missed question can sometimes mean the loss of up to 5-6 points. Miss a couple or even a few- and the whole score is woeful. The tests are the one thing I can’t help him with and it doesn’t help him in the long run if I go easy on his scoring in the effort to make him feel better about it. It’s just not how we operate here. I half wonder if his comments of his “lack of help” was just his excuse to myhusband for his moods as of late- in an effort to place the blame elsewhere.
Now my son is usually happy and helpful and extremely loving (sometimes to the extent of going overboard). Today he was a different kid. One that I had not met before. Interestingly - his grades were better today than in days past- but his moods were swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other. What is going on?? It’s so unlike my sweet boy. It’s troublesome to me that he is feeling anxiety over his grades. But I can’t do anything but offer study tips and try to make sure his is grasping everything before taking his test. Review - Review- Review. I do sometimes offer extra credit- but only when I know he has given significant effort but had a few hiccups. If I feel he wasn’t really trying in the first place- I’m not going to reward him for that. I feel that he must have some consequences for testing poorly sometimes and he can’t always make up the points later on. I don’t have a problem with extra credit sometimes but I refuse to offer it as apermanent substitute. How much is too much or too little?? Am I being too tough??
Part of being a homeschooling parent is to be sure that my kids are receiving a better than average education- that they can’t receive in public school. On the same note- I have to work. I feel that at the age of 11- my son is old enough to workindependently for at least an hour at a time- allowing me to work for a portion of my day. (The schedule will change when I work with my 1st grader- but the 6th grader is different) I’m not sure what the answer is- other than giving him the option of working later in the day when I am done working and I can devote 100% of my time to the classroom. He cherishes his independence and I think he likes the satisfaction of working through it alone. I know he doesn’t want to be walked through his work like his younger sisters. I’m not sure how this will all play out. I’m sure my schedule will be modified to work around this issue in our routine. I’m sure this won’t be the last change we encounter in thishomeschool journey. The key is to be adaptable to this situation. Seems like we learn as much ABOUT homeschooling as we do completing the curriculum DURING homeschooling.
Bottom line- my children’s education is my number one priority- which is why I’m doing it in the first place. My work and everything else on the schedule will adapt and mould around it. I just thank the GOOD LORD for the blessing he has given me in being able to educate my children from the comfort of my home and having the added blessing of working from home as well. I love every part of my day- in the office and the classroom.
