5 year-old hates homeschooling?

Question

My 5 year-old absolutely hates homeschooling and I'm saddened by it. My son is 14 and he thinks it's okay, but the 5 year-old whines, kicks, screams, and refuses to do her work. She's getting into time-outs all the time and I would really hate for her to not like learning at home, but it's not cutting it anymore.

Anyone have any advice? Is this normal for this age? I am using one program for math (Saxon) and she's already reading so we just read books. We do a lot of fun art stuff and do science every now and again, but she's just so unhappy.

Any advice? Should I stop for a while?

Answer 1

I would stop for a while with the "academics", use plenty of games to re-enforce the concepts, you can use computer software like Reader Rabbit, Jump Start, Math Blasters, ans many more.

Here is a web site that carries them for next to nothing.

http://www.planetcdrom.com/free-homescho...

Also I would include a lot of games;

http://www.educationallearninggames.com/...

Keep reading to her, take her to library story hours, and use  play to talk/teach about other things.

She can help plan a meal, bake cookies, make a shopping list, find items in the store the sky is the limit.

Learning is not always done in traditional ways.

You can teach the basics of math with M&M books, Hersey's chocolate, or twizzlers; they sure learn, and love to eat the prize.

For writing, let her help write, and address the Holiday cards, print story idea's of this web site:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

To gain full access to the site it requires a yearly $20.00 fee, but it is well worth it.

You can check the site out for free, and have limited access as well.

Also get educatioinal Dover coloring books, they are amazing.

Home schooling is not about tears, it is about igniting the love for life long learning.

There is more than one way.

Answer 2

Maybe homeschooling isn't for her and she wants to go to school with her friends? All kids are different, and while some thrive in homeschooling, others thrive in more traditional schools. Unless there's some other burning reason associated with what's best for HER, not what YOU would like to have happen, I wouldn't homeschool a child who hated it.

But yeah, find out WHAT it is she hates. If it's sitting down to learn, then going to a normal school isn't going to help. If it's learning on her own, or from you, then it might.

Answer 3

I think she may have a BURN OUT.

May be you should consider giving her a few days off.

You may want to look into other math curriculum. Seems that Saxon doesn't work for her. Maybe that's the reason why she didn't like it.

Answer 4

A 5 year old can't pay a whole lot of attention at a time, you might just be expecting a little too much of her. Also, you can try enrolling her in a public kindergarten and see how she likes that.

Answer 5

I had some resistance when my daughter was that age.   I incorporated some Montessori methods into our classical curriculum.  I allowed her to have some choice in which activities we would work on each morning.  I set aside a few shelves of a bookcase and had trays and baskets with her assignments for the week.  In her math basket I would put some workbook pages as well as things like pennies and other manipulatives to help with counting or one of those little learning clocks when we were learning about time; a pretty box with her phonics flashcards or early reader books; a tray with fun art supplies; some geography puzzles or educational games; a tray with a shoe on it to practice tying shoes, etc.  

Each day, she got to decide what activity she wanted to start with.  Our only rule was that we needed to do at least a little bit of reading and math each day.  I would also include activities occasionally like baking cookies, folding laundry, etc.  Kids sometimes like doing work around the house when it's not required but something they can choose to do.  

Your daughter may also need more play time with kids her age.  My daughter has 2 younger brothers to play with which helps but given that your son is 9 years older, you daughter may just need some more playdates or social time with other kids near her age.  Are there homeschool groups that meet in your area?  Does she have some friends in the neighborhood you could arrange playdates with once they are out of school for the day?  Do you sit down and play with her every once in awhile?.  As homeschool parents, we sometimes need to act silly like kids do and play some of those silly games kids play.  It's tempting when we're not focused on schoolwork to get to work on the pile of dishes in the sink or the laundry waiting to be folded.  We need to make sure that every now and then, we skip the chores and just take some time to laugh and have fun with our kids.

Answer 6

Have you chosen curriculum that fits her learning style?  Perhaps Saxon and anything else you're using is too "workbook-ish" and she needs more kinesthetic, hands-on learning.

As others mentioned, she is only five.  Also, don't make this like "school at home".  Make it fun.  Let her move.  Give her breaks between subjects.  Let her hang upside-down from the couch while reading, do spelling by writing big letters on a shower curtain (cheap plastic one, like a liner), and have her jump from letter to letter to spell the word.

Something else gave me a tip as to what may be setting her off.  You said "do science every now and again".  If you have no set schedule for when you do work (as in Science on Mon, Wed, Fri, math on Mon-Fri, art on Tues-Thurs), she may be rebelling simply because she has no idea of what to expect.  Kids this age need boundaries.

I gave my DS frequent breaks at that age.  Not only between courses, but also during the week.  We schooled four days a week, with Wednesday being our errand/fun day.  Also, I let him have a little bit of control over the daily schedule.  So he might pick spelling to get it out of the way first, then history b/c it was fun, and then math last b/c he could just keep going and going.  Other days he wanted to start with the fun course.

I would have a weekly schedule of what subjects you do on which days.  Then work w/ your DD to plan out each day's routine (I'm not a strict scheduler).

You can also use the fun stuff like art as a "carrot on a stick".  If she gets her math done w/o issues, then she'll get to do X lessons of art after that.

Obviously time outs are not working.  Try giving her a timer, setting it for say, 10-15 minutes and then tell her "You have this amount of time to finish your math.  If you don't finish, then you'll have homework tonight during family time when the rest of us are having fun." ...or something to that affect.

But it all boils down to...she's five.  While you want to establish some clear boundaries, you also want to make it fun.  Try figuring out her learning style and work around it.

Answer 7

send her to school

Answer 8

Nope! You know,when I'm 5 years old, I loved schooling.

I'm no specialist, but I would recommend you to ask her whether she loves homeschooling or not.

Answer 9

Are you sure she hates home schooling in particular?  Maybe she just hates schooling in general.  Most kids do.

Answer 10

At age five your daughter would be in kindergarten, and you can't expect too much from a kindergartener. She may have the brain for math and reading and science, but you need to present it in a way that appeals to a very young child. You shouldn't let it come across as "work". It needs to be fun and interesting, and frankly Saxon math worksheets usually aren't.

Supplement the work with more hands-on, creative learning.

One day instead of simply reading a book, put on a puppet show. You can make puppets for your art project out of construction paper and brown paper bags quite easily. Make them to look like the characters in the book. A turtle for Franklin or a red dog for Clifford, etc. Then read the book together. You be the narrator, and let her read all the dialogue using one of the puppets. This will help her learn how to follow along since she will only be able to read out loud when it's her turn.

For math, take a break from the workbook. Use it as a guide so you know what you should be teaching her, but don't let the book be the sole sourse of learning. If today's lesson is addition and subtraction, get a bag of M&M's or some other appealing treat. Tell her she can have three blue M&M's, and two red M&Ms, (put them into groups), but ONLY if she tells you how many 3 and 2 equal all together. As she gets more advanced, just give her the numbers and dont let her see the objects (so she wont be counting). You can do this with anything. Some school supply stores even sell single beads (1's) rods (10) and squares (100) of beads to use as hands on manipulatives when you get into bigger numbers.

For counting, use numbers cut out of pieces of construction paper. For fractions, bake a pie together, or just use colored paper circles cut into sections. For patterns and shapes, get a box of pattern blocks (small wooden blocks cut into hexogons, triangles, squares, and other shapes, and each shape is a certain color) You could do things like play store or house or other make-believe games and incorperate different skills you learned as you play. If she thinks she's playing, she'll start to enjoy learning a lot more, and even put up less of a fight when it comes time to work in the book.

Answer 11

Saxon math can tend to be repetitive and a little boring.  The Kindergarten level, even though it is hands on, still repeats the same concepts again and again, and when all is said and done, at the end of Saxon K, your daughter won't know anything she couldn't have learned in the course of play.  (I speak from experience using Saxon K level math.)

Just play with her and look for oportunites to work counting skills into real life.  Give her a piggy bank and each day 1 penny to it.  Occasionally count them all with her.

If she is reading already, she is ahead in that area, so don't push.  If she doesn't feel like reading today, don't worry about it.  Do be sure to read out loud to her though.

Answer 12

Forcing a 5 year-old to do school work she doesn't want to do is not going to help her develop a love of learning.   I suggest that you continue to do the activities the two of you  enjoy doing together and let the other stuff go for now.   It sounds to me like your daughter may be fairly advanced already.   Relax and enjoy her while she is little.  It won't last long enough!

Answer 13

I would stop. Read the Book "Better Late Than Early"...then read everything by John Holt.

She's 5. She's not ready for anything outside the context of what applies to her life right now.

Make life FUN and learning will come naturally along with it.

Answer 14

I agree with others and try another approach. At this age, kids learn so much from play.

You might also be having an issue with changing from teacher to mom, or she is having trouble with the transistion. Do you have other issues with her when you try to get her to do something? Does everything cause conflict for the 2 of you or is it just during school time? If the two of you generally struggle, that needs to change before she will be interested in listening to you for school purposes.

I say this knowing you love your children dearly. I do not mean to say any thing different. I was just  bringing up something that others have not touched on. Some kids and parents just have conflict all the time no matter how much love is there.

Good luck.

Answer 15

She's 5 you're the parent so don't let her make the decision for you about schooling - if you feel you're lead to homeschool then do so.

That being said - she's 5 - perhaps your expectations are to high, curriculum isn't a good fit, etc as others have already mentioned. My eldest hates Saxon - my 2nd doesn't mind it. So we don't use it with my eldest and I don't use it with my 7yr old as I feel it's to much drill to kill without really working on the concept introduced in the lesson( a math teacher I know pointed this out as well). Others I know use it but don't use every problem/or page. Just because you bought it doesn't mean you MUST use it! You can sell it on ebay and find what works for her!  A friend was freed up from her daughter hating handwriting when she mentioned her struggles to me and I encouraged her that NOBODY wants to do 5 pages of handwriting a day - especially not a 6 yo and that it was ok to just do 1 or 2 and maybe write notes letters to Grandparents!  The beauty of homeschooling is tailoring the curriculum to your child and not the child to the curriculum!

At 5 truly a few math problems a day (counting, sorting, puzzles, legos, things like that), reading aloud, reading if she's ready for it, playing dress up and pretend, chores - tidying up her room, making the bed, emptying waste baskets, etc; learning to write her name, copying words she likes, manners and obedience are more important than academics. Sounds like she needs a break from the academics and more time to be 5, go for nature walks with Mom!

Don't compare her to your 14yo he's in a different season.

Answer 16

I would have you look at your expectations for her. If she's unhappy about her work, what sort of work are you giving her? With homeschooling, you have the opportunity to make it something that matches with each child, something they enjoy.

A 5yo where I live is a kindergartner. And kindergarten here is made up of: water centre, sand centre, painting centre, blocks centre, train centre, kitchen centre, reading corner, story time, song time, one little work thing per day (could be practising letters or practising numbers). Oh, and outside time. All of this in about 3 hours. So think about what you are asking her to do. Thing about how you can make it fun. Her LEARNING is much more important than which resource you use.

If you are giving time outs all the time, you have to ask yourself if they are in any way effective. What are you trying to accomplish with them? Is it happening? Also think about the resentment that's building up against school BECAUSE OF the time outs. It's just reinforcing her belief that school is hate-worthy.

To sum up: it's not about the homeschooling--it's about HOW the homeschooling is being done.

Answer 17

Play to learn. Kids that age need to be moving and playing and exploring to find things on their own, not sitting at a desk and being told what and when to learn. That's why nearly every program for five year olds, public, private, montessori, etc, lasts for two hours a day, and is cut into short tiny bits of info surrounded by tons of free play. Dress up, legos, catching bugs. Even first grade is more like that, and it's not until the end of second or third that the expectation to sit and absorb comes in strongly.

She's telling you, the best way a little kid can, that she doesn't like what you're doing. Before she gets to that point, stop the program and move into some fun. Bake some cookies (math, science, logic), clean some windows (geometry, science, PE), go for a walk (PE, family, science). It really feels like a power struggle, she's kicking and screaming, and you are probably thinking to yourself that you can't 'let her win' and pushing her harder. I don't know that for sure, but it's often played out that way.

When she's older, like your son, she'll appreciate more of the sit-down stuff. But she's a different person, different type of learner, and a different personality. Try to make adjustments for that. BTW...my son HATED Saxon math because it was so repetitive. My daughter didn't mind it, because she enjoyed that kind of work. My son thought it was pointless to repeat the things he already understood, to do fifty math problems when five or ten would suffice to understand, etc etc. Good luck, I know you want what's best for her.

Answer 18

Lighten up!  A 5 yr old has more things to learn than reading and computing.   PLAY with her.  Lego, dolls, bikes, baking cookies, walks, puzzles... so much can be learned by just doing the fun stuff.  Later make math flashcards into a game.  Read aloud to her every day.  Take turns reading sentences.  

Check out the Robinson Curriculum --- it is a great tool.

As she gets older she can work into a self-teaching plan and do ONE lesson of math, ONE page of writing and 2 hours of reading --- if the books are really good and interesting she will have no problem doing this.  It's a very simple and basic method of learning and it is very solid and worthwhile.  Many children do this and go on to college and the workplace with high-esteem.