How do you get a homeschooler to do their schoolwork??

Question

How do you get a homeschooler to do their schoolwork??

Answer 1

With my kids, it's all about incentive.  We live on a remote acreage in Western Canada.  My two eldest kids ride dirt bikes.  Once their school work and chores are done properly, they're free to ride all afternoon if they want.  Sometimes, they're so eager to get out there, that they have everything done by eleven in the morning.  No work done, no dirt bikes.

Answer 2

Since my kids only do what they want to learn, I don't have to 'get' them to do it. Sorry.

You might read "Punished by Rewards", it is very helpful.

Answer 3

I threaten to send them back to school.   It works every time.

Answer 4

Reward them when they finish, and do a good job.

Answer 5

One of the best things about homeschool is that at least we KNOW when they do the work.   My son was in public school until the 8th grade and had the worst habit of misplacing his school work/ homework.   The first week of homeschooling he lost an assignment.   Whoa buddy, that excuse doesn't work anymore.   Look in the garbage can because if you did it, it is here.

We are flexible with assignments and give him more than enough time to complete his work.

I guess knowing that there are no excuses is the reason he does his work.

Answer 6

I assign it to him :-)

My son and I work together to figure out what he'd like to study and which angles he'd like to attack it from.  I then find resources that fit his abilities, the skills he needs to work on, and his interests, and write a unit.  He knows that he's responsible to get his work done, there just isn't another option.  If something comes up (a field trip, something like that), I'm fine with reassigning it, but he doesn't get things reassigned just because he didn't want to do it that day.

Answer 7

This question is a bit loaded because it assumes a school at home model. Unschool / autonomous children don't have schoolwork as such and the whole concept of making them do any just isn't part of the philosophy.

Answer 8

Make sure they are not doing school work in a room with a TV or a computer (unless their work is online). I homeschooled in seventh grade. My program was online and I would always take "breaks" to check my email, but I would end up spending about 20 minutes doing something else on the computer, such as playing games. If they will not do their work, sit with them until they are finished (if you have time). Another alternative is not to allow TV, computer, or video game time until they are finished. Rewarding them is an option too.

Answer 9

No one "gets" me to do my school work. I just do it myself because I want to and I know what I'm getting out of it. Not to mention, in my particular form of home schooling, most of the work is really fun.

Answer 10

My son is like "i_come_from"... very self-motivated and rarely needs any kind of push... or pull.

In general and long term, I think rewards work better than threats and punishment.