My Son is losing interest in Homeschool and he's only in 1st grade.?

Question

I have so much book work for him to do from the mandated homeschooling system that he doesn't want to do it and resists his studies and I don't blame him! First grade wasn't this hard for me! Why should I force it upon him?

Answer 1

Maybe it's not homeschooling he's rejecting, but book work?

You know, it's still counts as an education if you do more hands-on work and field trips and projects.

Watching educational TV and videos (schoolhouse rock, Mythbusters, Magic School Bus), doing kitchen chemistry and science experiments in the yard, cooking & building things (reading instructions, measuring for math), going on field trips (museums, botanic gardens, etc.), doing project boards or oral reports or making a "video documentary" on a topic or a puppet or "radio show" script to be tape recorded-- these are all educational activities that can often be counted towards a state's mandated subject areas and educational  hours log.

Just curious-- are you using a satellite program or independent study school program? Or are you registered as a private school? If you're using a distance learning option, maybe drop it and try a different one, or try registering as your own private school devising your own curriculum with more variety of approaches rather than heavy book work?

Answer 2

send him to normal school. or enroll him in a sport or church program so he is often with others. If he has a limited time to do things he will probably take his studies more seriously. Ex. you can't go to practice unless you finish your work.  Make sure if you continue to home school or kid that he often has interaction with kids his age. My best friend and all of her siblings are home schooled1-8 grad and it worked really well for them, they are extremely well adjusted.  I know I kind of veered from the subject but I hope this helps.

Answer 3

To my knowledge there is no state with one mandated program. All that book work does not sound age appropriate. You should not force this upon him. Follow your instincts. You are not filling a bucket but lighting a fire. Teach him to love learning and a little sticktoitiveness and all else will follow.

Answer 4

Oh you should try caliva.org i go to the school he will not get bored!

Answer 5

"Mandated homeschooling system"? Where are you??

Can you not homeschool in a more traditional fashion? Where you choose what he does?

If there's more work through this system than in school, and you have no choice but to do it, and he's hating it, then perhaps you should consider putting him in school. (I can't believe I'm recommending that as a "devout" homeschooler!) Another idea would be to break the day up into blocks--30 minutes of work, 30 minutes of play, 30 minutes of work, 30 minutes of play... Or instead of play, 30 minutes of learning stuff that HE likes.

ADDED: I'd really recommend that you at the very least join an online support group, through Yahoo Groups, for example, for the state of  California. I've known unschoolers in California, so no, you definitely do not need to do a whole bunch of book work.

Answer 6

first, congrats on homeschooling your child!

anyways, he needs to get his school done, but is there ANY possible way you could include games...or even goals? like, "if you finish these two pages of math and get a 100, we'll go get ice cream together!" or other type of motivation. You could also let him skip a grade if you felt like it. My brother is in 8th grade about to do 10th grade work (he wants to get into a good college)

that's all my advice!

Answer 7

Put him in a public school for a while.  Maybe he needs socialization.

Answer 8

my mom home schooled me for a year but sadly i didn't get enough social so ended up with some problems but the good part was my grades went up so much so there is advantages & disadvantages

Answer 9

Put him in public school. He interacts with more kids and there's more activities. It's less boring. Plus, he'll learn more social skills.

Answer 10

Is your homeschooling program mandated by the state, or by a charter school?  If it's by the charter school...I've gotta say, I'd drop that quick, or allow him to do the work orally (you transcribe for him).  If it's by the state, see what you can do to transcribe it for him, or put it in a different form - lapbooking, projects, etc.

I hit the same thing with my son when he was 6.5; the only difference was, I put it on him when I didn't have to.  I just thought that was what was supposed to be done, so I made him do it.  That was a hard year, to put it lightly.

I would do what you can to move his work to unit studies, at least until he gets older.  Honestly, I have a 10yo, and he learns so much from unit studies that a lot of his curriculum is based on them.  I'm careful to make sure that his skill-based work is in there - probably even more than he'd get through a workbook, honestly - but it's fun and interesting, so he does it willingly.

Short answer...you shouldn't force it on him.  There's got to be a way you can get around that, even if it means a bit more paperwork for you (in putting together evals or showing proof of curriculum to the state).  

Hope that helps?

Edit: I moved from CA a few years ago, and I have several friends that homeschool.  The laws in CA, as far as I'm aware, state that you have to teach the same *subjects* as the public schools, and in the English language, but you don't have to teach them the same *way* as the public schools.

Also, after he finishes with his mandated subjects, there's nothing that says that you can't have "fun" time in the afternoon learning about robotics and other science subjects.  You have to teach him the public school subjects, but you're not limited to that.  Past the requirements, he can learn about whatever he wants :-)

You also have the option of enrolling in a satellite school (which there are many of in CA), which gives you other options - you aren't restricted by the public school system.  I would suggest getting in touch with some homeschool groups in your area to see how to work with the system and still teach your son.  Hope that helps!

Answer 11

Do you have to use the program you're using?  Is there a way that you can tailor it to meet your son's needs?  

Traditional workbook curricula are sometimes heavy on busywork and writing, and that can be a challenge for a young boy.

Work on tailoring it to meet his needs.  Once he has mastered a concept, have him do every other problem, or only complete certain sections.  Let him give you the answers orally if the writing becomes too much.  Don't serve the curriculum, make the curriculum serve you!

Make sure you are not spending too much time on bookwork.  I have a first grader as well, and 1 to 2 hours of seatwork should be enough.  Supplement your curriculum with fun books, projects and field trips.  

I don't think you should force it on him unless you are required to by some outside authority (not sure of the laws in your state).  Pushing a child too soon can cause them to lose their love for learning.

Read "Better Late than Early" by Raymond Moore.  You may also want to choose a new homeschooling method.  There's more info on homeschooling methods and tailoring a traditional curriculum in the links in the source box.

Answer 12

Better start getting him motivated.Tell him its very important.

Answer 13

I think you know what the solution is. You clealry state that the work is too much and you know in your heart you want to pull out of the program and go it on your own. There is no shame in that, so make the move.

Instead, (beyond reading and math) let him pick a subject to study and dig in to find hands-on activities, child-friendly resources and projects, and enjoy learning together. Some of my memories of those early elementary years with unit studies include:

Reading aloud the Castle in the Attic while the kids built a scale model in cardboard of the castle from the illustrations and descriptions in the book. We also had McCauley's Castle book as a reference and read it. The kids made their medieval costumes and we went to a Medieval reinactment and got first-hand view of what it was like to live back then. Trying to pick up real chainmail is quite an eye-opener! By the end of the unit, they could get in character and fill hours of play being a knight or damsel of the great realm whether they were holding their Play Mobile knights who seemed to live and breathe as they defended their cardboard castle to being the defender when they were in costume.

When we studied frontier history they made mocassins and a coon skin cap (just gray fake fur sewn in a cap shape with a tail) as I read aloud a book about the childhood of Daniel Boone. We studied animal tracks and went out to the woods and creek to find real ones. They learned about animal camoflauge (predators and prey) and the food chain. We went to a living history farm and learned about life way back then complete with a working blacksmith and a dulcimer player.

If it sounds like your son would like learning history, art, and science this way, take a look at unit studies. We used KONOS for several years and then began making our own homemade units on whatever topics that we felt we needed or wanted.

As your son gets older, he might like e-notebooking which will naturally build his writing, graphic design, and computer skills. My ten year old's e-notebook on density is at http://www.geocities.com/armoorefam/. This is a great extension of a hands-on approach to learning because hands-on creates real artifacts, projects, and labs that are interesting enough to write about and share. These are much more interesting than a stack of workbook pages.

Good luck with your decisions. :)

Answer 14

I am pretty sure you don't have to go through a charter school.  In california there are 4 different ways to legally homeschool:

Here is some information from the HSLDA website

CALIFORNIA

Compulsory Attendance Ages: “between the ages of 6” by Dec. 2 (§ 48200) and under 18 years of age.” California Education Code § 48200, 48400, 48410.

Required Days of Instruction: 175 days, only for public schools.

Required Subjects: English and must “offer instruction in the several branches of study required to be taught in the public schools.” Grades 1-6: English, mathematics, social sciences, science, fine arts, health, physical education.

Home School Statute: None.

Alternative Statutes Allowing for Home Schools: Home

Schools have 4 options:

Option 1. Under § 48222, the individual home school could qualify as a private school by filing an annual private school affidavit:

a. the instructors must be capable of teaching;

b. the instruction must be in English;

c. the instruction must be in the several branches of study required in public schools;

d. attendance must be kept in a register; and

e. a private school affidavit must be filed with the Superintendent of Public Instruction between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 of each school year. Cal. Educ. Code §§ 33190, 48222.

In February 1986, the Santa Maria Municipal Court ruled, in two home school cases handled by HSLDA, that the compulsory attendance statute is void because of its unconstitutional vagueness and upheld the right of home schools to operate as private schools. People v. Darrah, No. 853104 (Santa Maria Mun. Ct. Mar. 10, 1986); People v. Black, No. 853105 (Santa Maria Mun. Ct. Mar. 10, 1986).

Furthermore, in Institute of Creation Research v. Honig,Civil No. 90-0483-B-(M), January 29, 1992, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California ordered ... “a private K-12 school is not within the jurisdiction of the State Department of Education for the purpose of approval of courses or course content or issuance of regulations, except as provided by law” (p. 3). This ruling would apply to all home schools that file a private school affidavit.

Option 2. The home school could have instruction provided by a certified private tutor (Cal. Educ. Code § 48224).

CA-1

California CA-2

Option 3. The child could be enrolled in an independent study program at home, using the public school curriculum. Cal. Educ. Code § 51745. Under this option, the child is considered a public school student and has to abide by the rules and policy of the public school.

Option 4. Home schoolers could enroll in a private school satellite program and take “independent study” through that private school. The private school “independent study program” (ISP) must comply with Cal. Educ. Code § 48222 (see #1 above) Adm. Code Chapter 15 P 51745-517. Many home school families have organized these private ISPs which enroll anywhere from two to several hundred families.

Teacher Qualifications: None, if home school registers as a private school, or enrolls in an independent study program with a private school.

Certification is necessary only if the home school parent chooses to qualify as a private tutor.

Standardized Tests: Not required by statute.

______________________________________...

Filing your home as a private school is usually the best way... you don't even have to be a certified teacher.

Contact http://www.hslda.org  for more information

Answer 15

Edit: If you live in CA you don't have to use a specific program! Look at hslda.org....all it states is that you have to teach the same subjects (Grades 1-6: English,

mathematics, social sciences, science, fine arts, health, physical education), it doesn't state a specific curriculum it doesn't even state the AMOUNT of work it takes, it doesn't say how many days or hours. Whomever told you this information was lying to make your life harder. Drop the workbooks and start over.

now back to the previous answer:

what system are you using? Nearly every state has options, you do not have to use a specific program. In fact, I don't know of a single state that says "You must use this program and you must do this much work every day". Most have hourly or day requirements, but hours can be spread out as can days.

You can even spread the work out over weeks, so you aren't doing everything every single day. That would suck the soul out of anyone. Post your state and we can try to help you brainstorm some alternatives. You're right, it shouldn't be like this. First graders in public schools are still goofing off in crafts and circle time. He should have lots of time to play, and work should take less than an hour or two.

Answer 16

Why is it mandated?  Do you live in a country with strict homeschooling laws?  Where I come from, parents can teach whatever they like, so long as the child is being educated in some way.

I know some places in the USA require certain subjects and/or hours to be taught, but can't you be flexible about how you do it?  Eg if your son has to study a certain topic, why not work on it together, or do it verbally?  Or on the computer?  Having children write down answers is only necessary in a classroom of 20 or more children, when the teacher can't possibly get around all of them to find out if they understand what they're doing.  In a homeschool situation, you don't need written work at all if it is overwhelming your son - just sit with him on the sofa and talk about what he's learning.  

Also, find out what he would like to learn.  Every child is different, and the beauty of home schooling is that you can follow his interests rather than narrowing him down to someone else's idea of a curriculum.

Answer 17

FInd another way to teach him or get those activites adn turn them into a kind of game for him make working fun! It means more work for you put hey it means your son will learn more too. But why are you h/s him? If he isnt around kids his own age then {not including family} how will he learn to interact with others or make friends? If he doesnt like homeschooling try out regular/private school and see which he likes best and which he tries hardest in.

Answer 18

1. take things slowly but make him understand, tell him the importance of education for his own future. give examples and be practical. make him think for himself, talk to him like a grown-up, but make it plain and simple i.e:

- if u don't do well in your education, u won't get a job with good pay, everything needs money, example: your favourite food, your toys, ...

- would you like collect other people's trash everyday?

- explain that nothing in life is easy and you stil have to do things you don't like, <main point: grow up, cant stay young forever>

or

2. put him in a normal school instead of home school

let him mix around, maybe its boring being at home the whole time. competing is a kind of motivation to perform better academically.

Answer 19

see u have two chooses u can

a. keep him home schooling but make it funner. Do more activtys

b. Send him to public skool the only pro. is he will make friends then he will have to leave them when you want to home school him again

Answer 20

try www.k12.com good program and force no just learn for your future

Answer 21

Maybe let him see some other kids his age, also maybe try some stuff he likes like adding games etc.