“Homeschool is Boring”
Ugh! Not exactly what a homeschool mom wants to hear! I mean you are pouring countless hours planning, preparing, teaching, and agonizing of your children and their education. I mean homeschooling isn’t for wimps!
Now what?!
Despite your best efforts your kids are complaining. Sure you can ignore them, but it bothers you. You don’t want learning to be boring.
#1 - Define Boring!
First things first. You need to define boring!
When everyone is calm, sit down and chat about what specifically do they think is boring. You can’t address an ambiguous problem and what you think may be boring may not be what your kids are thinking at all.
Here are some areas that may make kids feel like homeschool is boring:
- Is it the amount of time sitting at the table?
- Do they not like worksheets?
- Is the learning style of your curriculum/teaching not resonating with your child?
- Are they seeing enough of other kids?
- Unrealistic expectations (like what public school kids’ day is like)?
Ask them, “Why do you think homeschool is boring?” (Don’t feed them what you think they are thinking; let them lead the conversation!)
Resist the urge to throw back quick answers at your children. You want them to know you are really hearing their concerns and care. Listen. Really listen to what they are saying.
Get clarification by being an active listener. Here’s an example: “So I hear you say you think math is boring. .. ..” See how you aren’t expanding on what they said, but rather showing them you heard what they said and by repeating it without a close to the sentence they have the opportunity to expand their initial thought. Perhaps they will say, yeah I have like a million pages of worksheets every day. Now you have your clarification, the real thing they think is boring is not math, but tedious worksheets!
Let your kids know you need time to think and pray about their concerns. Remind them that learning is fun and you want to have a great time learning with them.
#2 - Take some Time to Mull it Over
Take some time to think over what they’ve said, try to think of practical ways you can help make learning more fun for your kids. Ask for your spouses opinion, chances are they have a different perspective on the situation that may be helpful.
Here are some ways you might be able to tweak your homeschool schedule:
- add short recesses outside, playing a game, or a silly dance break
- start your day sooner or later
- add games to make practicing math facts more fun (I have tons of cool math games ready for you to explore)
- do extra work during the week so that Friday can be Fieldtrip Friday with no traditional textbook learning
- join a coop or specific class to get a new teacher voice/friends
- change curriculum
- cut out some of the scheduled activities (they may all be good activities, you there is such a thing as having too much of a good thing =)
- start an incentive program (stickers, ice cream outing, etc. for positive attitude or whatever else needs encouragement/reinforcement)
Remember, you may not be able to change everything they want. I mean, most kids would opt not do school at all, but we know that’s not best for them.
Plus, let’s be honest, some days will need to be routine just to fit it all in and allow you to juggle the various roles around the house (wife, mother, cook, maid, bill payer, etc.).
But if we homeschool Moms want our kids to enjoy learning and thrive in our homeschooling environment. We need to let kids be part of the process.
#3 – Make Some Changes
We all get into ruts; It’s just part of being human. But now that you know exactly what the problem is it’s time to make some changes!
Every homeschool can change something!
So use this opportunity of change to add a little sizzle back into your homeschool. Even a small tweak or change will be huge to your child and will breath a little life back in your school day. Remember to go back and ask your kids how it’s working out. You make need to make more tweaks and as your children grown and mature you’ll be changing things yet again. It’s part of the whole parenting thing, it’s always changing!
You may also want to see ways to Keeping Homeschool Kids Excited about Learning.
More Ideas for making Homeschool FUN!
- Include lots of Cool Math Games
- Pick Great Books to Read & Use Incentive Charts (book recommendations for kids by grade)
- 13 Homeschool Blogs You Should be following
- The BIG Book of Homeschooling Ideas
- Include lots of Lego Games
- Include fun Writing Prompts
- Make Spelling Fun with Spelling Games
- Include lots of hands on History for Kids
