Encouragement/advice needed

[Stacy350]

I need a little support/encouragement/advice/etc...

I have two kids, Lilian 9 and Samuel 8.

Lilian is slow and methodical, needs a ton of time to do everything, gets distracted very easily, likes things to be "perfect" though frequently doesn't follow or listen to directions.

Samuel is fast. He like to get things done. Sometimes he goes so fast he causes me to feel anxious, he also causes Lilian to feel anxious because she doesn't keep up with him. He is not throurall and skips or misses things. I'm always telling him to slow down. Even his body is fast.

As you can probably guess, this makes things somewhat stressful for us as far as school goes.

I have tried to school them separately, the problem is Lilian takes 2 hours for what takes Samuel 30 minutes. I can tell he gets upset about having to be quiet for so long, plus it is really hard to get him to settle down to school after he's been essentially ignored for such a long time. I have tried doing his schooling first but he needs lots of breaks, so I can't get him to settle down. So I think I've pretty much decided they need to do school together.

I don't have any idea how you ladies do it with more than 2 kids and I have one more on the way (in July). I have a schedule/routine that I like and the kids seem to like it too, but I feel like I'm YELLING ALL THE TIME! "Samuel, sit down. Lilian you'll have to come back to that we are moving on now. Let's stay on track!" Here is a picture of our schedule/routine. I'm not super strict on it or anything. As you can see we take tons of breaks so they're not asked to sit for long periods.

I just feel like I'm failing because I feel frustrated



Eta I couldn't figure out how to add the attachment. Trust that we have a decent routine

[Gwenny]

Are you doing a HOD guide now? If so, which one?

I would do the things together that don't really require writing, or an activity together first. Maybe do a few things and then do something that requires writing and plan the break then. For example, in Bigger, I would read the History and the poem and do the Bible study and Hymn and then they both sit down to do the vocabulary. She can continue on if he finishes first and then he can get up and run around or whatever he likes to do. Then pull him back and work on something else like his math or copywork. When she is finished, do anything else that requires togetherness (story time or whatever) but isn't time dependent on anyone.

I had that same scenario one year and it is difficult at times. I had to not rush that slower one. Sometimes, they could use some help in learning to be faster--depends on if it's just dawdling or really just that they aren't ready to be faster.

You might want to have your boy just get up and do some jumping jacks or pushups or something and settle back down to work instead of needing to go off and do something else.