I must be doing this wrong...

[lindstrom5]

We are on Week 11 of HOD and are a first time homeschooling family. My kids are 4,6 and 8 and we use Little Hands, Beyond and Bigger. For the first few weeks the kids were so excited about homeschooling, but as the weeks have drug on I feel like they are becoming bored with it. We spend no more than 2.5 hours a day doing the work as it's laid out in the book with no extras, though sometimes it feels like it's waaaay more! Every time we change subjects it's "ooh, not English" or "ugh, I don't want to do the Bible". Getting them to focus anymore seems nearly impossible.

Am I doing something wrong?? Is there any way to make it more interesting? I'm worried it's the curriculum, that it's just not "exciting" enough for them. My children will usually sit through a movie without much movement, but getting them to sit at the table for two hours with their behinds in the chair is like torture. They are very busy bodies and I don't know how to get them (and me) excited about doing school again.

[StephanieU]

Do you take breaks? My daughter does one or two subjects then plays for 10-30 minutes. Then we do another subject and another break. It spreads the days out a lot, but it works for us. Also, I let her pick the order of some things. In the mornings when the youngest is awake, we do the 3Rs. She gets to pick which order we do those three. Then, when the youngest is napping, we do the left side of the guide (plus storytime). This seems to work well for her.

[MomtoJGJE]

Did you check the placement chart? Sometimes when it's not working it means they aren't placed correctly. That the material is physically too demanding.

[Tidbits of Learning]

The first few weeks every year is always exciting. Just like back to school for brick and mortar kids is exciting. By Christmas time, they are tired and a little worn down. The newness is worn off and the shine is just not there. Move around, don't just school at the table. Change of scenery is always good. Hopefully Christmas break will help. It is normal this time of year for them to get a little less enthused about school. Have you had any school breaks? We are on winter break and morale has definitely picked up. The piano tutor asked when school picks back up for us and that she could see a change in morale since we were on holiday break.

[Nealewill]

I think all kids go through this phase of life. There are way more curriculums where they are way more boring LOL. We came from one of those. I don't know you or your kids but I personally think your kids testing you. I had that. The newness has worn off. And I don't know many kids who actually "like" school. My kids like HOD much better than other stuff we have done. But when push comes to shove, if I said we can go pick up trash around the neighborhood or stay home and do school, my kids would pick trash hands down.

The beauty of HOD is that it is very flexible and hands on. I have done several other programs in the past and those actually were boring. Now that we use HOD, my kids have said this the most they have actually liked school. So I feel like even though nothing is perfect, it is better. Also, if you find there is something in the curriculum that isn't work in spot for your children, supplement it. For example, my younger kids hate the poetry. Who knew? So I will read that poem twice a week in Beyond and look through the questions for the week but only cover the days I like most. Those kids are 5 and 7 and they do well enough. We also don't do all the bible days and do not do the memorization portion. We do AWANA and there is a lot of Bible memory there. So I don't make my kids memorize the verses for both programs. Sometimes my kids don't feel like listening to the music. So what I have done is put the music on in the car and they like that just fine. So I have improvised here and there.

I also recommend breaks. My kids work for about 30-45 minutes at a time and then they get a break for 30 minutes (multiple kids so when one or two kids are on a break, I am working with another kids 1-1 and there is no independent work that can be done.)

[8arrows]

My kids like HOD much better than other stuff we have done. But when push comes to shove, if I said we can go pick up trash around the neighborhood or stay home and do school, my kids would pick trash hands down.

Yes! This! It is also hard for kids to concentrate so close to Christmas.

[countrymom]

I agree with the others, kids are not going to necessarily always like school. However, there are many things in life we aren't going to necessarily like, but we do them. Rule #1 in our house is we don't complain during schooltime - period! They can tell me with a nice attitude that something is hard, they can ask questions, they can tell me they don't understand, but once I hear complaining they get one warning, then they lose a privilege. Of course I have talked with them about why we don't complain and how our attitude affects us for good or bad. I also make sure I am happy and cheerful and I am making it seem as though this is the most exciting thing they could possibly do today. I would definitely look at your schedule and make sure each child is getting "recess" and that your subjects are rotated in such a way that they aren't doing all of the tedious work together. For example, I always start with reading, then I go to history or storytime, which both of my boys love. Math and English are interspersed between projects and other fun boxes. Hang in there, this is a hard time of year too and sometime a week off is just what they need.

[my3sons]

Ok - here's a hug, first off! This time of year can be tough - no matter what. I searched your past posts to try to get to know you and your dc better. I can sense a bit of questioning right from the start that would resonate with just about any mom beginning homeschooling. I know I felt like that. Will I be able to do this? Did I pick the right thing? I just want my dc to LOVE their days homeschooling? What should I do so they can't wait to do school? You are like most of us moms homeschooling. You want the very best for your dc, and you have the ideal in mind of each day being a delight. The truth is, homeschooling with HOD IS WONDERFUL, but doing school - no matter how it is done - will not be dc's ideal of how to spend their time each day. Dc love nothing more than to play, to have little responsibilities, and to be not so accountable. I remember this - I was a child once too (way back). We have done HOD for over a decade, and I can tell you, it is a blessing in our home. HOD is about the most hands-on curriculum out there - science experiments, art projects, history activities - even studying Bible verses has a bodily kinesthetic element! We have a family of all boys, are doing 3 HOD guides as is, and we are not often sitting at the table for long periods of time. I just want to encourage you - don't let those little voices of doubt in your head steal your joy. Homeschooling is such a blessing. HOD is an incredible way to go about it. I'd say it's the Christmas break excitement looming ahead - or the winter blues - not too much seatwork, boredom, or too long of a school day. Also, 'I'm bored' was something my mom taught us not to say... ever... and certainly not in response to the Bible. I would have pictured lightning striking me as a child. One thing I've learned teaching for the past 20 years - don't give in to dc saying they aren't having enough 'fun' or they're 'bored' or they just need a change (again). You'll be changing things forever and trying to do the impossible - which is to 'entertain' when an education (both of the mind and the heart) is needed. I wake up each day - after all these years - and decide the day is going to be a good day! I give my all to my teaching HOD, and I especially don't skimp on anything having to do with the Lord. I think He is with me - and I know He is helping me through each day - through ALL of life's twists and turns. It is my prayer you can find that joy as well.

In Christ,
Julie

[lindstrom5]

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! There are so many days I fell like we should quit and send them back to public school. Half the time, I'm not even sure they're listening to me and the other half I know they're not!

Our day starts all together with the Pledge of Allegiance, recitation of our home-school pledge, and prayer. All three kids do a daily calendar page and then while I'm working with the youngest Minion, the older two work on things they can do by themselves (Math, English, reading, spelling, copy work, sometimes Science). Occasionally, the middle Minion gets done with his stuff before I finish with Little Hands so he has a little free time before he and I work on his left side of Beyond. While we are doing that, the eldest Minion gets done (sometimes) with her's and she gets free time whilst waiting her turn to work together on Bigger. Most of the time we are done by lunch and they have the whole afternoon to play. I do, however, tell them if they play on the computer it has to be educational games until Dad gets home (around 3:30). We stay at the table for writing, but I have encouraged them to read in their rooms or on the couch.

I feel like we are behind being only on week 11 (it took us a week or two to fall into a rhythm of daily school) and so wasn't really planning a winter break of any sort. Maybe just the week of Christmas.

I guess we just need to keep going and pray that God will help me to keep them focused and show me ways to make it fit them a little better. I just want to make sure they're getting a good education and don't know how to stray from the book without screwing it all up.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I encourage you not to get hung up on the unit number you are on or feel you have to get through the guide by whatever your original school end date. The beauty of homeschooling is working at your own pace. I promise you things don't go smoothly for public school teachers either and they have a built in escape goat if they get "behind". They only have to get through 80% of the curriculum to promote a child and I promise you when my kids went to public school they never finished all of their curriculum to 100% in all subjects. You can always pick back up a guide the next year and finish out a few odd units that were left over from the prior year.

[mom23]

My kids are only on Unit 11 and Unit 9. Don't feel bad! Our main goal is to teach them how to learn-they'll be learning for the rest of their lives, after all. It is an easy thing for me to get caught in the trap of having a goal to just.get.it.donealready!!! There's always some adjustment to coming home from public school, as well. It sounds to me like your kids are very normal and you're doing a great job.

[my3sons]

In the hopes of helping you out my dear , I'll try to comment on some things here...

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! There are so many days I fell like we should quit and send them back to public school.

Oh please, don't do this! Give yourself some time and some grace to get into a good rhythm! It takes a little time, for everyone.

...Our day starts all together with the Pledge of Allegiance, recitation of our home-school pledge, and prayer...

Do you all like this start to your day? The start to the day can make a big difference. We've had to play around with the start to our day to find a good fit for our family (mainly for ME, as I realized I needed certain chores done and things done before starting school to be sane. ) So, reflecting on your start to your day and if you all like it might be helpful.

...Half the time, I'm not even sure they're listening to me and the other half I know they're not!...

Kids will be kids, and focused attention is a habit that must be learned. Our little Emmett can sure try my patience in this regard. Age makes a huge difference! The way that I can check if our dc are taking things in is to do the teaching parts alongside them and the follow-ups right away, as suggested in each box, which brings me to this part of your post...

...All three kids do a daily calendar page and then while I'm working with the youngest Minion, the older two work on things they can do by themselves (Math, English, reading, spelling, copy work, sometimes Science)...Occasionally, the middle Minion gets done with his stuff before I finish with Little Hands so he has a little free time before he and I work on his left side of Beyond. While we are doing that, the eldest Minion gets done (sometimes) with her's and she gets free time whilst waiting her turn to work together on Bigger...

I am thinking that your dc are doing Little Hands..., Beyond Little Hearts..., and Bigger Hearts - please do correct me if this is wrong. If that is right, there are teacher directed parts for math (Beyond - 1A/1B hands-on math activities, and Bigger Hearts - 2A/2B hands-on math activities), English (Beyond - Language Arts Spelling List 1 or 2 all interactive between teacher/student as is the Day 5 Grammar lesson, and Bigger Hearts - R & S English 2 read through lesson together as teacher and student with HOD's suggestion of doing most orally, saving 1 section to write, which that section could be done independently at that point), Reading (Beyond - phonics, ERS, or DITHOR are all done with the teacher, Bigger Hearts - ERS or DITHOR are both done with the teacher), Science (in both Beyond and Bigger Hearts science is meant to be done together as teacher and student). Copywork is the only one that truly can be done completely independently. So, I am thinking one of two things must be happening - either the 2 older dc are doing things they should be doing with you as the teacher independently, or you have chosen different LA and math options than those in the HOD guides. The fix for the first thing is to take back your teaching parts and that will help you make sure they are listening to you and completing their work as they should. The fix for the second thing may be to just do the LA and math in the HOD guides, or choose LA and math that has more interaction between you and the dc. I think you will enjoy this increased interaction, and I bet they will too! You'll be able to see right away if they are getting it - immediate feedback is wonderful for both the teacher and the student!

Most of the time we are done by lunch and they have the whole afternoon to play. I do, however, tell them if they play on the computer it has to be educational games until Dad gets home (around 3:30). We stay at the table for writing, but I have encouraged them to read in their rooms or on the couch.

Well, this is possible. You could be done with those 3 guides by lunch, though it may a little longer when you do all the follow-ups. I wonder if having the whole afternoon to play looms too long ahead of them? We've had to play with our schedule - in fact, I just reworked our schedule this past week. It became clear we all needed a break that was planned for sure in the afternoon. We've done this for 2 days - and what an improvement! Back in the earlier days of our homeschooling, our dc did not respond well when they finished their work early in the day to having long periods of time ahead of them with no structure. Two things worked - either giving loose structure to their free time in the afternoons, or breaking their school up into 2 portions - a morning portion and an afternoon portion - with free time intermittently in-between. For a loose structure for the afternoon, it might be play outdoors for 'recess' for 30-45 minutes or go to park if nice; each rotate through playing 30 minutes of educational computer game and whoever is not playing computer plays together with toys; board games for 20-30 minutes; quiet time for 30 minutes in rooms; play with cousins each Fri. for 2 hours in the afternoon; one long movie for fun on Tuesdays in the afternoon; etc. This kind of loose structure breaks up their time, has them doing a variety of things, yet gives them some structure. For the other idea - breaking up school in 2 sessions, we have played/done half of school/done lunch/done recess/done other half of school/played. This has worked well for the years when our boys were younger, as they were wigglers too!

I feel like we are behind being only on week 11 (it took us a week or two to fall into a rhythm of daily school) and so wasn't really planning a winter break of any sort. Maybe just the week of Christmas...

Oh, don't feel behind! Unit 11 by Christmas is pretty good! I do think it is Christmas. There is this feeling that we should be off! I feel it myself. We took today off, and it was good for us. You may want to do a 4 day a week schedule for awhile if you can (or are you already?)? That could help. Really though, I think the start of the New Year will be a super way to have fresh beginnings with a new schedule penciled out to try and work with.

...I guess we just need to keep going and pray that God will help me to keep them focused and show me ways to make it fit them a little better. I just want to make sure they're getting a good education and don't know how to stray from the book without screwing it all up.

Yes - you wise woman, prayer is essential! So true! But do know - if you are doing everything in the guide - your dc ARE getting a good education. You don't have to stray from the book to accomplish that. Our dc have only done HOD pretty much from the very start, and they all score very highly on their standardized testing that is required where we live. They also, more importantly IMO, have a real heart for the Lord. They are not perfect, and neither am I. These are just ideas that came to mind because I have needed them through the years too. I will join you in prayer, and I hope something here can help.

In Christ,
Julie

[lindstrom5]

Julie,

Thank you so much for your in-depth response. It really gave me some good things to think about! I especially like your ideas for the afternoon.

To answer some of your questions:

Do you all like this start to your day?

The kids seem to. I've never heard any complaint about it. It's a nice way to bring focus to the otherwise loud and crazy-play morning.

the 2 older dc are doing things they should be doing with you as the teacher independently

We do use the LA and math as recommended in the guides, but we tweak them as needed.

Bigger Hearts- My DD reads the R & S English 2 lesson and does the work without any help from me, though I do check her work daily and we discuss all she learned for the week on Friday. The DITHOR we do together for the discussions but she reads independently, though she usually stops to tell me what's happening as she reads. We do science together when there are activities but she likes to read the text by herself, usually...The math only has activities on some days, and if it's one I feel will benefit her we do it, if not we skip it, she does the work, and I check it.
Beyond Little Hearts- We do Spelling a little differently for Beyond Little Hearts. The words are ones he knows, so he doesn't get them wrong, thus eliminating the hands on part of it Instead, he just writes the words and sentences throughout the week and then we do a "test" on Friday. The grammar lesson on day 5 we do together. My DS sometimes reads his ERS by himself and sometimes I sit and listen to him read. Either way we do the questions following the reading. I just stop with Little Hands to ask him the questions. His science is always done together.

You may want to do a 4 day a week schedule for awhile if you can (or are you already?)?

We don't usually do a 4 day week. However, there are some days we just decide to have a free day and then make up that day over the course of the rest of the week.

Also,

My kids are only on Unit 11 and Unit 9. Don't feel bad! Our main goal is to teach them how to learn-they'll be learning for the rest of their lives, after all. It is an easy thing for me to get caught in the trap of having a goal to just.get.it.donealready!!! There's always some adjustment to coming home from public school, as well. It sounds to me like your kids are very normal and you're doing a great job.

Thank you for the vote of confidence!

[my3sons]

Whew, well, honestly after reading all of this, it sounds like things are going quite well! I think it must be Christmas, or the fact that it's not 'new' to you or to them anymore. I've taught every year since 1994, my first 9 years in the ps and tutoring business using whatever curriculum someone else told me I had to, and I can honestly say that HOD is by far one of the most exciting and complete curriculums out there. No boring worksheets, dry textbooks, or lockstep testing. I guess after reading all of this I'd just make sure that I started my day as my dc's teacher with a positive, animated attitude, and make sure to do all of my teaching parts not skipping the things that seem more 'fun' because everything in HOD has a purpose, and it is the activities, interaction, and discussions that let me as a teacher of my dc really get into not only their 'heads' but also their 'hearts.' I need to remind myself of this at this time of year especially too, as I find myself overly tired and exhausted from running here and there! That leads me to another thing that all teachers struggle with from time to time - attitude of their students. Negative comments or sighing or any of that, we just can't accept that from our dc, just as I'd not accept them doing that for another teacher if I wasn't their teacher. In fact, I'd have them go to the corner every single time for that and give them a timeout to adjust their attitude. You deserve more respect than that. I'd also put some fun into your afternoons by giving some structure to that time in the ways we already talked about. What I would not do is switch curriculums and go curriculum hopping when the shine has worn off a bit from the start of the year. That is a game dc learn to play very quickly - I complain, I get something new, or I get to do less work. It's not a good habit to instill. I hope something here can help, and I know there's not any earth shattering ideas here - but sometimes, it's the little things that can be changed to make all the difference.

In Christ,
Julie

[mothermayi]

Hugs to you!! Btw, we are on unit 6 LOL!