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We are currently doing unit 22 in Bigger. My 4th grade, 9yo son is reading the History extensions and enjoying them. He didn't get into Exploring Planet Earth but I think he will enjoy Thomas Edison. We started DITHOR and it is going Okay so far. I need advice on how to structure the extra work for my son with accountability. He and his 7 yo second grade sister are combined with the Bigger curriculum and he is not very excited about doing "extra" work. Once he gets started, it is fine but I need a system so it is not a source of conflict and a source of nagging. I also have a child kindergarten and a soon to be 3 yo. He will do it reluctantly after reminding him of why we do it, etc. It is very draining and I am not sure what to do to progress. Thanks for your suggestions and encouragement! Have a blessed Sunday!

I have check lists for my younger 2 kids. I put down the things they can do alone or list the things that are in the manual on there. I also let me kids use the manual too. For example, if you want to let your older son start working, I would write down the book he should read, and then the activity he should do under it. Then later, I have a time I meet with them and check to see if each child got their work done. For us - I have a 6, 8 , and 9 year old. My youngest can read very well and is doing most of the reading alone in Little Hearts. So I mark on her sheet the pages she needs to read (story time and history). I will mark down her cursive page (she is doing cursive with big bro). I will list a check box for piano and for AWANA because she does that. And I have a spot that I list the CD track she should listen to each day. For my son (middle child), I list the cursive page, the music CD track, AWANA, and piano. I also list any items he needs to do for copywork. And my kids are now in the routine that they start with their lists each day. No playing until the list is finished. Then they get a break and we later do the rest of their stuff. For my oldest, I give her the manual and she checks off that she did it.

I think having a routine and accountability are the best ways to encourage his independence. You can ask him why he doesn't like doing it, but if it's just because he doesn't want to do extra work and he's very capable of doing it I guess that's where you introduce the lesson of working diligently for a reward. Not that I think kids should always have a reward for doing their work well, but for my kids the way they get through school and the attitude with which they do it definitely influences the priveleges they will get. There are some things that are built into our day and if they do their work well and keep at it they get those, if not, they don't. I do think though, as per Charlotte Mason, the routine is the thing that keeps us all working without (as much) complaint. This is what we do, this is when we do it, and there is never any question. I'm sure you already have that, but maybe he just needs more time to settle in, or something to break his bad habit of complaining and resisting doing his work.

Maybe you could move his independent time to earlier in the day, when he is fresher, and then emphasize that he will get to do the things he enjoys more after he finishes the things that are harder. Also again, try to gauge whether the work is just too hard for him to do on his own and whether he may need some help and encouragement from you. Sometimes we have to step in and help them get over a hump of hard things.

I have always found that it is helpful if our dc, especially in the younger to middle years, finish their school day about the same time. This doesn't mean they are all doing school work the same amount of time! It just means they finish their school day about the same time. So, for example, my youngest ds doing Beyond Little Hearts is doing school for about 2 1/2 hours, and my middle ds doing RTR is doing school for about 4 1/2 hours. They both finish about the same time. That is because Emmett does some school, does a playtime with older brother, does a video, does some some school with me, does an independent playtime, and then does some school with me. So, the two of them are 'done' with their school day about the same time.

For your ds, I'd accomplish this by having him either get up early and do his extensions and assignments if he likes that idea, or do it at night in his room the night before if he likes that idea, or just have dd play for awhile in a different area than ds is working while he does his extensions, or just figure it out that ds finishes before dd even (by you doing some subject with her last) if she doesn't seem to care (the youngest sometimes doesn't ). Other than that, ds does just need to understand that he is older and therefore more work is expected of him. Older dc often have more privileges as well, which I like to point out at times such as these. For example, each of our dc has a slightly different final lights out bedtime, based on their ages. Our oldest is 9:30 PM, our middle is 8:45 PM, and our youngest is 8:30 PM. The two youngest share a room, so this just means my middle ds is in his bed with his reading light on staying up 15 minutes later, but he loves it. Maybe making a distinction such as this for ds will let him see that being older has its privileges as well as its responsibilities. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie