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Well, as we were leaving our home for the library, I noticed our BOX on our front porch. We haven't had time to look at it yet though. I was so excited! My younger two children are excited to look at it to. But my oldest son frustrates me! He was just acting very "blah" about it. (sigh) I wish he was excited about school, but no matter what I do and what we try, it is always a struggle. Well, just wanted to vent and see if any of you have this issue and what you do about it. He just tries to get out of doing as much school work as he can. Yet, he is very helpful in other ways. He fixes breakfast for us all every morning during the week. He helps me doing physical tasks and such any time that I or his Dad need his help. He mows the entire yard and weeds it to. He is very hands on, but I am not! So.....

He is 10, will be 11 in Feb. Any suggestions for me with him would be appreciated. He has quite a negative view of "lessons." Yet, he does like to listen to read aloud history and storytime. Blessings!

Enjoy going through all your books! I honestly don't know many 10 yr old boys who are excited for school! My 9 1/2 yr old isn't as excited as her 8 yr old sister for sure. I think I'd tell him that you won't let him ruin the fun for the others and to keep negative comments to himself. I'd also tell him he is require to do school, but the lessons are short and he'll get through them quickly and have lots more time then other boys his age to follow his interests. My kids have been thrilled with how much we do in so little time!

Real quick...

Just wanted to say, my plan when we get the next box of school stuff is to act like I am not excited at all...hoping the unopened, neglected box of stuff will tug at my son. Lol! We will see. I think webjust take over, so they feel like they need to act like it is "our" thing.

yay for box day!!!!!!

My 11yo boy could care less. He says he hates school but loves HOD. Explain that one to me.

Hip Hip Hooray!! Happy Box Day!!!

I am learning that with boys; inactivity is a bad thing. They need to be active. I think plenty of breaks to run, play, work, or do anything that gets their blood pumping is a great idea.

Sometimes even having them get up and run around the house in between short Math goals will help. Of course if your child is older you could tell him to take the trash out or check the mail or something like that instead of running around the house. It seems like it would waste time but I have noticed that it actually seems to clear their head so they make less mistakes.

Also, when it's nice outside it's great to do a couple subjects outside in the fresh air if you are able.

Sometimes appealing to my son's competitive nature by challenging him to beat personal best times helps. (not in handwriting of course lol) HTH

I agree with Leah. from everything I have read pre-teen and teen boys need physical activity to keep their hormones balanced. When my ds starts with a negative attitude then I know it is time to do something physical like running around the house or cul-de-sac or up and down the stairs or push ups or a chore that requires heavy work. It is amazing what a difference it can make in his attitude. Also my ds doesn't play much Wii at all, but this summer he has played more and I see a huge difference in his attitude after he plays. It is much more negative. This can happen if he watches tv before school also. He is usually happy and enthusiastic about school, but either of these things can cause a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing to occur.
Another thing I have found is if he knows that he will have a chance to show his Dad his work at night then he will be more enthusiastic about it. He loves showing him his HOD projects.

Yay for box day!

gotpeace91 wrote:They need to be active. I think plenty of breaks to run, play, work, or do anything that gets their blood pumping is a great idea.

Between my "teaching" time with ds9 and his independent work, he rides his bike down the drive every day (about half a mile round trip). He even does this in the rain as long as it isn't lightening.

But I've got a friend who told me once that her son who is around 11 or 12 actually does ALL of his independent work while riding a stationary bike. He even has some sort of board that they have "rigged up" to fit on the front so he has a desk top to be able to write on.

Angie

Wow. What an idea! My son is super active and I do let him get lots of exercise. The problem is after exercise it is hard to get him to do his work after that! I really want to be done by 12 or 1 this year, because last year it took ALL DAY to get done because he took so many breaks to exercise, go outside, etc...

Push ups, sit ups, stretches and jumping jacks do wonders though in between lessons. I think I will stick with those in order to get done more efficiently and then let him go for the rest of the day!

P.S. After seeing the books and looking at them, he is now acting very happy and excited about it again. He just takes a little to warm up I guess! So funny!

LynnH wrote:Another thing I have found is if he knows that he will have a chance to show his Dad his work at night then he will be more enthusiastic about it. He loves showing him his HOD projects.

I like this! I'm going to try it this year! Hubby usually leaves school totally in my hands but I think my son would respond well if he could get an encouraging word from his dad at the end of the day.

holdinon wrote:But I've got a friend who told me once that her son who is around 11 or 12 actually does ALL of his independent work while riding a stationary bike. He even has some sort of board that they have "rigged up" to fit on the front so he has a desk top to be able to write on.
Angie

Hahaha! I love this Angie! I can totally imagine it.

Tina, I'm glad that he is excited about his books now. I hear you on trying to get done at a decent time. It is so difficult to find just the right balance and we tend to go longer than we should most of the time. It's hard to get it in their head that if they just buckle down and get it done they have more free time!

tnahid wrote:Well, as we were leaving our home for the library, I noticed our BOX on our front porch. We haven't had time to look at it yet though. I was so excited! My younger two children are excited to look at it to. But my oldest son frustrates me! He was just acting very "blah" about it. (sigh) I wish he was excited about school, but no matter what I do and what we try, it is always a struggle. Well, just wanted to vent and see if any of you have this issue and what you do about it. He just tries to get out of doing as much school work as he can. Yet, he is very helpful in other ways. He fixes breakfast for us all every morning during the week. He helps me doing physical tasks and such any time that I or his Dad need his help. He mows the entire yard and weeds it to. He is very hands on, but I am not! So.....

He is 10, will be 11 in Feb. Any suggestions for me with him would be appreciated. He has quite a negative view of "lessons." Yet, he does like to listen to read aloud history and storytime. Blessings!

Oh this describes my oldest child so well! Well, except for listening to read alouds--that's never been fun for her. She likes CD's though--sometimes I can find a CD at the library of a historical book. And I like this because it exposes her to different accents.

Dd loves to make breakfast for her sisters
and she makes a pot of tea for me sometimes
but she is very reluctant to do anything that requires effort

unless it is ART!

It is very discouraging to read about everyone else's joy over box day, isn't it? You are not alone, there are LOTS of kids who are not excited about school work, and in fact I haven't personally met a kid who DOES love it. I read about them online but I've never met them.

The box arrived today. Dd eyed it very skeptically.

She's happy to know that we'll have a four day week
and she liked the mosaic picture on the Cleopatra book.

I loved the Cleopatra book! It seems like such a simple little book, but the beautiful illustrations combined with the fascinating story of her life really drew me in.