Feeling Discouraged...

[ThatRedheadGal]

Hi all! This is my first time posting. I'm just beginning our homeschooling journey with my almost 4.5 son and we're on our 3rd week of LHTH. The first week went pretty great, but now he has almost lost all interest. As soon as he sees me pull out the book, he starts whining...and it doesn't stop.

I try my best to make it fun, but unfortunately, I'm a pretty boring, introverted, not-very-creative person and I'm running out of ideas! It's so frustrating! He constantly asks to play, watch TV or says, "Can we stop now?" When I say no, it just adds more fuel to the fire. He knows all of his letters, so we're pretty much working on the letter sounds and identifying numbers. He wants nothing to do with the finger plays and/or singing, he acts like I'm embarrassing him to death when I try. We go to co-op, play-dates and church weekly.

Could this behavior in part be due to a discipline issue? I want learning to be fun for him and I hate to even think about sending him to public school next year . I don't know what to do...any advice or suggestions? Thanks!

[raindrops]

What does he enjoy doing with you? You could add more of that INTO your "schoolwork". Maybe board games or hide and seek (could link it to the bible... like "I am Noah and you are the animal, come find me and get on the ark", then ride him around piggyback... or whatever).

Does he like being read to? Maybe feed him snacks as treats during school... but not if he is whining.

I think I wouldn't allow the whining. Firmly tell him NO whining. We do things with our BEST attitudes. A few times I have had to tell my son this and he listened. I would say it once, clearly and firmly and that is IT, punished if it happens again... while they are young we need to teach them what is appropriate. We're not doing any favors if we "let" them get away with sour attitudes, it just ruins everyone's day. I think it is better to deal with something early on rather than letting them get away with "little" attitudes here and there until we get so frustrated we want to... "aaaah!". LOL

I think when beginning a guide is when bad behavior is more likely? At the beginning of LHFHG, my son would literally flop over and groan when he saw the phonics book. I'd say "sit UP! We do NOT do that." That was his one and only warning. I think he tried it twice more (on different days), but from then on he did it with a good attitude and now he is happy to read! If I allowed him to flop around or tried to reason with him no doubt he'd still be flopping.

Good luck! He sounds like a smart kid, so find something he enjoys to add to school and don't allow bad attitudes.

[bethelmommy]

I have to be quick but wanted to share what works for us. I set very clear expectations as to what our day looks like. We always have bible time, breakfast, chores, and then school. There is no playing, TV, etc... until we are finished with school. They know to not even ask. If school takes too long, it cuts into their free time. When we started LHFHG, I had a picture schedule with the little icons from each box. I would let them choose the order that we did the boxes in. We have since developed a school routine where seat work is done first and then the history side of the plans. So, the visual schedule is no longer needed. Poor attitudes earned noses against the wall until they were ready to work happily. Our days run pretty smoothly now. The kids enjoy school, but it did take a while in the beginning to teach expectations and develop routines. HTH.

[Motherjoy]

Don't worry! This has nothing to do with how creative or interesting you are. This is just a basic parenting issue that we all face. Homeschooling is 85% parenting anyway.

It sounds like he might have too much freedom. Little ones don't need much freedom at first, but that will come as their obedience and trustworthiness is established. Set a flexible routine for the day, and direct his day, rather than let him direct his own time. when he balks, you can be patient with him, understanding that it will take some adjustment.

[Kteni]

Megan,
I don't have any advice. I just wanted you to know I prayed The Lord would give you wisdom and all you need to meet this motherhood & teacher challenge. Be encouraged and blessed by the ladies here. Keep on going sista, you can do all things through Christ who gives you the strength you need. hugs.
Tania

[creekmama]

I didn't do LHTH with my son, but he resisted the finger plays, rhymes, and singing throughout LHFHF and BLHFHG. He resists singing and gross motor skills now in Bigger. But he has always loved history, storytime, etc. He is not a kinesthetic learner. He learns best when we're snuggled up on the sofa reading a good book and talking about it. So I finally quit pushing the other stuff. And you know what? It's fine. He hates singing but listens attentively to our daily hymn and plays some of them on the piano. He hates making up motions to go with verses, but he knows the verses better than I do. He hates the exercises but loves to play flag football. Your fella is still so little. You'll figure out what works best for him and for you.

[RestInHim]

Hope this week is going better for you! (((HUGS)))

If you're just beginning to do more formal 'school' with him, then I would say his reaction is pretty much normal. Of course we don't want to give up our play time to do what someone else thinks we should do! As you make your expectations clear ("We're doing this, this, and this today, and we're going to do it with a good attitude, please!") and he gets used to the routine, I think the whining will slowly disappear.

I am very much the same as you: very introverted, quiet, and non-creative. I love that HOD pulls me out of that and gets me doing projects and activities I would never otherwise do. It makes me a better teacher and it makes school more interesting for my kids. So it seems like you and your sweet little boy are just in a learning curve

Keep us posted, and feel free to ask more questions as you come to them. The ladies here are great!

[Arwen]

I haven't used HOD (yet!!) but I can answer in a general homeschool way...I think you just need to give your child a little room to mature before pushing too much. It sounds like HOD has a very fun, educational but age-appropriate level of learning for the little ones. I would just do what you can do with the program without worrying too much about it. Try it in 5-10 minute increments if that is all he is capable of. My little one couldn't do more than 15 minutes at a time until this year (2nd grade!). I would get frustrated until I prayed about it and was reminded that the reason I homeschool is to do things at his pace; to tailor his learning to HIM. Now after barely reading at all In 1st grade, he is at a 3rd grade reading level. Sometimes their little brains just need to catch up and I think that is what has happened with my son.

Set up his environment to learn, do what you can do and trust that right now you are getting him ready for more structure learning in the future...then let him enjoy being 4.

God bless.

[momof2n2]

I don't even do school with four-year-olds. When my kids show reading readiness, we go with that, but at four I just major on read-alouds and outings.
I'd feel free to do just bits of the days. A four year old boy may really not have the stamina for a routine like this just yet. The Holy Spirit will lead you!

[Yaya68]

Being the mother to five...yes...f-i-v-e boys...I feel I can honestly say that boys need time to be boys and explore. At 4.5 and even 5...my boys had close to no desire to sit and do seat work or listen for more than 5 mins of reading. If I so much as looked at a workbook or asked them to write their names more than once, it was torture. I would say to the OP...let your son have fun and you-Mommy...enjoy this time. Before too long you will need him to sit and listen and cut and paste and write and recite. Just ease back on the expectations of curric being consumed and go on nature walks. Maybe find a bug that you can catch in a jar and look at it with a magnifying lens. Maybe print out a coloring page and let him have fun. Or try to make a play-doh model of that bug. While he is coloring or molding, do a little bit of reading. I personally would put away any formal curric and have fun with day to day learning.

Have fun!!

HTH,