When Homeschooling is Tough

I’m sick of it. I’m frustrated. I need a morale boost.

I went through a lot with my daughter in kindergarten. Actually, it happens a whole lot now, too. Giving her more of a say in what we'll do helps. "Shall we do math now or a game with the letter tiles?" "Math." "What would you like to do for math?" She usually has a pretty good idea of what she would like to do.

She actually spent 4 whole months in her kindergarten year refusing to do anything school-wise. (And this is NOT the spirited one.) She spent the entire time playing and drawing. Strangely enough, after 4 months of not looking at a book or letting me read to her, she picked up a beginner book one day, one we hadn't read together before, and pretty much read the entire thing. I’m still shocked and this was over a year ago.

How Do I Get My Child to Do What I Want?

Ideas: YOU do the fun things (building an igloo with marshmallows, etc.) on your own, but with him right there where he will see you doing it. I have tried this again and again and man, it is a great way of getting kids interested in something. If you don't say ANYTHING to them ahead of time or even invite them to do it with you, it's usually a magnet. "What are you doing?" "I’m building an igloo with marshmallows and icing." "Can I do that too?" At times they sort of know that you're trying to hook them in and they'll look at you and you'll get, "I don't want to do that." "You don't have to do it, I’m doing it." And you continue about your work. They might not join in, but they will often hang around and watch, which can often be just as much of a learning experience as actually doing it.