More Wisdom for Diana, Nature Study Blog, Homemaking Resource
By Heather Idoni
Added Thursday, June 04, 2009
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The Homeschooler's Notebook
Encouragement and Advice for Homeschool Families
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Vol. 10 No 41 June 4, 2009
ISSN: 1536-2035
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Copyright (c) 2009 - Heather Idoni, FamilyClassroom.net
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Notes from Heather
-- More Wisdom for Diana
Helpful Tip
-- Free Homemaking Resource
Winning Website
-- Handbook of Nature Study Blog
Reader Question
-- High School with Autism
Additional Notes
-- Newsletter Archives
-- Sponsorship Information
-- Reprint Information
-- Subscriber Information
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Notes from Heather
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Last issue we had a question from Diana regarding frustration in
dealing with her 7 year old son. One of our longtime readers,
Mary Beth A., had sent in a very thoughtful answer that I somehow
didn't receive! Thanks, Mary Beth, for resending it! I am very
happy to include it here for everyone to glean wisdom from. :-)
---
"Diana, it's difficult to get inside our children's minds and know
what's going on sometimes. I have a few ideas for you. My son,
who is now 15, seemed to have a greater need for me to be with him
-- whether he was doing assignments, practicing his music, or doing
household tasks. He's simply more sociable, and always stayed on
task better when I was beside him, even though I wasn't usually
helping him. Your son is so young, and I think it's completely
okay for him to want you with him.
Having said that, there could be an attention-getting strategy going
on. You could tell him you have so much time to spend with him; then
ask whether he'd rather you spend it doing math, or playing a game
(or something else he would enjoy). It sounds somewhat mechanical,
but he might get some assurance from knowing that you will give him
your undivided attention, and then let him choose the way he spends
the time with you.
Another motivation, which I used often with my children when they
were younger, was to give them a certain amount of work and a certain
amount of time; when they got their work done, the remainder of the
time was free time to go outside and play. When the time was up,
then it would be time to do housework or other tasks. If they
frittered their time away, they would have that much less free time.
I strongly recommend that you never use assignments of any kind for
punishment. If he truly needs more practice on a certain skill,
by all means provide the extra practice. But if you use school work
for punishment, it will quickly take on a negative connotation in his
mind, and he will certainly hate it for the rest of his life. Also,
any time your relationship with your son is in jeopardy, please
remember that all the math skills in the world aren't worth it. If
you don't maintain your relationship, he won't want to learn from
you, and you'll lose his heart in other, far more important areas.
He must know that you are his advocate, not his enemy.
Since he's ahead, how about taking a break from math? During the
time off you can do fun projects or play games that use math skills,
or you could abandon math completely and take a rest from it. Or
you could ask him if he'd like to back up and do a review to relearn
the things he seems to have forgotten. Ask him how he would like
for you to help him make it easier. Make him look you in the eye.
If he's manipulating you, that will be difficult for him to do.
If patience is a difficult issue for you, I recommend a DVD from
Dr. S.M. Davis, 'What Impatience Does'. You can get it from this
site: http://www.solvefamilyproblems.com
That video turned my life around in the area of patience. He has
other videos on family relationships that might be of interest to
you as well." -- Mary Beth
---
And here is a reader comment about our last issue --
"Hi Heather -- WORM FARMS are FUN!!! My kids are 15 and 17, and
I am 57, but we're having a great time incorporating worm science
into our garden projects. Now if we can just figure out what to
do with the bugs we don't want!!! Thanks. Today's column was a
great encouragement." -- Sybil
---
Do you have comments to share? Please do!
Send your emails to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net
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Helpful Tip
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"The Future Christian Homemakers' Handbook is now available -
FREE – online. Twelve chapters of cooking lessons, devotionals,
homemaking lessons and more! Hard copies of the book are still
available, while supplies last, but my husband and I decided
to put the book online, free, to help those who want to teach
homemaking skills at home, at church, or in their neighborhood.
We pray it will bless many families, especially during difficult
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We'd appreciate it if you'd blog about this 200+ page free
resource at: http://www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com
Thanks so much!" -- Laurie Latour
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Winning Website
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Handbook of Nature Study Blog
http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com
This blog chronicles one family's experience using this classic
by Anna Comstock. Those who wish to add more nature study to
their homeschool day will love the "Outdoor Hour Challenges", each
built around the text in the Handbook. This is probably the best
resource I have found for gaining concrete advice and instruction
on how to utilize Charlotte Mason's ideas of nature study. Once
you visit this helpful and lovely site, you'll be inspired to
gather your children and explore the great outdoors!
-- Cindy, http://www.HomeschoolingFromTheHeart.com
---
Here is a link to the reprint of the original 1911 'Handbook of
Nature Study' by Anna Botsford Comstock:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801493846?ie=UTF8&tag=hsaudio-20
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Last Issue's Reader Question
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"I have a 16 year old autistic son. After years of reading and
dreaming about homeschooling, my husband and I are planning to
start home schooling him this fall.
I would appreciate any advice anyone would care to share with me
about homeschooling with our situation. Information is overwhelming,
there is so much.
I do have a specific question though. My son's abilities are all
over the board. With reading and spelling he is at a junior high
level, but his comprehension level is more like 2nd grade. He is
so good at reading, but dreads doing it. Is this because it is
hard work for him and he doesn't comprehend much of it anyway?
Do you have any curriculum suggestions or ideas for us? Thank
you so much." -- Beth
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Our Readers' Responses
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"God bless you, Beth, for taking this step in helping your son.
It won't be easy, but you'll be so glad you did. My 14 year old
daughter has Asperger Syndrome; we've been homeschooling for 4
years now and we're both glad we are.
I don't know if your son has Asperger's, but the book 'Homeschooling
the Child with Asperger Syndrome' by Lise Pyles may be of help to
you -- or at least get you started. As far as your son being at
different grade levels -- well that's the beauty of homeschooling.
It doesn't matter! You can begin at whatever level he is now and
let him progress at his own pace. If possible, attend a homeschool
curriculum convention so you can get a hands-on look at the material
-- and then jump right in. You can always change later if it's not
working.
Also, be prepared for there to be days when nothing gets done. I
feel fortunate if we can get three good days of schooling in a week.
At times it may be a whole week of 'life skills' instead. Structure
is important, but flexibility along with it will keep you sane.
And always remember: a bad day homeschooling is still better than
the best day in public school for our kids." -- Betty Jo R.
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Editor's Note: Beth -- here are 3 links I think you might find
useful if you haven't already utilized them. -- Heather
http://www.nathhan.com/resourceaut.htm
http://www.hslda.org/Strugglinglearner/sn_help.asp
(scroll down to the Autism resource section)
http://www.homeschooloasis.com/help_article_2nd_page.htm
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Answer our NEW Question
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"Would anyone happen to know of a good resource for our family to use
for learning Spanish? I know there are good resources for individuals
to use, but we would like to try something that could be used for the
whole family all at the same time so we could truly learn Spanish
together. I am thinking some video program is probably the way to
go -- but which one?? Any suggestions?" -- Barbara D.
---
Do you have a family Spanish learning idea for Barbara?
Please send your answer to: mailto:HN-answers@familyclassroom.net
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Ask YOUR Question
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