Home Schooling Support Group

It is a difficult job I have been trying to solve for 6 years.

I have a coupon system. If they have a good day and get all of their work done, they get a coupon for the day. I have a list of prizes and how many coupons they cost.....like
5 coupons=ice cream
10coupons= 1 hour of video game
20 coupons= trip to the zoo
It also helps to make a game of the work like if you finish your math worksheet in 30 minutes, you get to have an extra half hour of lunch break.
Bribery always helps!

I like the coupon thingy. Will have to try that. I also do some negative reenforcement. If it isn't done today, it's homework and there is no TV until homework is done.

I use the coupons also. My aspie grandson has a very difficult time concentrating and i also have to sit right by his side to keep him focused.

I saw one special ed. teacher employ this method--- Between class assignments there was a small window of break time....only 5 or 10 minutes, and she used that as a reward system for the kids that had stayed on task during the assignment. There was a shelf where she kept some intriguing games and toys that were easy to just pick up and play with, and if the kids stayed on task during the classwork, she would give them that five or ten minutes with the special toys. If a student had really goofed off, they had to stay at their desk during the break. Those kids really were motivated by it! Saw it with my own eyes. BTW, this will only work with toys that the kids are unfamiliar with. You can't drag toys out of their toybox and do this because they would be like, "So what? I see that toy every day." I would suggest going to a thrift store or something and getting some stuff that piques the curiosity. Also, because of the familiarity factor, those toys and games have to stay on that shelf for that purpose alone, or again it won't be special to the kids anymore and there goes their motivation. After enough time, you might wanna switch the toys out, too. As a matter of fact, if you can get two sets of toys to fill such a shelf and switch them out each week or so, it will keep their interest a lot longer.

BTW, it's also important that the toys be on a shelf or some similar set up that contains the items while at the same time clearly displaying them neatly. This is important because kids will tire easily of digging through a big trunk of stuff. Being able to eyeball it right away helps boost curiosity, and a kid that can SEE these things from where he's working has a physical reminder of the reward he gets if he stays focused.

Is the work tailored to the attention span that you can expect from kids that age? According to the experts--- "Average length of attention span is approximately 7 minutes for 2 year olds, 9 minutes for 3 year olds, 12 minutes for 4 years olds, and 14 minutes for 5 year olds." That's 14 minutes MAX, so a 5-yr-old's OPTIMUM performance is probably only going to last about ten minutes.

One thing that I've seen smart teachers do is to cut worksheets or pages in halves or thirds and give the child one piece at a time. Even if the child eventually ends up doing all three of the pieces in a day, keep cutting them because it's less intimidating to do smaller portions, easier on the attention span, and gives the younger child more chances to feel like they accomplished something.

Another thing that I do for myself as well as for kids, (I have adult ADD), is to use highlighter pens, (the more colors you can get hold of, the better), and highlight ever OTHER line on a page of information because it helps me keep my eyes on the correct line. Otherwise, I have a tendency to mix info from two or more lines.

Another thing I've seen teachers do is to work out a system for every assignment that helps the child understand what is required to do the work. You connect each part of the assignment to the body. For example---If a child is supposed to read a paragraph and ten draw a picture to describe what they have read, you would tell the kid that they will be using their EYES to read the paragraph, their mind to imagine a picture, and their hands to draw a picture. This helps the child to avoid getting all the directions jumbled in their mind, and helps them visualize each step of the process. I think the teacher that used this method, also had some kind of stickers or something to show hands, eyes, brain, etc. or something like that. She would put the stickers on the assignment that the kids were to take home and go over the directions with them in class before they left for home.

Also, if your kids are young, or have attention span problems, I would never give them more than one assignment at a time. I would tell them that when they are done with that one, to come tell me so that I could help them start the next thing.

A thing they use in cub scout troops sometimes is to have a "special" candle. I think it has a name of some sort, too. You assign a reward that they all get, (never make it something HARD for you to deliver when the time comes), when they eventually burn the entire candle down. As long as their behavior is good, you light the candle and keep it lit where they can see it. The minute any disorganized or bad behavior erupts, you blow out the candle. Don't say anything, just blow it out. Once they correct their behavior, you can relight it. When the candle burns all the way down to the bottom, then you take them on a special trip to the park or whatever the reward is. It's also good to put something at the bottom of the candle that represents the reward because it helps to keep it in their mind.

I wish I knew how old your kids you are teaching are, but it sounds like they're pretty small.
Point is, if you wanna know the BEST way to keep your kids attention while you get small chances to do other things? Ok, but this is involved.

First off, SPACE. Is there any way that you can devote a space entirely to home schooling? A spare room, (a laundry or utility room you don't use for other things could even work), could you convert some garage space, anything like that? IDEALLY, I would try to put together a school room if I could. It would be off limits to the kids when class is over. I would set the room up with, "learning centers". [Write me a direct message if anyone wants details on how this can be done] Divide the room into at least four sections using stuff like short shelves, cardboard partitions, Mega Blocks, or something like that. Each learning center will be for something different like reading, math, science, etc.

So, rather than setting a pair of 6 year olds down to some worksheets or books, walk them through the "learning center" thing a few times and they will eventually work on their own as long as you present them with enough interesting materials and tasks. For example--- In the reading center you can have a tin of magnetic letters with a cookie sheet mounted on a wall or partition, you could also have a chalk board, marker board, letter stencils, etc. The child's job is to play and experiment with these things and use them to produce some work. If they're in K, you might want them to just take out some paper and writing instruments, (the writing center should have choices of things to write on or write with, like markers, crayons, unlined paper, lined paper, construction paper, etc.), and try copying the letters they've used with the stencils or magnetic pieces. If they're a little older you might be able to challenge them by asking them to start with one word like, "bank", and use the materials as a guide to help them figure out what other words can be made that end with, "ank", like, "plank", or "crank".

Using learning centers can turn them into little scientists who suddenly have something to do that doesn't seem so much like hard work.

take more breaks. I will send my son out to run laps around the yard. I also have a couple things for him to hold in one hand to touch. I use play dough and I have a peice of real chainmail both are great textures that he can move around in his hand while he is focusing on his work. My son is learning to walk and read. I am able to get the things I need while my son is reading. Once the instructions are given (and something they trick you into thinking they understand and they don't LOL) I will walk away but come back in 5 minutes to see if he is doing or doodling.

I have found with my son it is important to make things as unschool like as possible as much as possible. My son and I don't even use the word school. We use home education. He had a very unhappy experience at school and was bullied on a daily basis.Have you ever tried doing lessons outside,under a tree or set up a blanket,large umbrella and a few supplies and make the most of the nice weather. Spending too much time at one activity can make focusing more difficult. My son has autism and focusing has always been a problem for him. He also has a number of things and ideas running around in his head at once. Making lessons such as history and science can be more fun if using some fun resources. I have found that a series which is in both tv and book form,called Horrible Histories can help make a boring subjec to some,into a fun subject. Perhaps even going back in time to the actual period by dressing up as characters from that era,doing drama,craft related to the topic. With science do some fun experiments. A volcano which erupts,is always fun.Make sure you jput down plenty of paper or an old plastic tablecloth. Fun poetry is a favourite with my son. Write your own. In social studies,visit a country and wear their national costume. You could make it yourself. Cook a meal of their country. Make some crafts.Read about the country. Home economics can be a lot of fun if cooking recipes that the kids have chosen. The more fun the activity,the quicker the time will pass and the child or children is more likely to want to be more interested in their work in the future and more likely to ask to do something again and actually look forward to their lessons. I always find the outside idea works wonders though.