Homeschooling Hints for the Exhausted

My mother has been homeschooling now for about three years to some of the worst behaving children ever, and as I've observed, there are a few tricks to taming your children into doing their work, and succeeding.

As a single mom of four children, my mother has become to be known as “Super mommy”. Jenny Williams, a thirty-four year old woman with Bi-polar and manic depression, has pushed through more obstacles than anyone could ever maintain. My siblings, Hannah (10), C.J. (7), and Conner (3), have been being home schooled for the past three years, and my mother has been trying everything could you possibly imagine to keep up the pace.

Now my siblings aren't exactly the best behaved children; i.e. Hannah is the older bully, always pushing, screaming, and almost at the age of puberty, so also A LOT of emotional distress. C.J. is very, very emotional, doesn't listen for anything, refuses with everything in him to do his schooling, and is constantly fighting with his younger brother. Conner is the little one…always punching, always screaming, always name-calling, and extremely demanding of my mother. Not exactly the best behaved kids in the world, but still great kids.

A typical day in this household consists of a lot of fighting, a lot of noise, and not going to bed till four am. My mom, Jenny, wakes up at around eight am, and gets things ready for the day. When the kids wake up, she starts them on their program. Hannah usually goes straight to work, but C.J. screams, throws things and then goes to his room to play his video games. My mom settles down Conner with a book and crayon for a few minutes and then goes and talks to C.J.. When she's finished, she usually comes out of the room alone. Sometimes things are so bad that she'll just cry and cry like there is no tomorrow.

Now, I've been observing things with her and the kids very closely, and have picked up on a few things that DO work.

1. If you have an older teen, have them participate in keeping something away from the kids that they want. When they ask him/her for it, have them say “No, you can't have it.” When the children ask “Why not?”, have your teen respond by simply stating that they are upset with them for not listening, and that they can have whatever it is that they want, after they listen to their parent/parents. .
2. If you have a few jars and some extra change laying around, grab a jar for each child and out their names on them. Every time your child does something good, or does something without being asked, put a penny or marble...or whatever in the jar, and praise them for it. Let them know that what they did was good and that you appreciated it. At the end of the month, if your child has thirty or more objects in his/her jar, take them out to get ice-cream, or to the store to get something. If you don't have any money, find something that costs absolutely nothing, and do it with them to let them know that good actions do get rewarded.
3. If your child is addicted to video games or television, tell them “no”, not until they do at least one subject in school, then they can have a break for fifteen minutes
4. If your child asks for snacks, drinks, or anything of the sorts, tell them “no”, not until at least one subject is completed for the day. It pushes the children to work harder in getting things done, so they can get what they want.
5. Give your child the silent treatment, and tell him/her that you don't talk to little kids who don't their schooling. (This technique drives kids crazy, because they aren't getting the attention they want.)
6. If you have a certain place that you go, that the kids like as well, tell them they are not going if they don't finish their work. (This one always works on my siblings.)
7. Take your child's favorite character and find a way to incorporate it in with schooling. Like for instance…stickers. Kids love stickers, especially when they love the character on it. Now, if the kid knows that if he/she does the work good and gets a sticker, chances are, they are going to do the work. You can also find suckers, ribbons, crayons, paper, almost anything really on different characters.
8. If your child has a good sense of humor, use puppets, or make pop-sickle stick characters together, to help teach the lesson. Puppets and supplies can usually be found at the dollar store, so you'll also have extra to pick up pipe-cleaners so you can add character to your puppets. It makes learning fun, and it'll help your child to remember because it made him/her laugh and they had fun.
9. If all else fails, a good old fashioned butt-whoopin'll do. ;) .

Just remember one thing;

Home shooling is a very difficult task. At the conclusion of everyday, I think about what my siblings gained in being home with my mother even if we didn't get one lesson completed that day. Your time with them is so valuable. You will cherish this time that you have at home with them now for many years to come. You will also get to see their improvements over the years. It is so wonderful to watch them grow. I know you can get through this. You have done it this long, which is wonderful. You are doing a great job. Just take it a step at a time.