motivating the "less than disciplined" child
Options
calpollyana
Posts: 42
I have 3 daughters who have been pretty easy to home school. They know what needs to be done and they "just do it." Our fourth child is not only the youngest with all of those tendencies, but is also a boy. He is nine and needs lots of over sight and incentives. I find myself rewarding him with things like, "5 chocolate chips" or some other desirable treat. It definitely works, but I really want to get away from food rewards because this seems to be the trend at Sunday school, AWANA, and every other kids' event. ( Not to mention that I tend to reward myself in the same way.) Any suggestions for quick, cheap, effective incentives?
0
Replies
-
Boys in particular need lots of moving around and breaks. What about rewarding with a game, ten minutes outside, five minutes of roughhousing, jumping on the minitrampoline, walk around the block, play Wii Just Dance, etc.? Or maybe he gets to choose the next learning activity, or you cuddle up together with a favourite book, etc.
I highly recommend Peggy Kaye's "games for" books, where the learning activity has built-in motivation.
Pam0 -
Thank you Pam for the great suggestions. I'm finding it is harder in winter when he can't always go outside, grab his scooter, or jump on the trampoline to burn off the excess energy. I'll definitely be looking into the books you recommended. (:
thanks again!
Blessings,
Rhonda0 -
Put tape on your floor/carpet for hopscotch or in a grid to jump from one to another. Put math or reading answers in each square and have him jump from one to to the next to choose answers. Put on music and dance like crazy. Have a long jump contest. Get the kid's "Fit Deck" and pick a card to do an exercise between each question. Run up and down the stairs.
One idea that I heard when teaching times tables was that the child was allowed a "cheat sheet" grid posted in his bedroom, which was two floors up from where the work was done. So if he couldn't remember a multiplication fact, he had to run up two flights of stairs, repeating the question to himself constantly so he wouldn't forget the question, and then check the cheat sheet, and then run down the stairs, repeating the question and answer all the way down to remember it when he got back to his work. You could adapt this to any type of question.
Pam0 -
I have a 9 year old "less than disciplined" boy as well..LOL . Perfectly designed for something GREAT..I am positive. He responds really well to the "earned free time" After two subjects are down ..he gets a break. He loves hands on activities as well. He is responding much better to unit studies than he did to workbook based curriculum. He learned his alphabet and site words by jumping on them when asked to find them...lol. My Aunt homeschooled and her son read his assignments hanging upside down in a tree..LOL. These guys definitely require much more creativity than others. God bless you and your active one! By the way...PAM..your ideas were great!0
-
I love these ideas! I can see it now and it just puts a smile on my face. I love my wild child and he is going to love some new methods. I can always tell when a mom has raised or is raising sons... there is a joyful, playful spirit within them. Or maybe they just lost their marbles along the way! LOL
Thanks so much!0 -
Perfect timing. I'm starting to preschool my 3 year old and he sits for only 5 minutes at a time (unless it is a puzzle, then he can sit for an hour). He loves to fidget. Right now I'm ok with 5 minutes at a time.
I'll use these ideas as he gets older and I want increase to more than 5-10 minute increments.0 -
Ditto to what others have said. My son just turned ten. I have issues with him all the time but I do give him a 15 minute break between classes ( as long as he's good ) and it helps. He's an advanced piano student and has to practice at least 75 minutes a day. We have to break that up into two sessions because he loses focus and will even start to cry/freak out if we go longer.We've had math units that were harder for him and we had to break them up as well.
I try to get him outside with the dogs before we're going to tackle something that he hates. His mood is much better after a little sunshine and exercise. We just finished our day and because he did so well on his science exam he gets some fun computer time. It's all about rewards.0 -
Great suggestions !0
-
We've recently removed the "side car" crib from our bed as our 2.5 year old has moved into his brother's room - so I've taken the mattress from it and use it as an indoor jump space. We'll be replacing the foam mattress on his bed (used to be the trundle/spare bed) with a real mattress and we'll save THAT for a "crash pad" sort of thing.
We have to do a sensory diet with my oldest, so a lot of ideas come from that, but it really helps him to focus if I let him jump it out between work sessions. Although we even learn/practice through jumping - he jumps and counts and on the tens, he crashes down. lol
Also having them sit on an exercise ball (if you have a table short enough) while doing it can help, or tying an exercise band around the legs of a chair so he can bounce his legs on it. Sometimes it helps them focus.0 -
You all have the right idea! I homeschooled 3 boys from K-12. (25, 22, 19 now) I found the mini trampoline to be a necessity and "punishment" was a run around the house regardless of weather (we live in Buffalo, NY). Frequent breaks, or switching subjects every 20 minutes also helped. We learned lots of memory things by tossing a bean bag between us or kicking a light ball(alphabet, spelling, math drills, vocabulary, science definitions, etc )and anything that could be turned into a game was. I even had a small rubber ball on a string ( use a heavy gauge needle to pierce it) and hung it from the wall. (no broken lamps or knocked over decorations).
As they got older we developed a point system that I still use with my girls today. They can earn points for finishing a project or assignment on time. Points earned are redeemed for computer time, tv time, play dates, field trips, sleep overs, etc. Some things are small like choosing tonight's dinner or which Netflix or Library DVD to big things like a sleep over with friends. They have no allowance so even a Dollar Tree visit be used to redeem points. Even things like assistance from me in cleaning their room or a day free of their ordinary chores. I have told them that my time is as valuable as cash...so they need to earn my time, too.
Great ideas pouring forth and it is so encouraging. I miss my "young" days! Enjoy them!
D0
