The Simple Life at Home

• One is that children in "school" work significantly more hours than my children do - nearly twice as much, when you factor in homework. He wants to see them spending more time on their schoolwork.
• Another point he brought up is that if they don't finish their schoolwork, they shouldn't be allowed to watch tv/use the computer or participate in any other "recreation" until it's done.
• He asked me for a "scope & sequence" so he could see exactly what they are supposed to be doing at this age. I pulled out my copy of "What Your Child Needs To Know When" by Robin Scarlata (which I had forgotten I had) and he really liked it. He's going to go through it and spend some time with the kids each night, going over different areas.

And for those of you who may be thinking, "Gee, I wish my husband would be more involved with our homeschooling endeavors," let me assure you, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE'S EVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS! Normally, he tells me what I'm doing wrong and let's me continue muddling along.

So this morning, I sat down with both children and discussed their attitudes, their workload, expectations, etc. I explained to them that as they grow older, their workload is only going to get more demanding as they prepare for college. We discussed their complaints about doing work that they don't like and I explained that ALL kids (heck, all adults too!) have to do things that they may not like, but it's just part of life. I told them that they were perfectly entitled to feel that way, but that I did not want to be bombarded day-after-day with complaints that a book is boring or too long or stupid or anything else.

One thing I've decided to change is that I will no longer have them do their assigned reading during our "official school time." This is probably the biggest consumer of their time and it has increased dramatically this year. I'm going to assign this for them to do later in the day. One helpful thing would be to get a second copy of the reading book so they can both read at the same time, so I'll try to do that for the books that are available through the library.

A big part of the solution is something only I can change. I must resolve to be more disciplined and not just throw up my hands when I get too frustrated (though, occasionally, this can be a good thing). I have to learn to work through the problems and encourage my kids to do the same. After all, they are getting their example from me, right?