"Education is irrelevant."
"There's no point."
"This (project, assignment, essay, drawing, whatever) is good enough. I don't want to waste anymore time on it."
"Report cards don't really tell you anything. They mean nothing. They aren't an accurate representation of my work."
Who are these children?
Where did they come from?
Why don't they care?
I am so, so, so very tired of the homework battle. I am not at my best when I get caught up in foolish, meaningless arguments. I can't motivate them. They truly could care less. I hate answering the phone, as I get daily calls from teachers who are as frustrated as I am.
The way Tricia writes about homeschooling makes me sad. No one in this home will ever look back on these school years with longing for the good-ol-days. There has been no joy in the education process. Is there something I should have done differently? Is my attitude the problem?
A friend was talking to one of the high school teachers about her child's lack of motivation and the teacher said it was his opinion that a parent's role is to help their child realize a dream. Help them determine their dream/find a goal/have a purpose and then spend the high school years working toward the realiztion of that dream. Tie everything into that one over-riding purpose.
He felt that kids would be more enthusiastic about their school work if they saw how it was a necessary step in becoming who they want to be.
I have failed then, if that is my role.
3 comments:
Welcome to the club
On the upside, when they're 30 they might still be living with you and you'll never be alone...
Jane, you are a single parnet and have boys. Boys are so much different than girls. I remember a teaching seminar I went to once and instuctor was saying not to expect boys to even think about reading until the third grade...they take a little longer to get going for most things, and they need a strong father figure to encourage them along. My two youngest brothers who both have I.Q. s above 140, dropped out of high school, ( my dad died whrn they were teenagers.) They really didn't hit their stride until they were 30, Just hang in there. I only wrote about what i missed about homeschooling. THere were days I threatened to send my girls back to public school, days I hated homeschooling. The only thing that got me through it was prayer; asking God to make up for all the areas I failed in.
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