Monday, February 7, 2011

If at First They Don't Succeed, Try Again In a Unique Way

Today during school time, we came to the most exciting and favorite part (okay, I'm being a bit sarcastic):  Handwriting.  I was trying so hard to motivate Evan to keep going and not give up.  He was in tears, I was remaining calm, and got an idea.  I put some rice in a large container (rectangular shaped) and took it back to the homeschool room.  Evan's attitude changed from one of frustration to once of curiosity.  I placed his finger in the rice and helped him write a number 3 in the rice.  Within minutes, he was excited and writing 3's with no problem! Succeed!

If you are finding a particular subject/task to be frustrating, switch it up with something different.  Take school outside and make it fun and interesting!  Don't forget, children need a lot of stretch breaks, and aren't meant to be in a seat for too long.  Children do much better when given frequent stretch breaks from their school work.

By the way, I'm in no way brilliant.  The rice in a container idea I've read from many other homeschool mommies, and in creative activity books.  Venture out onto the internet and see what you can find on blogs.  There are a lot of great homeschool moms out there that are veterans, and a plethora of knowledge!