Homeschool Facts

I thought I had it all together with my kids but this morning proved me wrong. I had a ten year old who refused to get organized for school and decided that she would be on a “go slow”. Now I understand that different combinations of kids and parents have an impact on what heppens in individual households. But I would like to share with you what I did this morning at my house.

I have great difficulty with my 10 year old daughter each morning. No matter what time I wake her up she seems to dawdle and end up rushing to get out the door at the very last minute. Often she is late for school because she cuts it too fine.

When dealing with a child who is reluctant to go to school, the first thing you must do is ask them if they are being bullied at school by another child. Often this will be the answer. But if not, at least you know that you will need to come up with a plan to deal with this problem.

It is important to find a positive way to deal with the problem if at all possible. Perhaps a sticker chart or something that they can get every day to start off with, depending on the age of the child. But early on the rewards should be pretty immediate. Then as the child catches on the rewards can be a bit further apart.

Think of all the possible ways to get your child interested in being on time in the mornings. Only if none of these work will you need to step up the pace and think of a negative consequence. This morning, unfortunately, my daughter threw tantrums and did all sorts of peculiar things which led me to believe that I needed to change my tactic just a little bit.

Becky is finally gone to school now and it’s time to dream up her consequence. Because she chose to throw a tantrum like a little child I have decided to deprive her of some things that are reserved for older girls. I shall be taking away her favorite earrings and also a few random items of “grown up” clothing. They will go up into my top cupboard. Beck will be devastated but I will explain to her that those kinds of things are reserved for girls who act their age and don’t throw tantrums.

Always try to match the crime to the punishment. In my case I am letting Becky know that because she threw a tantrum she should not be wearing grown up clothes. Make sure that you talk through it with the child so they understand why you are doing what you do.

Even though this may seem harsh, I will give Becky a chance to lessen her consequence very quickly. Our job as parents is to help prepare our kids for the outside world when they grow up. Even convicts in jail have the chance to lessen their time behind bars for good behavior. So our kids should also be provided with this opportunity to lessen a consequence wherever possible. If Becky does the right thing for perhaps two days, she will get her earrings back and so on until she has earned everything back again. This way she fully understands that she is responsible for making things happen in her life. And that’s the way I want it to be.

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