Fritz: I only have one more sentence to write and then I’m…DA DA DA DONE!
(Like Beethoven’s Fifth (not 9th like I said earlier, thank you, Barb) – it was cute.)
Unfortunately, he is making this pronouncement at nearly 3 pm. And he’s done with his writing, but we still need to read the rest of Lief the Lucky which I’ve been reading in bits and pieces today to break up the sheer monotony of hearing myself tell him over and over to finish doing his work.
ugh.
This is the one thing about homeschooling that really grates me. Why can’t he just be happy to learn? What’s so hard about copying a few sentences or reading a few paragraphs? I always loved schoolwork. Seriously. I would race to see how fast I could do math worksheets. I would go through books faster than Gutenburg could print them.
OK. I was a dork.
And Fritz doesn’t hate all of school. He likes history, geography, and science. Those are the subjects where mom reads him interesting stuff.
He doesn’t mind memorizing poems or Greek and Latin roots. He doesn’t mind listening to stories from the Bible and illustrating his own Bible book.
He hates piano. He hates writing. I think it’s a fine motor skill thing.
He hates doing math work sheets.
There are no comprehension problems here. It’s all motivational problems. And that’s what’s so frustrating. I think I can be patient if he actually had comprehension problems…well, no, probably not.
Ugh, again. I was just a highly motivated learner, and am doing everything I can think of to inspire in my children a shared love of learning. And it’s not working.
Patience. Time. I know.
In the meantime, I’m trying to think of a practical way to get this kid to keep his nose to the worksheet and just.get.it.done. Without screaming.
Ideas?
Reit This Way 
Oh, Michelle!Come join Suzanne (at Raising Saints) and I as we commiserate over our 8 YEAR OLD BOYS…I was a dork in school, too. I would have looked at DS #1 with disdain as I copied my sentences perfectly, glorying in their neatness, sighing over those messy boys….We just finished Leif the Lucky, too. MODG history?Oh, ideas. right.Ummmm….don’t kill him?🙂
Yeah, MODG. End of week 2. We’re off because we started on a Wednesday. So tomorrow is Friday!!
Oh, boy. I am right there with you. Today was simply awful. I had a complete refusal to work. 4 hours of pure torture for us both got us through one of seven lessons. Sigh. I should just record myself saying “Joey, do your work” again and again and again. Today I made him do housework all afternon since he refused to do school work. I thought cleaning toilets might make writing spelling words seem more attractive, but alas it did not. He was only too happy to clean if it kept him away from his books. We’ll call this a backfire.We had a sitter tonight and lo and behold he was happy to complete his work for her and I came home to it mostly done. This must be because I said no TV or games with the other kids until it was done. She said it took him about 45 minutes. To do it ALL.This is what is so frustrating. Like you, we have no comprehension problem. When he decides he is ready to do it, he does it well and quickly. It is the 20 minutes I can sometimes spend wringing a 3 word sentence out of him that makes me want to put holes in the wall. If he genuinely doesn’t understand, I can be as patient as can be. But I have no patience for lack of interest or motivation.AAAARRRGGG! You are not alone.I am comforting myself with the hope that this is shaving some serious time off my purgatory. It does help a bit in the darkest moments.