Okay, Taylor is in 5th grade & Tyler is in 2nd grade. Learning comes fairly easy to Tyler; however, reading is not his strength. Taylor on the other hand is a great reader & has had MAJOR growth in her math; however, in most areas, learning is generally work & a challenge for her (so most things take her a little longer than the average cowgirl/boy). Having said that, there is also the age/grade gap. There are just some things that a 2nd grader can't/shouldn't do & things a 5th grader NEEDS to do. Big Daddy seems to think that as long as one is doing work the other should be. I'm not sure how I can explain it to him so that he understands I'm not over-working Taylor & I'm not under-working Tyler. For the most part I keep their studies equal - Math to Math, Reading time to Phonics time, handwriting to handwriting, etc. With our TOG studies they are on different levels, so Taylor's takes a little longer than Tyler & has more independent work. I also add writing for her (he is doing level 1-2 in Writing Aids, but it is a short lesson). Outside of this it is pretty equal.
Big daddy thinks that if we are doing writing & one finishes before the other, I should find extra work until they are both finished! UGGG!! I know this is just a "I go to work all day & you do MOST of the homeschooling, so I really don't know what it would be like to have to homeschool multi-level/ages ALL day every day, BUT . . ." Keep in mind Big Daddy is the "Command" man with a great heart, just very head strong - God love him! (sorry Big Daddy, but you know it is true!) So, for my sweet readers - What is your opinion? & those that e-mail me privately, that is cool too - no need to comment if you'd rather e-mail, just entitle these BIG DADDY!
6 comments:
I can only speak from our own experience and say that my preK is definitely done a lot sooner than his 1st and 2nd grade sisters and goes to play w/his toddler brother. Trying to keep him busy w/seatwork just for the sake of him sitting there would take away from the time I need w/the 2 older children to work with them on their subjects and check their work.
hhmmm
I wouldn't keep him busy with busy work. That will become a big burnout for your child in regards to learning.
I know you explained to your dh about how it works. Can you have him play educational games? Can he do some projects on his own? When he is done with school he is done!!
Here are some ideas:
playdough
painting
art appreciation flashcards
drawing
polymer (make something)
Make pottery
make a book about stuff he learned
I really wish you can just let him play!! :)
Holly
Of course we need to honor our husband's wishes, but I also think our
husbands can make requests without fully understanding or thinking through a
situation. Perhaps you could try explaining a little more the differences
between a 7 year old and a 10 year old. There is a HUGE gap and maturity
difference between a 2nd grader and a 5th grader.
In my opinion, a 5th grader should be spending a lot more time on his work
than a 2nd grader simply because he's going to have more work to do. A 2nd
grader is going to have a shorter attention span than a 5th grader. A 2nd
grader might be reading a 30 page book and the 5th grader for the same
subject and topic, a 100-300 page book. Should both of these require the
same amount of time? I don't think so. A 5th grader might be writing a
multi-paragraph paper while the 2nd grader will be composing one paragraph
with a few sentences. This task could theoretically take the same amount of
time, but I'm guessing if the 2nd grader didn't dawdle at all, then the 5th
grader's paper will take longer.
When your husband is at work and all of his co-workers are working
independently and doing their own jobs, is everyone supposed to leave at the
same time, waiting for the last person to finish? What if someone takes an
extra long lunch break and then plans to stay an hour extra. Should everyone
stay that extra half hour?
If one child dawdles or can't concentrate and his work takes him 5 hours,
does the other child have to sit there for an extra 2 hours when he applied
himself and got all of his required work done in 3 hours? This just seems
to me to be punishing the child who got his work done first. A 2nd grader
just can't do the same course load that a 5th grader can do. When he's
done, he could go to his room and play with legos (or whatever).
For me one of the benefits of homeschooling is that each child can go at his
own pace. When they are interested in a subject, we can go with it. When a
math concept isn't understood, we can pause and spend as much time as needed
on mastering that concept instead of being left behind by a classroom full
of other kids. On the flip side, if a concept is mastered quickly, its great
to move on instead of being slowed down by the pace of the rest of the
class. Since you have a slower learner, she should be able to go at her own
pace. The fact that your younger child can do things quicker only widens the
age and time gap since your older child is a little slower.
I'm not really sure how you can explain this to your husband so that he
understands better, but I hear you and I definitely agree that the 7 year
old should be free to play when finished with his work and shouldn't be
forced to do busy work because his older sister isn't done with her work
yet. Just pray, pray , pray!
As wives, we need to honor our husband's wishes. I'm sorry that you have
this burden to bear. I know sometimes it's hard but we need to respect our
husbands no matter what! I think that one of our jobs as helpmeet to our
husbands is to always praise them and lift them up in public. I'll be
praying with you that your husband will change his mind and realize his kids
are individuals and should work at their own pace.
Hi Tiffany,
I so agree that we need to honor our husbands wishes. This is hard to do when we don't agree with their methods or suggestions. I also agree that communicating the differences of each learning level could bereally helpful information. Dh has probably not had the time to research those kinds of things. The goal here is to be his helpmeet.
The best advice that I can think of in a situation like this is to ask your dh for help in figuring out a way to give the 7yo more work without overloading him. You wrote that you don't know how to explain the situation to dh so that he will understand. Well, you really don't have to :-) Just
explain your fear of overloading the 7yo and ask dh for advice. Perhaps there is a middle ground somewhere? I would show him the schedule for your day, the work that each child has assigned and explain the differences in
each. Humbly ask if he can give you some ideas (and I really mean "humbly" because this could go downhill fast if you are feeling any sort of resentment) Make sure you understand your husband correctly. Maybe he
just wants your 7yo to do something constructive (play with Legos or puzzles) while the others are finishing up school. Maybe he truly believes your 7yo is a genius and could use the extra push.
II think it is great that your husband is asking questions about your school and that he is willing and able to take "command". God has given you a great gift in him! Pray and ask God to show you why He is allowing this issue to resurface and how you should seek to resolve it. God will be with
you every step of the way.
Hi, Tiffany-
At our house, the kids are all required to start school at 9am and work at least until 3pm. If they finish early, they can do anything "productive". This means they can't watch TV or play brain rot video games or talk on the phone or surf, etc. They can work on a personal project, organize their closet, catch up on chores, read a book for pleasure, sew, knit, work on a skateboarding trick or some other solo exercise like shooting hoops, etc. Mom has final say on whether the chosen activity meets requirements. This way the ones who finish quickly are rewarded for doing so while still putting in a min of time on school.
Some things for dh to ponder: Imagine if you had several children, all on different levels. There's no way they're all going to have the exact same workload. For that matter, if you had two children of the same age with the same requirements, one of them would undoubtedly always finish before the other and then be punished for doing so by being made to do extra work. not to mention that it would feel like punishment to me as the mom to have to come up with all kinds of extra stuff and then be responsible for making sure it got done and correct it and so forth.
Also, where's the incentive to work hard and finish quickly if you're just going to have more work? You then just encourage the faster child to "pace himself".
What kind of work was it he had in mind? I mean, would he allow him
to do some kind of extra chores around the house. Learning a new
chore can take some time, especially if you want them to get things done to the standard we ourselves would do them. Or what about helping out with his brothers? I often assign one of my girls to be the preschool
"teacher" for their little sister. They love it. I think it strengthens their knowledge if they can teach it.
I have one ADD girl. She is distracted by everything and often will work all day long and only get half her chores and assignments done. (And no, I am not assigning her too much. She's just that distractable.) If I had to make her older sister do school the whole time her sister was working, the dear girl would be three grades ahead by now from all the extra work time. She needs time to be a kid too, especially if she has earned it by completing her chores and assignments. I will pray that he can come to fully understand the situation.
Post a Comment