Tell me about your first year as a homeschooler?

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

Anna1111 wrote:

Well, it's kinda ubiquitous and informal : )

What I've found helpful so far:

The book I mentioned (#2, above) is a BIG help- it's from a Christian perspective and has great ideas.

Insisting a child does what is right helps teach them to do what is right.

Anna, I am on chapter 5 of that book. What great timing - just as 2 grands are coming to live with me for a few months!

Do you have a "prison"? What have you found to be effective?

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

We do! Usually we just use our little-kid sized armchair. She's quite comfy there - sits there when she's not in prison too, but HATES being sent there! If we're at Church, I simply take her to the Narthex (what you might think of as the "lobby") and have her sit in a chair or on a step there. At other places, I just find the nearest chair, and declare it.

It's funny, but the longer I've used this method, the better it works! The first few months, she might have to go to "prison" 15 times in a morning and not seem to care. But NOW - one trip in a morning is a major catastrophe in her eyes. It's a blessing, because it is SUCH a gentle method, that I don't mind using it (as he suggests) for EVERY misbehaviour. Whereas more "strict" seeming methods get threatened 15million times before being implemented - which makes them almost totally ineffective.

I think the problem is that we have a tendency to check and see if a method is "working" - so if we try three times and see no results, we move on to something else. Which is kinda like pulling a plant up every day to check its roots to see if they're growing. This method seems to work better & better the longer it is used - even if at the beginning it doesn't seem very effective.

I also like that - as they say - the proof is in the pudding. This guy doesn't write about discipline while his own kids are a mess (like so many modern "experts") - instead, I read this book after not only the author had lived a successful life, but all four of his sons had grown into fine active Christian professional men, and passed away themselves, and numerous of his students had benefitted from it : ) I love when the "expert" has seen success himself!

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

I was thinking of having the "prison" away from home being right next to me - like at the store or at church. Would that work do you think? My mischievous little guy would find all kinds of people and things to distract him anywhere out of my sight, I think. ;-)

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

Oh - the warden NEVER leaves the prison! ; )

I find a remarkably effective trick with my little one is that if she misbehaves in public I hold her by the wrist for a while (while shopping, or even in Church) - freedom to walk without a hand being held is a privilege : )

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

I found this quite interesting~!! (FRom the book Anna suggested.)
he was to have only one lump of sugar, instead of four, in his tumbler of water for breakfast. :shock:

Forum rules

Tell me about your first year as a homeschooler?

Who is online