Eureka! Great Discovery! In my search to find what may help keep the kids responsible for their own time during school, along comes my old friend.......the timer. It is a great tool for keeping everyone on track. I had used the timer in the past for keeping my wandering, easy to distract son on track when we had to leave out the door to go places. With the timer set, he kept focused to get his shoes and coat on and was out the door and in the car before it rang. Without the timer, it was constant nagging from me to keep him on track with those things. Without the timer, I was frustrated and it felt hard and rushed to get him to move. There was definitely more stress! With the timer........peace for everyone! The best part about it was that I was no longer the nagging authority, the timer became the one keeping him accountable. You can't really argue with a timer. You either did what you were supposed to by the time it went off or you didn't.
So, I thought, why not use it during school to keep us accountable as well. There are lots of areas that would save me from having to keep the monkey on my back so to speak. It can keep track of their quiet reading time and let them know when they are done instead of them asking me "how much longer do I have to read". It can also be their accountability if you have a set time for them to work on their subjects (or certain ones anyway). It could also be used to let them know how much longer until lunch time. Creativity can really come into play for going on your road trips. Instead of hearing the all too often question of "Are we there yet?", the visual timer can let them know instead, creating a more peaceful car ride for all!
Responsibility is the tool God gives us to grow us. Why should we deny our children or this same growth?
I would love to hear from you! What are the struggles you have been dealing with within your own homes? Have you come across any ideas for creating more peace in those areas?
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Peace in your day!
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Reminding me of the timer has given me some food for thought. I have used a timer on and off for different things over the years but it never became a permanent tool around here. Now my mind is busy thinking of all the times a timer would prove useful: getting out the door on time (a big problem for me), helping my oldest to not spend two hours on a subject that should only take one hour, to tangibly show my boys how much time they actually waste each day (another big problem around my house), etc.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have discussed using a timer to limit how much time my oldest can spend on a subject. When the timer goes off, he stops that subject and moves onto another subject. At the end of the "school day," he completes whatever work he didn't finish when the timer went off (I guess what homework would be if he went to ps). We've considered doing this to show him what a reasonable amount of time to spend on a subject is, varying the time as needed (i.e., math takes one hour but science may take 1 1/2 hours), and to help lessen the amount of time wasted during the day...making him accountable for his time and not me.
Hmmm...thanks, Angela!
Pam
Oops, I guess that last sentence should read, "...making him, not me, accountable for his time."
ReplyDeletePam, It sounds like you have some good thoughts rolling around there! It also sounds like this is an idea you have thought about before. What is one way you can implement this idea into your schedule this week to make the biggest difference? Let us know what you decide and how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI'll post how it works for us. I may even purchase two silent timers, if this is something we're going to pursue long-term, so both boys can have one in front of them to keep track of their times, individually. But for now, we'll concentrate on our oldest son. I think a couple days of having to finish his schoolwork later in the day, instead of playing, will get his attention. My hope is that it will simply help him to pace himself better, waste less time, and teach him to work independently, successfully.
ReplyDeleteThis is step one. There are other issues we still need to address, but this will give us a good start. Then helping him to work at a reasonable pace AND gaining some motivation to work harder and more independently...those are good goals.
Pam
hmmm..one of our Gems doesn't like schoolwork-therefore thinks it doesn't need done. Tries things like: oh, you mean 17-21 means I have to do ALL the pages in between, also !? yes...loved one...like we have told you from the beginning....8-0 So, thinking the timer would really be good here. And, homework after the time set for schoolwork-schoolwork done ahead of time means more free time. I am giddy just waiting for a question to be asked so I can direct them to one of the three avenues of finding the answer themselves ! With one of ours, we did start something like that weeks back-they didn't want to memorize their scripture, would leave it blank, then could get the correct answer from the scoring, so we told them to look in their text-it is there/do it correctly the first time. Since that was started, they are memorizing it quickly on their own. Go figure. I am anxiously awaiting others to join-I am wanting to glean, glean, and learn !
ReplyDeleteWas hoping for some input on chore charts-it has worked in the past for us, but we haven't implemented this with our younger ones-if they were on task, there weren't any negative consequences~we could give good consequences,teaching them that every decision has a consequence, by their own choice -Tami
I've never wanted chores to be a consequence, I wanted the boys to help because it's their home, too, and everyone pitches in. I just didn't know quite how I was going to do this, though, until Angela told me they all do a daily chore each morning before lessons begin. I loved this idea and have done it ever since. Each of my sons has a chore to do each morning (vacuuming upstairs, dry mopping, wiping door knobs and faucets, changing bed sheets, etc.). They now come downstairs asking what their chore will be for that day. I used to use a chart that I filled in each day, but that became a chore for me :-) so now I just tell them what to do and it's done.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good thought you had, too, Tami, about filling in the correct answers when checking their work. I do this all the time with my oldest son's history and it takes me forever! The questions are short answer and even when he gets the answer correct, I always want him to see the "best" way of answering it, as well as having a good study guide to study from when he's preparing for a test. I actually should make him go back and rewrite his answers when he gets them wrong, and I think this would encourage him to try harder the first time around! (I do this with his math so I don't know why I haven't done it with his history; perhaps I was afraid of how much time it would take and the whining the first few times...lol) I'm definitely going to do this, beginning today. Thanks!
Pam