I wish that I could say that every day of homeschooling in our house is sunshine and rainbows, but that is absolutely not true. Truth be told, there is usually at least one day a week where it feels like we are struggling over every math problem or every letter in every word of every sentence. (I’m sure you get the idea).
So what do I do when I see my child transform into a wet noodle and slip from her chair to hide under the table when tasked with completing a math problem? Honestly, it depends on how well I am doing emotionally that day. Which means, it depends on how well I have been doing in the self care department.
On my good days my response is to gently refocus her while trying to help her feel grounded. For example I will ask her to come sit on my lap while she works on her math. Or, I will have her grab 1 or 2 of her favorite plushies to come join us for class. (Fun note, this often allows me to have her “teach” them what she has just learned).
Five Tips for Learning Resistance
Frequent Breaks: I have found that if I give frequent breaks it can lead to less learning resistance. For my highly sensitive kiddo it helps for her to know how long she is expected to do a task and how long of a break she will have. Adding a visual timer to our homeschool routine was a game changer for us. Which, as I write this, I am reminded that the visual timer we had broke and so I just added a new one to my online shopping cart. ADHD fueled multi-tasking for the win!
Change the environment: For us this means leaving our designated classroom area and going to a spot with a lot of natural lighting. In our house that is the kitchen table, my daughter’s room or outside if it is a nice day.
Activity: Give them an active break time. We do dance breaks or “on guard” which is basically a sword fight with short pool noodles. During the warmer months I also have her go to the backyard and jump on the trampoline or shoot some hoops.
Choose your battles: Is this a day where you need them to push through and complete the task you have given them? Or is this a day when you need to pivot to a different task? Will the world end if they are not able to diagram that sentence today?
Adapt to the child: Every child is unique and therefore different tips will work for different kids. Maybe instead of doing a fractions worksheet your child would focus better by using measuring cups to bake cookies. Or perhaps they can focus better if they stand up and balance on a balance board while reciting their multiplication facts or practicing their spelling words. Or maybe they just need to have a fidget toy in their hands.
Sometimes one of these will be the magic that allows my child to focus and finish her lessons for the day. And sometimes, after much trial and error, I decide we will take a mental health day and start fresh tomorrow, and that is the beauty of homeschooling.
