I have a question about this. I have been trying to get off the coveryor belt for 2 years and feel like I'm just starting to "get it." I have a few issues that I could use some feedback on. First, my oldest child, a son, is 13 and he would be happy if I would just read to him all day long. (He has struggled to become an independent reader and has only this past year mostly become independent) We spend a good hour starting off our day with devoational and read alouds, then the schedule is free for them to choose interests of their choice. I use that time to study and move child to child. I have come a long way on inspiring, not requireing, but I still feel like this one child would rather sit and do nothing. So my question is (and I think this is going to sound very conveyor belt), do I require him to do something or let him sit and draw and stare off into space. I find myself telling him, I'm not going to tell you what you have to do, but I would like you to do something. Here is one challenge for me in getting off the conveyor belt with my 13 and 12 year olds, they are in a public ISP (independent study program) because they really want to be involved in the music program (choir, band, guitar, percussion classes) Since it's a public school, it does "require" certain school work though I don't have to use any of their textbooks, and the teacher I work with has been really flexible with me. I have to require a certain amount of math and a little less Language arts to meet the requirements for this school. I have managed to inspire the rest of the subjects enough to meet the school requirement. I would like to hear what your "schedule time not content" looks like. If I'm off inspiring/studying with one child and the other is sitting around. Do I ask them to do something or let them sit there and get bored until I have some time to spend with them, or should I ask them to do something, anything? I have 5 children (ages 13, 12, 6, 3, and 8 mo)
Thanks,
Deanna
Near Fresno, CA
Schedule Time Not Content
OK. the artist in me is intrigued. My curiosity has got the best of me. I
t does not sound like he is doing nothing.
Perhaps the real question is: how do you get him to study areas that you value?
First you said he did nothing. Then you said he was drawing. What is he drawing? What is he thinking about?
What other things and maybe distractions are available to him? Is there anything he is passionate about or interested in? Does he feel like anyone values his interests?
Do you see drawing as as skill to be developed or a waste of time?
Art is a way of seeing and communicating. Artist are often very observant and help us see things in new ways and often things we over look.
Artist provide a huge value to the world we live in. Imagine the world of man made without design engineers, color, pleasing shape. Art is more than something to hang on your wall. All packaging was designed by someone, every movie, every book cover, furniture, clothing, dishes, etc. your local grocery store has shelves of items that the label was designed by someone. Every Walmart has shelves of clothing, electronics, housewares etc. artists designed the package and probably played a role in how the end product looked.
Art talent and skill can take a lot of time to develop. Years. I saw a life drawinf of Picaso' s done when he was 12. He was a very good classical artist, long before he became famous for his avant gard approach to abstract painting. Just because a child's work does not look like a classical painting now, it does not mean they cannot produce art. Many great artists started when they were in their youth to develop their skills.
Has he experimented with other art media? Been to museums? Seen movies about artists? What about meeting artists? Summer is a great time to catch Art festivals and see the broad array of inventiveness.
I feel art artist and their work are one of the most devalued of all the pursuits. Perhaps it is the way we look at talent and the arts. Why is it that parents have no disconnect in offering music lessons, theater, or gymnastics training to a child that showed no inclination or specific talent, but when it comes to art, we wait until we see if they are a budding prodigy before we even consider it.
As far as careers go, graphic artists do quite well. My daughter's friend just graduated from BYU and has worked on animation of several big movies. He has just been hired by Disney.
I personally know of several artists who support their families on their incomes.
Have you read home Schooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax? They had four sons, two of which were adopted, one oriental and one black. They lived on a farm near Ukiah, California. When the boys did not want to do farm work, they avoided it by studying. When they did not want to study, they avoided it by doing farm work. They did not use a canned curriculum. Three of the boys got into Harvard with their non conveyorbelt approach. They then went on to graduate studies at Harvard or Yale. One son is an MD and two others are attorneys. The fourth son works with the developmentally disabled and is computer savvy.
Not bad.
I think of the structure time not content as the
"ECCLESIASTES 3"approach to family life:
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Yes, and I believe also that there is a time to work, a time to play, a time to learn, a time to worship.
As far as math goes, have you tried living math?
Often times children are more motivated to learn a foreign language than work on their own. I started learning German at 15, and it was the native tongue approach. You start with conversational German then move to reading and finally to writing in the language. When I did that, I began to understand my own language better.
Looks like the bottom line is, if they want to be in the ISP then they must pay the price of the ISP academic requirements.
Donna
Kids Not Busy
I have the same issue with my 11 yo son. This entire year I have been working on this issue and today we are having a road block. He wants to do hands-on projects only and I am running out of things for him to do and I don't have the money to keep buying new things. He takes off on projects that require me to buy stuff.
My schedule is basically that they need to be working on something educational during school hours. He can read independently, but only if he really likes the book. I have a hard time getting him to finish a book. He often starts them and then stops if he reaches a "boring part". I tried the Bean Game and offered beans for finished books and that worked for awhile, but I am finding that he is still not internally motivated, only externally for the beans and the reward.
I, too, would like input on this topic.
Thanks! - Celeste in Queen Creek, AZ
We attended the first
We attended the first seminar a few months ago, and one thing that I remember Dr. Brooks mentioning was that if his kids didn't want to study that was fine, but they had to do house work instead. They couldn't just sit around. If it is "Study Time", the kids can choose what to study and what to do with that time but they have to be doing work of some kind. That's what I got out of it anyway. I don't know if that helps or not. :)