Motivations for homeschooler?

Question

My tenth grader is getting work weary. Subjects like math & science are getting harder and she is getting frustrated. I'm really worried about her attitude. Any ideas to keep her excited & on track?

Answer 1

Experience from a past home-schooled kid right through high school, now having 2 university degrees and currently working on the PhD -- I will admit, the last two years of homeschooling was the most challenging to be interested in studying.

I remember loosing motivation when I was being home schooled around the tenth grade too (every day was same as the day before, and soon it didn't really seem to matter if I put in a little less effort or interest). What I found really helped was combining homeschooling with 1 or 2 night classes at a public school at the same time. Reflecting back, I think it was the lack of external pressure and knowing what the standard was that made it frustrating to focus -- "how much is enough?". The other thing that provided motivation was doing peer tutoring of other students from my night classes.

Hands on is also very important... for me, being aloud to create and pursue my own projects was very motivational (whether it was growing orchids, breeding birds, learning woodworking, art lessons at a professional studio, etc... these sort of hobby-based projects that required attention/work several times a day helped provide more enthusiasm because I had realized that they would not have been possible if I were at regular school). Being part of community based societies also helped -- environmental enhacement, indoor parrot society, wildlife rescue, etc. -- it was being around other people who would share their knowledge and enthusiasm to learn everything they could.

Physical activity and sports to look forward to after regular study time also had provided me with a goal on a daily basis that helped me focus during the earlier part of the day.

Answer 2

Being alone and thinking nobody else knows or cares about you is enough to de-motivate anybody. But we know that all tenth graders are going through the same thoughts and issues. I wonder if you could help her find a group of other tenth graders on the Internet who are also home schooled. Perhaps they could support, encourage, and motivate each other. I wonder if the group you are going through already has a support system in place and its just a question of tapping into it.

Another thought is to provide rewards more often. If we get through this next session you can have an ice cream party with several of your friends, or we will go shopping for a new dress, or other things that are important for her. At this age I would think that more smaller rewards are much more helpful than a single large reward over a longer period of time.

I wonder if you could get her a social or sports activity in a local school? I know of several families in my area that have their children interact with the local school kids regularly and then come home to take care of the actual schooling.

I know you can solve this because all families go through the same thing. Best of luck and keep up the good work.

Answer 3

I suggest you read Cathy Duffy's book: 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. I especially suggest you read the first few chapters. She puts you as a parent through a good thought process about your child's learning process. She could be getting weary because the material is not made for her. She could also be getting worn out from the fact that she may not be highly talented in those areas.

Take a break, try to make her weak points fun. You may also want to try to merge math and science with her strengths. Let her learn the connection between everything.

Have fun and try to enjoy things!

Answer 4

Make science as hands on as you can. Instead of reading do as many experiments and field trips as possible. Our museums have great classes on astronomy, our health museum has disection classes there is a lot outside for homeschoolers now. See if your city has anything. Maybe look into doing these subjects in a coop. Sometimes having someone else to work with is a good motivator.


Good Luck!

Answer 5

Trust me I'm home schooled and it's nothing wrong with it and I love it and it gives you freedom, and some of the world's best doctor's and scientist were homeschooled...just get her to hang in there high school for her is almost over it's hard I know and I struggle in math myself but trust me when you go beyond your limit, the rewards can't be better.

Answer 6

Has she had a break recently? Sometimes you just need a good break from the frustrating things to be able to come back and tackle them better. Even if you are behind.

Also, make sure to talk about her feelings. Don't necessarily go into it trying to solve a problem, just listen to what she's feeling and ask her if she has any ideas on how to make things better.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Help her research areas of interest for her future career. Let her see what kinds of college degrees will keep the most options open for her and what kind of preparation she will need for those degrees. Try to tailor her math and/or science toward another interest of hers. Even something like fashion or hair products can lead to study of the chemistry of dyes, business math and statistics, etc.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Send her back to public school. Teachers know what you don't know. But of course, you won't.

Answer 10

rewards like money or candy