Spark The Fire

Spark the Fire even when your child (or you) would rather do anything else! In this episode Felice Gerwitz shares real, actionable tips that you can implement in your daily homeschool life.

Spark the Fire ~ Episode 587

Hey friends. Thanks so much for joining me. This episode is for the morning when nobody wants to start. I homeschooled five children for more than thirty-two years. The age gap in our house was wide. What looked like laziness was not always laziness. Sometimes the book was wrong for that child. Sometimes they were tired or hungry or embarrassed. Sometimes it really was an attitude. Those are not the same problem.

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Spark the Fire ~ Episode 587

It Is Not Always a Character Issue

I used to jump to character first. Do the work. Stop complaining. And sometimes that was fair. Work is part of life. I told my children that an adult does what needs doing whether or not they feel like it. That is still true.

But I also learned to look before I pushed.

Is the book too hard? They feel stupid, and they will do anything to get away from the page. Is it too easy? They feel managed. Is it a story or a method that does not fit how they think? I have pulled a book that looked excellent on paper and watched the same child come alive in something simpler. The child was not the flop. The match was.

Has this child slept? Eaten? Had a chance to move before the hard subject? Some of my children needed to move first or they were going to move during the lesson, and it was not going to be pretty. That is not rebellion. That is a body.

Are they carrying too much? School, a sport, a co-op, and the weather in the house. Teens will look lazy when they are overloaded. Eight-year-olds will too.

What I Would Try Before I Pushed Harder

Start smaller than you planned. If you use a Morning Crate, begin there — prayer, a little Scripture, one page of something living. Then give them a short piece of the hard work. One set of problems. One paragraph to tell back. One page copied well. A small thing finished is better than a big thing fought over and left undone.

You can keep the standard and change how it looks today. They can talk the answer while you write. You can walk and talk. They can teach a younger sibling the fact they just learned. I have watched a child who would not do the page gladly explain the page to a brother. That still counts.

What I would not do is turn every lesson into a show. You are not there to entertain them. Bored is allowed. Hard is allowed. Talking back is not.

If It Is Disrespect

Deal with the respect. That is not a curriculum problem. I was firm about that. I tried not to give a speech in front of the whole table if I could help it. Handle it. Then come back to the work. The work still stands.

If they are afraid they cannot do it, sit closer. Lower the amount on the page. Tell them what they actually did. “You finished three. That is three more than yesterday.” I stopped saying “you’re so smart.” Smart became a trap. Finished was a path.

I tried sticker charts that turned into negotiations. That did not last. I tried “because I said so” with no kindness in the room. That worked for a day and cost me a week. What I kept was this: be close when I could, keep the work real, and say we can do hard things without a nasty spirit.

Scripture

“Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you.”
— 2 Timothy 1:6, RSVCE

Rekindle means it is already there. Sometimes it needs a smaller page and a calmer room. Every day is a fresh start. Attitude sets the tone — yours first.

VHM-Spark-the-Fire-Handout

There is a one-page reminder with this episode at VintageHomeschoolMoms.com. Use it if it helps. Ignore it if it does not.

Resources from Media Angels

• Character Counts planners — one quality and one real situation you can talk about during the week.
• Organize It! Planners — keep the household from piling on when one subject is already hard.

More at MediaAngels.com/store.

More Listening

1. Morning Time for Mixed Ages
2. Homeschooling a Struggling Learner
3. Fine-Tune Your Homeschool Day
4. Math the Easy Way: 7 Tips for Teaching Math to Kids of All Ages
5. Time Boosters for the Busy Homeschool Mom