C is for Classes – How Do You Get Your Kids To Do Them?

Welcome back to Blogging Through the Alphabet! We are on week 3, and that means the letter C. . .

Now, let’s consider ‘C’. . .

C is for Classes – How Do You Get Your Kids To Do Them?

All of us, from first time-homeschooling mom to seasoned veteran struggle at the start of each year just a bit to find classes for our kids. We try to match the interests of our children and their learning styles with their educational needs and weaknesses. We try to choose the most exciting class ever – the class that our child will love so much that he would rather work on that class than eat brownies and ice cream for dessert!

And then after we have chosen that class we present it to our child, highlighting the benefits and selling like we have never sold before in the desperate hope that our child will say, “Wow, let me work on that right now!”

Any of you who have homeschooled before know exactly what happens, right?

That child shrugs his shoulders glances at you with a look of utter ennui, and turns back to his book.

Fail! You know right then and there that you will be cajoling and maybe even threatening your way through that course for the whole year. The prospect of the climb you will have to make through the stormy weather of your child’s frustration and discontent is more than you can bear.

So, if you are like me, you go into the kitchen and make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, grab a cookie if you haven’t already stress-eaten them all, and slink to a quiet spot to lick your wounds and regroup.

But where do you go from here?

And how can you avoid the cycle altogether?

Well, after more homeschooling years than I can count (not to worry, I don’t count very accurately so it hasn’t been more than 10. . . I think!), I discovered that my kids will love working on their classes if they are involved in choosing them.

That seems like such an obvious idea now, but boy was it a revelation for me when I first “discovered” it. It actually hit me when I was trying to convince my kids to help me review homeschooling products and books. If I just chose something for them without letting them in on the choosing process, it was really, really hard to get them to work on it.

But if I involved them in the process then my kids take ownership over the decision to learn a subject. They become stakeholders in our homeschool instead of generally willing participants. (actually now that I think back it really is one of those sale techniques you learn in marketing classes – who knew those would be worth anything in real life!)

So all that aside, where do you find classes. . .

I also made some of my own when I couldn’t find a class that worked for my kids. When you make a class for your child, you can polish it up later and sell it to other homeschooling families. That is what I am doing with a series on Algebra called, “Doodles Do Algebra”.

There are great DVD-based classes, like those from Roman Roads Media that feature my kids’ favorite homeschool personality: Wesley Callihan – the man with the fantastic library.

You could also participate in Co-ops, or if you are opting for the “I want to tell all my friends I am homeschooling without the work of actually homeschooling”-look, you could sign up for a particular 2-day a week school where you drop your kids off, pick them up, monitor their homework, and pay the same price-tag as a good private school. But somehow that is homeschooling. . . That is wacky silicon valley for you, I guess.

To me homeschooling means you may not be at home to school, but the burden of schooling lies upon your shoulders. You are the one blessed with the opportunity to guide and teach your children through till adulthood.

And that is what makes homeschooling beautiful and fundamentally good.

No matter how you choose your classes.

Now, do you have trouble getting your kids to work on classes you have chosen or designed? What do you do?