New Set Up

Argh.


I went through my precious darlings work product and did a little scrutiny on the grades. I usually go through each week and take a look at where their grades are landing, but I noticed a trend towards downward marks. Yes, the material does get harder, but these changes looked more like a critical case of Lazy Boy Syndrome.


It might be terminal.


As we get more comfortable with homeschooling the training of public school has waned. They feel much more at ease moving around and taking breaks. Unfortunately they're not terribly experienced with self-regulation. A byproduct of being told what to do every second of their day so it's not surprising we are having issues with the freedom. Time to tighten things up a bit.


At first the boys were at their desks in their rooms and I would check in on them, but their falling grades (I expect at a minimum grade of 85) require me to reassess that plan. Today I have set us all up at the kitchen table (which was my plan in the first place).

5th Grade left side and 7th Grade right side

Already I see improvement. All of us sitting at the table allows for immediate answers to questions. I can look up their grades on the spot and review trouble areas. They ask each other questions about whatever subject they're working on and the discussion ranges from the provocative (global warming) to the hilarious (Gilligan's Island attempts at rescue).


We take a break to share YouTube videos just to keep it fun.


I can log in to a server or my local network to do my work which helps me stay on task. The other day J asked if I could teach him accounting. He wants to take over my business so I don't have to work so hard. So. Darn. Cute.