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Anne McD
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| Posted: May 21 2008 at 6:19pm | IP Logged
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Lisbet wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
. Those big, cozy, everyone listening raptly on the couch things happen rarely here.
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Elizabeth,
You have no idea how relieved I feel to hear you say this...seriously, I have images of you all cozy with all of your children gathered around you quietly hanging on every word... I know, I know, keep my eyes on my own work... |
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I had the EXACT same thought-- thanks for keeping it "real" 
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Anne
Wife to Jon
Mommy to Alex 9
James 8
Katie 6
William 3 1/2
Benedict Joseph 1
and baby on the way! 10/14
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Maddie
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| Posted: May 21 2008 at 8:19pm | IP Logged
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I have the same problem here and wonder why I try sometimes.
Bribing works once in a while. Sometimes I will promise them one chocolate kiss after story time if they can keep the noise and activity down. 
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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momtimesfour
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| Posted: June 02 2008 at 4:15pm | IP Logged
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missionfamily wrote:
Lunch time and tea time are good read-aloud times for us or if I can take the kids outside and read from the front porch rocker or while they putter around the back yard.
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The back yard! YOU are BRILLIANT!!! Seriously, this is a brilliant way to get the little kids engaged in safe play and they can even make noise without disturbing the older ones.
This is my new motto: I have a back yard and I'm not afraid to use it!
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SallyT
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| Posted: June 02 2008 at 4:38pm | IP Logged
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We have such a wide age spread that I rarely find myself trying to read to absolutely everyone -- usually it's either the 10yo (though he reads most of his books himself, and we just talk about them informally), or the 5- and 4yos as a set. They're the hardest. The 5yo WILL sit sometimes, raptly against my shoulder like a little boy in an illustration from a Victorian moral story; the rest of the time he listens by running up and down the room making Star Wars blaster sound-effect noises -- he can listen that way, but it kind of spoils everyone else's experience.
Things that work for us:
Make it bedtime reading, so it seems like a treat and not school. I can't tell you how many centuries of history we have covered in the guise of a nice bedtime story that Mom happened to pick out.
Drawing, coloring, lego play, even dominoes while the story is being read.
Pretending that the story is ONLY for one kid . . . reverse psychology doesn't work all the time, but on more than one occasion I have had children who technically weren't supposed to be listening to the story sitting at my feet. Doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened.
Books on tape in the car. Captive audience. Can't beat it.
I like what Elizabeth said about not being a circus clown. In our culture kids are more and more conditioned to expect to be entertained at every turn, even in school -- you really don't want to reinforce that model at home. That said, I've often gotten a lot farther disguising school as not-school, not by turning cartwheels or making everything like a great big bouncy castle of learning, but by using our bedtime story time (and occasionally after lunch, when people are bored) and good literature to communicate what I want them to know.
And if you can manage to get a given child alone to go over something one-on-one, that helps, too. Not always possible, but it's a lot harder for them not to listen that way.
Sally
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Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
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monique
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| Posted: June 02 2008 at 9:37pm | IP Logged
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I was so happy to read these posts. I'm having so many troubles with children and homeschooling. It was nice to hear some encouraging words and some tips.
Monique
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: June 02 2008 at 10:44pm | IP Logged
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I missed this thread the first go-round.
Recently I shared a scene of a typical read-aloud in our house:
The Best Storyteller...and it isn't me.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Leonie
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| Posted: June 03 2008 at 12:50am | IP Logged
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I used to read aloud at lunch tme - everyone else had their mouths full. 
If I am giving some background info, I tend to read it myself and then give a narration - casually, over dinner or in the car, not at a formal sit down and listen time. Or I aski an older child to do the same - read and then later narrate to us all, at a more convenient time.
And I have been known to just ask, firmly, for people to stop -listen ( two of my favorite gerunds!).
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Isa in Michigan
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| Posted: June 04 2008 at 7:34am | IP Logged
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I think one of the biggest challenges in homeschooling is dealing with all the interruptions from the little ones. There seem to be those days that regardless of what you do, things just don't go as planned.
My husband reads to our older four in the evening when the little ones are sleeping, and this works well. During lunch (and sometimes dinner), I put on audios for the children. I would ideally like to read to them at times during lunch, but it's a very busy time for me.
In the morning I like to start off reading to the little ones, singing some songs, and setting them up with an activity while the older ones start on some independent work. This seems to give the little ones the mommy time they need (at least for a little while), in order for me to get some things accomplished with the olders ones.
I will often work after lunch with the older children when the little ones are napping. This is a good time for us because interruptions are minimized.
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Mother to Francisco(10), Rafael(9), Teresa(7), Rosa(6), Lucia(4), Tommy(3), Miguel(1) & 4 in heaven
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: How can I teach if no one can/will listen
