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Connections
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| Posted: Nov 08 2008 at 9:49am | IP Logged
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Of course, there is no way to know if requiring our children to "do" a subject results in their dislike or avoidance of that subject. There are many other factors at work and there is not necessarily a cause/effect relationship. Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to hear some anecdotes from those who are further along the HSing path than I am who have had certain requirements.
If you have required your child to "do" certain subjects, have you observed an increased distaste and avoidance of these subjects? Or, have you seen your child overcome an initial dislike and find they enjoy something about the subject you required?
If you required a subject that your child initially disliked and they grew to enjoy it, what do you think brought about their change in attitude?
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Blessings,
Tracey
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DianaC
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| Posted: Nov 08 2008 at 10:51am | IP Logged
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I have a story about a requirement we placed on my son who was not homeschooled. When he was in middle school, he had a couple of choices for an elective for one semester. He really wasn't interested in any of the choices, the least of which was Public Speaking. He was somewhat of an introverted bookworm. I told him it would be good for him to take PS because it would be good experience for him. When my husband came home that evening, he looked at the choices and absolutely required my son to select that course. It was an uncomfortable situation, because although we agreed that it would be a good choice, I didn't want to force him. Well, to make a long story short, my son took the class (under protest) and found that he not only enjoyed it, he excelled at it! I think that he was worried that he wouldn't be any good at it, yet he turned out to be the best in the class.
In this case, the course changed my son's life in many ways. With this newly found skill and the confidence that came with it, he became much more willing to participate fully in his class discussions, he often was the MC for his Boy Scout functions, and he developed a love of debate. In high school, he joined the Model United Nations Club and won awards in several competitions. He has also been asked to lector at Mass and he does a great job.
On a funny side note, we also required that he not listen to music with lyrics when he was working on homework. He was not happy with this rule. One day, he came to me and said that this rule was causing him more trouble than not. So, I asked why and he said "well, I'm listening to Wagner and trying to study but I am having an overwelming urge to invade Poland". (Of course, with my virtually non-existent knowledge of history, he had to explain it to me, but I admit, I had to laugh at his impishness) and sent him off to continue to study without lyrics playing. :)
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 10 2008 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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Ok, Science has been our dd nemesis. We have changed programs, tried different approaches (within our ability to do) and on and on. She hated it. Nothing seemed to work. Finally, we simply broke it down, required her to answer textbook questions, etc., etc. and take tests. It took a year of frustration, but just recently my dd actually told me she was surprised at how much answering the questions helped her and she was actually starting to enjoy it some (not her favorite but she actually likes it a little  ).
Success really does help you like something. However, it is always so tricky to know when resistance is a misfit with a material and when it is just lack of confidence and being helped to somehow become at least minimally competent in something will do the trick. The better she becomes, the better she likes the subject. It was not a subject she ever would have chosen to tackle on her own.
Janet
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Willa
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| Posted: Nov 11 2008 at 5:58pm | IP Logged
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I think it depends on the level of resistance at first.
Sure, sometimes my kids have been suspicious of a new thing and gotten to like it. And there are some things that they complain about a bit, that they don't REALLY dislike. It's just not something they would choose for themselves.
But if a child really really has disliked something, he rarely switches over unless the approach changes. I don't know if it's just my kids, or perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but in my family I find another approach, or drop it, or we just plod on through if it's a necessary subject, trying to minimize the disliked part of it.
For example, my 12 year old grew to dislike math last year, and this year we are doing far more mental games and online drills, which he likes more. But I wouldn't say he has grown to LIKE math, at least not yet.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Requirements and avoidance/dislike
