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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 9:22am | IP Logged
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On another post (I don't know how to link to it yet!  ), the question arose of how to minimize interruptions and distractions during the time set aside for school. Between the needs of multiple children (Mom, Johnny just threw up!)phones, doctor/dentist/therapist appointments, needs of others, and generally life, it seems that the quality of our schooling time is affected and even, sometimes, that the interruptions disrupt learning altogether. What does everyone do the reduce these distractions? What kinds of distractions do you experience, and how do you handle them?
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Caroline
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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I know this frustration all too well! A couple of things that might help:
the obvious one is letting the machine get the calls (Mom can take a quick break periodically to screen and respond to anything that is truly urgent). When my dc were younger and we lived in a smaller house, a huge distraction came from someone or other getting snack in the room next to where we were doing school. Kind of like a dog or cat who comes running to the kitchen at the sound of the refrigerator opening.  We started to *set up snack* as part of our morning routine. The snack would typically consist of a fruit and some crackers or pretzels. Each child's portion would be set in a bowl/on a paper towel on the counter, to be eaten when the child wanted it. Getting rid of crackling cellophane, opening fridge and cabinets, and such was a huge boost to concentration on school.
Peace,
Nancy
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Willa
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 1:19pm | IP Logged
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Here, I'll do the link to the other thread.
I'd like to have more time to write about this subject, but my 13 year old ran his foot into a long staple on our old (inherited from great-grandmother's) couch! His local PCP won't be in the office for a few days so we have to go down to town (50 miles away) to get a tetanus booster since his last shots were in kindergarten. That will take, probably, 5 hours out of our day right there?
So I guess I live your question
I do figure that one of the most important life skills I can teach the kids in this postmodern world is to keep a sustained train of thought and work with all the potential distractors a well-examined life will throw at you. So all these moments are practice for that.
That being said, I try hard to minimize avoidable distractions. I do the things Nancy mentioned.
With doctor's appointments I TRY TRY, not always successfully, to schedule them for the afternoons, especially since town is so far away.
We do our shopping when we're already in town and if I haven't planned well enough to make sure we get what's needed when we are in town, we simply make do rather than make extra runs to the store.
I buy most non-grocery things online (usually through Amazon) so that I don't have to waste time and $$$ browsing through Target and such places.
I use the older kids to help do things for the younger ones -- they can get juice, put on shoes, etc. That's probably an obvious one.
I also have a Plan B for when I'm working with a child and there is some interruption I simply have to deal with -- like "you go do your copywork now/finish reading this chapter/ look up the spot on the globe" until I'm finished.
Another thing that helps me is planning out the year with 4-day school weeks. If we have 5 days in a row at home with no distractions, that's great -- we get ahead. But I have some cushion time so I don't get overly frustrated about wasting an afternoon in the car and at the Urgent Care clinic, like today : ).
I'm not sure if this works towards your question.
I have a son in high school this year and so I can bear witness that at building-schools there are a lot of distractions too, and of not so good a quality as a baby crying, so it helps me to remember that. He's missed class from (1) sickness (2) blizzards making the school bus late (3) track (4) schoolwide rallies, talent shows and other public events (5) parties and other tedium-breakers the teachers occasionally devise (6)unruly behavior from classmates (7) fire drills (8) being pulled out for doctor's and dentist appointments or for tutoring time. At least at home we can easily pick up where we left off rather than actually missing classes. It takes us less time to get things done at home than it does at school and the kids learn to re-focus by practicing it again, and again, and again ....
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Martha
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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Bookswithtea wrote:
Martha, don't you have a new baby in the house? How are you pulling this off with an infant?
Also, what kinds of different things are you doing to guard schooltime? |
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well she's 4 months old - is that still "new"? 
Swann said she brought everything for baby into the schooling area, diapers, clothes, and nursed at the school table. I do nurse some at the table, but baby girl is a fussy high-maintenance kind of gal and it's easier to bring the schooling to where I am - the rocker in the quiet of my master bedroom. Most of the schooling is done during her morning nap, which thankfully, she's just starting to get somewhat regular about the last few weeks.
I do not own an answering machine or voice mail - I just turn the ringer off. bad news has never, ever failed to call back.
I finally put a sign on the front entry that says no soliciting. apparently no one knows what that means tho.
And I never schedule anything during those hours, no swim, choir, coop, whatever. Which has the awesome affect of saving me money because it eliminates a LOT of stuff that woudl be tempting to leave the schooling to do.
the biggest issue is not with those who don't know we hs - they actually tend to assume folks aren't available during regular business hours and I don't correct them.
but I've had to point blank tell people that know we homeschool that we are not available before 1:00. I tell them we have a prior regular scheduled activity or appointment that cannot be moved. None of their business what my other appointments are, so I don't tell them it's schooling time. Well unless they are homeschooling friends, them I've told so they don't think they are getting the cold shoulder.
This includes dh. no, dear, please reschedule the exterminator for a time after 1pm - thank you!
and the worst offender of all - the internet and me.
I have greatly reduced my time on the net. I purged my history/favorites of all except the sites I genuinely get something out of and I try to avoid being on here if kids are at the table learning.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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Willa wrote:
Here, I'll do the link to the other thread.
I do figure that one of the most important life skills I can teach the kids in this postmodern world is to keep a sustained train of thought and work with all the potential distractors a well-examined life will throw at you. So all these moments are practice for that...
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This is the crux of the matter, isn't it?
I can't even keep a "sustained train of thought and work" many days...a distraction comes along and I get knocked completely off-course. This didn't used to be a problem for me; recently, it's a real issue! I keep wondering exactly what HAS happened to the time...I've even thought about keeping a time diary to see if I can't figure out what the interruptions are and reduce them. One thing I know needs to happen (and is, in fact, in the process of happening) is that I need to say "No" to outside commitments, even if they are good in and of themselves. I am finding it is usually these commitments that result in my making a mid-day dash to the store for necessary last minutes items, copies, craft stuff, and so on. Doctor's appts. are a problem for us because we have to travel to Northern VA (about 1-2 hrs.)for my special needs child, avoiding rush hour, which ends up taking about the entire day and also all of my energy. I'm thinking the key to all of this might be self-discipline (or my lack of it!)--to consistently stick to a routine and insist that, unless an emergency arises (like it did for you today), "school time" is sacrosanct.
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Caroline
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Martha
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 2:17pm | IP Logged
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and put that routien in writing!
seriously this makes a huge difference for not rational reason - but it does make a difference.
and yes, things that can't be avoided happen. like having your 4 month old have a diaper explosion in the middle of a math lesson with your 6 yr old
both baby and I suddenly needed a shower 
and the first thing the 6 yr old said was, "Thanks phoebe!" and skipped off to go play war 
ETA: really, truely, I CAN spell folks. I just have to sacrifice accuracy for speed when typing.
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Martha in VA
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 3:30pm | IP Logged
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Since I am my own worst enemy for interruptions, this thread is SO good to read through. Thanks for the wisdom! 
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stellamaris
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You are right, Martha! Somehow when it is in writing and visible (not stuffed away in some notebook), a routine is easier to follow. It is a silent reminder of what to do next. My problem is that I start out with a written routine, follow it until I get familiar with it, and then when it starts to work I abandon the habit of checking the written schedule, and pretty soon it's spring and our routine has become a distracted free-for-all. I so glad we're at the end of the year ! Actually, I'm wanting to move to a 3 month on, one month off schedule,but I don't know if that would be more or less stressful. Maybe this thread should be about how we keep ourselves accountable over the long haul.
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Caroline
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: May 08 2009 at 5:57pm | IP Logged
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Major distraction for all of us this week -- and I am REALLY into this distraction - a family of foxes brings out the 8 kits to play in our front yard! We allow this to be counted as nature study and refuse to admit how much time we're not spending on other things. So, one way to look at interruptions, as Willa pointed out, is to redefine them!
Peace,
Nancy
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Bookswithtea
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Willa, my ds stepped on a tack 2 weeks ago and got a wicked infection by day 3 that required heavy duty antibiotics. You have my utmost empathy...
We do keep pretty firm school hours and I only allow Ortho appts. in the AM because of scheduling issues and how far away it is (this doesn't count emergencies, though). I pretty much only answer the phone if its dh. Caller ID helps significantly.
Martha, I totally agree with the "we have a prior appt" thing. Why is it that people think that if you are homeschooling, you are always available? I had a run in with my fil recently because he wanted my high schooler on a school day for some routine yardwork, all day long, and just kept conveniently forgetting that he has school to finish! 
So I've been asking myself why I feel so constantly interrupted, and I realized its actually the afternoon times that leave me feeling harried. We have a once a week activity that is from 1-3pm. We have another that is every other week from 2-3:30 (Jan-July only). There is another every other week activity from 9-12:30 (this is on a Friday and we only school 4 days a week so its not actually interrupting school hours). And the oldest has a weekly evening activity from 7-9. These are across 4 school aged children, so its not that everyone is particularly busy. And everything is close to home except the oldest's, but he'll be driving himself next year, thank the Good Lord.
The thing is, all of this stuff is *just* enough that I am constantly behind on my laundry, cannot seem to get dinner on the table consistently, cannot get my house as clean as I think it should be (and honestly, I think I've lowered my standards as low as they can go  ) , and the worst time sucker of all, grocery shopping! We live far from town so big runs take 3-4 hours and short runs still take 2ish hours.
And then the next school day, there I am trying to get laundry done as well as teach phonics to the 6 yr old, keep the 4 yr old content with "school toys" all with the 1 1/2 yr old on my hip squawking about something or other (he's adorably but very high need). And maybe I manage to get a few loads done, but then that afternoon there's another activity, so that's two nights in a row without a decent dinner (scrambled eggs for dinner again, anyone????). All of my kids have chores so its not that they aren't helping out enough, either.
Honestly, I'm a homebody by nature. My happiest days are when we are all home, I get all my work done plus get fresh bread made, and I am in a good mood when dh gets home from work and get the opportunity to bless him. But I do have some extroverted kids and they can't stay home every day, all day long. I don't really feel like I can drop activities, so that means I have to drop grocery shopping and emergencies and the orthodontist. Sigh...if only it were that easy...
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Erin
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The obvious ones which I also do have already been discussed; using the answering machine and make appts in the afternoon.
Another interruption not mentioned was my own disorganisation, maybe I'm the only one with the problem Finally I have discovered that it pays to bookmark internet sites in folders for children to access so I'm not doing last minute researches (like right when I'm schooling the others, so some children skip outside to play) And that a bit of time teaching the children how to use the photocopier and a bit of basic computing skills pays off dividends. Interruptions from siblings was a BIG issue until I addressed it by creating a game plan.
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Books,
When did you come to my house and write about me This is exactly my problem, the evening activities. We live in the city and traffic is the biggest problem along with activities. We have something every afternoon, ballet Monday and Thursdays, HS Park day Tues, Science and Little Flowers on alternating weeks. Afternoons are crazy and so my laundry and dinners always suffer. There is only so many crack pot meals that we can make and I need to plan that better.
I have come to the conclusion that I need to do laundry every day. That way it is a manageable task that can be finished by 1 pm. I still get a ton of interuptions during the day and one day I won't be cleaning floors at 11 om but hey, one day I won't have to little ones so little anymore and then I'll miss that.
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Lauri B
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For the first 18 years of our marriage we had only one car, which Daddy took to work. So, we simply didn't do extra-curricular activities. The last two years we've had access to a car, but are in such a habit of being home that we still do relatively few outside activities.
We "do" school only Mondays through Thursdays and try to be finished every day by 1 at the latest. This leaves all day Friday for cleaning or appointments. On those Mondays-Thursdays when we're done by lunchtime, we can visit or do field trips in the afternoons.
I do not answer the phone during the day, unless it's Daddy who calls on the cell phone and has a special ring.
My children share all the cleaning and chores with me, so I haven't had to do much laundry for the past 7 years or so, and rarely load the dishwasher. I cook every meal (food allergies, so everything is from scratch) and scrub down the kitchen. Other than tidying, or encouraging others to tidy, I don't have to do many chores anymore.
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Willa
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| Posted: May 09 2009 at 9:11pm | IP Logged
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Erin wrote:
| Another interruption not mentioned was my own disorganisation, maybe I'm the only one with the problem |
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This is a problem with me, definitely. It hits me hard with planning, similar to what Angela shared here.
Different things have worked different years but step one is for me to acknowledge that the problem exists and that I may need to take extra precautions to make sure I'm not overwhelmed. Most recently I've been decluttering and getting rid of things we haven't justified ownership in by using. I am also decluttering or rather simplifying my lesson planning process. I realized that a huge part of my usable mental processes were being engaged by overly complex systems -- sort of like the way Windows Vista makes your computer chug . Anyway, if I can get rid of things that are occupying too much back-burner mental energy then I can deal with distractions more decisively at least, even though they obviously still come up.
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Willa
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Dealing with Interruptions
