While many homeschooling children are angels when they are younger, as they grow older they can sometimes test the limits of their parents’ patience. They may throw tantrums in the homeschool class, not complete the work that you have given them, and in general make you question your decision to homeschool. Now it may be tempting to vent your angst by yelling at them to do what you ask them to, but its not going to make them behave any better. Here are some ways that you can tackle this rebellion.
Don’t Fret About The Homeschooling Student’s Behavior
It is never easy to have your authority challenged and your instructions ignored. However shouting at your homeschool student is not going to solve the problem. It will only make it worse. Instead, go calmly about the regular homeschool business of giving them work to do. Then withdraw your attention to teach the siblings their lessons. At the end of the assigned period evaluate the progress made by each child and give them stars on their behavior chart for how well they performed. Treating all of your students equally is important, as is not rewarding negative behavior with more attention.
Don’t Take It as a Personal Reflection of Your Teaching
Since you are the only teacher and the student is not interested in learning, you may take it personally. Remember that this is a huge mistake to make and does not do justice to all the hard work that you have put in to teaching your child everything he knows. It is a phase that the child is going to pass through. The minute he learns the valuable life lesson that he can’t always buck authority, he will go back to being the well behaved member of your homeschool that he used to be.
Check for Medical Reasons and Eliminate Them
Sometimes the child doesn’t want to study because the activity is causing him a problem. One child began hating homework simply because reading without glasses was giving him a headache. Another one had trouble paying attention for long periods of time because of ADHD. So make sure that you get thorough check ups regularly for your children in order to eliminate any medical problems that may be troubling them.
