I have been home schooling for 11 years. You would think that I had conquered any doubts by now! but no, as much as I have the benefit of seeing the "end result" with three of my children "graduated" from home schooling, I still have days when I doubt what I am doing!
Yesterday was one of them. My five year old son, Master E, has always been a demanding little darling! But lately his behaviour has become quite noticeably poor. He spends a large portion of his day playing Nintendo, not something that I like but in all honesty it has proven to be a good babysitter :-( I guess over the past 16 months I have used this babysitter a little bit too much. Master E is really an active child but his love of this game has killed a lot of the natural play that is in him. It also makes him angry, usually because he "loses" or "gets killed".
Yesterday I got so fed up with the atmosphere in the home that I took the three younger children to the local park to feed the ducks. I was amazed at how my little boy took to the outdoors! suddenly the uptight, angry little boy was a happy, energetic five year old running around with bread for the ducks, jumping up at trees to grab honky nuts and laughing! I realized that Master E needed more of this in his day and less time at home in front of the Nintendo.....duh!
The other area of difficulty has become with the toddlers eating pattern. Master E, once again! has become the accustomed "snacker" he literally snacks all day long and then come dinner time he refuses to eat! His diet consist of bread, crackers and vegemite :-( What hasn't helped with dinner time routine is the fact that my husband works till 8.00p.m at night and we are often eating dinner without him. This has turned into such a casual affair that we don't even sit at the table any more! we are all over the house with plates on our lap. It is something that has to change.
Because I saw the difference that being outdoors made to Master E's personality, I realized that sending him to school to "socialize" is not the only answer! It isn't necessarily school that he needs but more routine at home and outside play time. I think he would benefit from a sporting activity, some more structure outside the home. I realized that in my effort to reduce stress from my own life by chasing around outside the home with toddlers and babies, I have produced very indoor(sy) children that use computers, t.v's and play stations for their amusement. I don't want to start chasing outside again for entertainment but I need to create more structured play at home rather than the Nintendo. The Nintendo and computer need to be "treats" rather than the norm.
Please remember that a lot of what I write are notes for myself! Just as exercise has to become a daily habit and indeed.......A CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE for me! so the structure of my children's life at home needs to change and I will use the same goal setting plan that I have set up for myself to implement the necessary changes in that area.