Advice please

[truth66]

I was just seeking some advice please. My ds was very enthusiastic when I initially started home-ed 4 months ago. He doesn't seem that way now, apart from when I'm reading to him,which he could do all day. Writing, word books are a no no at the minute. Is this just a phase?

How old is he?

Just read to him all day, then :-)

The main reason to get small children to do lots of writing is so that the teacher has educational product. If the teacher spent time every day talking with every child to facilitate their learning, the children would get, erm 6 hours divided by 30 which is about 12 minutes each. Instead, they get them to write down their knowledge, their stories, their everything, so that it can be scanned at a glance later.

So listen to his stories (or not... sometimes there's only so much a parent can take...), answer his questions, support the development of fine motor skills in ways that aren't always possible with a horde of children (play dough, chalk on the pavement, sewing, whatever), read to him when he wants. Relax!! :)

I agree with ommmward. Read to him all day if you have time and can stand it. If not, see whether he'd like to try audiobooks and podcasts and such. If he is able to read, you'll probably find that a time comes when you are too busy to read and he is unwilling to wait, and he'll read for himself. That might be years from now, but there is no hurry.

Jim Trelease's "The Read-Aloud Handbook" is chock full of support for the educational value of reading aloud to children right through their teens, if you need to be convinced.

Your son will probably go through many phases of needing different things throughout his home education. Being read to seems to be what he needs at this moment! It might pass, it might not.

You could try taking him out and about to places which interest you, or which you think might interest him, and see whether he likes them too. Most kids enjoy outings sometimes.

Thanks for all the advice. It's a new experience for both of us. I just want to do things properly. He is 5 year-old.

My DD1 is 5 and has phases where she says "I don't want to learn, mummy!". So I wouldn't worry that much; they're learning all the time without even realising. There's no need to do tons of formal learning and written work. I know they do this in schools in the UK, but in a lot of countries they'd still be in nursery at this age.

Thanks to all for advice. Appreciate it

5 is so young, don't worry. in reality they do very little 'writing' even at school at that age.

write love notes to him or jokes - he'll be keen to join in and write back or draw you a picture in return if he's not able.

maybe do colouring in for the fine motor skills and talk talk talk and keep reading to him.

Play consequences where you write down one sentence, fold it over. He does one. Fold it over and build a story that way.

1. Name of a character and a description.
2. What they do for a job.
3. Where they live. Etc etc.