Question
We are having trouble understanding how to homeschool without micromanaging our 13 year old son. We also have two girls, 10 and 12, who are doing similar curriculum with very little involvement from us. They prepare their own to-do lists and complete their work in a very neat and timely manner. They often work ahead in the evening so as to have extra free time the following day.
We have tried to have the same hands-off approach with our son, but left to himself, he will waste a tremendous amount of time throughout the day. He may take 2 hours to do a simple writing assignment involving 2 paragraphs. He will take an hour or two the following day to complete the writing assignment and we wish we could say this time is well spent, but he will receive the assignment back with a very poor grade and is given the opportunity for revision one time. (all three of the children take a writing class outside of the home) He will take an hour or so to do 22 math problems. Again, I wish I could say this was because he was being careful and getting the correct answers. Quite the opposite as out of 22 problems, 3 might be left blank, 9 done incorrectly and 10 correctly. We always send him back to correct and finish. He will “read” his science assignment in five minutes or less and try to summarize it very sloppily.
He is constantly distracted and “looking something up” online when he is supposed to be working on an assignment. We do not believe for one minute that he has any kind of learning disability, although he says he has trouble focusing. We believe he is fully capable of doing better work and are frustrated with how to put the proverbial monkey on his back with schooling when he isn’t receiving a grade or report from a teacher outside the home. Also, he knows that until school work and chores are completed every day, he is not allowed free time with friends outside or any kind of screen time. Any input you would have into this matter is greatly appreciated!
