Question
For the last year my 11 year old daughter seems to have, there is no nice way to say this, gone significantly down in intelligence. Any chore, job, task, question, or assignment (given by us, not the school--more on the school later) is done/answered with a rather blank look, a rote response or a poorly done job. Yes, laziness is a part of the problem. I cannot get across to her that our family works hard, thinks carefully, is considerate and that all her behavior is expected to follow rules hung on those laws. For the two years since we moved the children have been in a public school--there are no private or parochial schools in our rural county. We are going to homeschool them in the fall and hope that removing her from an environment where she is rewarded and praised for an ability to sit still and memorize facts helps. In the meantime, do you have a better way to get her actively and critically thinking about her actions and speech than my current method of saying, "Well, that wasn't smart. Go do it again." (or go do some chore or go throw away that book you've been reading with the rude/bratty heroine). She gets no screen time other than a weekly family movie. Thank you for your help.
