6 Ways to Homeschool Active Boys
I don’t know maybe I’m the only one who deals with very active boys but I have 2 of them! What’s a homeschool mama to do? They don’t like to sit still, their concentration ability is pretty slim and they move ALL. THE. TIME! Anyone else relate?
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Do you have active boys?
What exactly is an active boy? Ok all children have a certain level of high intensity or activity but some kids are simply wired 880 versus the regular 440😄. These are the kids that seem to be in constant motion from the moment they get up to the moment they fall into exhausted sleep. Life with them is never dull and teaching them is certainly an adventure! It is different but not impossible to teach active boys🌞.
Keep it short & sweet!
Yep it may fly in the face of conventional wisdom but keep your lessons very short and sweet. The wisdom behind this is it’s much better for a child to digest small amounts of learning each day instead of choking on large quantities that they never get. This leads to major frustration and lack of motivation. Even if your child is getting it resist the temptation to double up on work unless your child actually asks for that. I hate to be a bubble buster though that’s pretty rare. And it’s not failure on your part. They’re probably just thinking about something else that’s far more interesting than learning proper punctuation or multiplication. In my group 15-20 minutes for one session is maximum and sometimes you need to scale it down further.
Keep them moving!
Oh I know they just have to learn to sit still right? Except some kids don’t and they can’t learn anything when forced to sit still. There’s a difference in naturally active boys and disobedience. Let’s work with our children’s natural bent. God made them a certain way don’t stress it! Give them the ability to bounce or jog in place and they will learn so much more.
Tailor their lessons to their interests:
This one is incredibly important and very overlooked in subjects like Math and Language Arts. But its entirely possible! How? Use the books that really peak their interests (like My Side of the Mountain or Little Britches). Make sure its quality literature and not junk like “Something Underpants” lol. Give them good quality to choose from but completely eliminate useless twaddley stuff that doesn’t improve their character. Math can be done by song, illustrating word problems or by playing games.
Want to learn how to Teach the Art of Language?
Be patient with those active boys!
Oh my goodness, this one is SO HARD sometimes! It crosses my mind about a hundred times a day, why can’t you just be CALM? But they aren’t and they probably won’t be. (unless they’re asleep, hehe). I have to accept the fact that God made them this way and while I can try to channel that energy I can’t and shouldn’t try to eliminate it.
Reduce Media Consumption!
In our constantly bombarded electronic world today this one is super difficult but in my opinion its extremely important. If I want my boys to stay (somewhat) focused and calmer then I have to withhold large amounts of media. We already strictly limit game playing on devices to 15 minutes 1 time per week but movies also have to be limited. I used to allow them to watch a little in the mornings while I was working but after seeing an increase in arguments and extremely wild behavior I nixed that except for about 1 morning a week (usually on the weekend). I can always tell if my kids have had a glut of media because their behavior drastically deteriorates.
Realize God has a plan for that energy!
This is of upmost importance! God has a plan for those active boys. You might not see it right now but work on channeling it properly. Encourage high levels of physical activity like climbing trees, martial arts and running. Play games outside whenever possible and allow them to have moderately “dangerous” adventures like rock climbing and exploring. Teach them safety but allow them to get their God-made thirst for conquering out in the outdoors and not inside on their sister’s dollhouse! (trust me, their sisters will thank you).
For more on this, read Bring Out the Wild in Your Child!
And finally, thank God for your active little stinkers! Who knows, He may use them one day to be world changers we need 🙂