Let’s take a look at the “Daydreaming Procrastinator.” Not all of our families have the privilege of having one of these, but if you do then you know that this behavior really can take its toll on the school day. While you as the teacher keep urging this child along, the harder you work the more they just break down. It can also depend on the subject. Maybe there are subjects they just prefer more so when you get to the subject they dislike, they can’t seem to engage no matter how much you encourage. While I don’t have the exact answer to help you get your child on the ball, I hope to be able to offer you a few alternative ways to teach and help you as the teacher get through this time without blowing your gasket.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that your child doesn’t have a learning disability that is prohibiting your child from learning at their full potential like ADHD or autism. All children have the ability to learn, the key is finding what works best for their learning style. If you find you’re hitting a road block with a certain subject, then maybe you need to change the way you’re teaching it.
There are three different learning styles. Auditory learners learn by listening to information being recited and explained. The visual learner prefers to read or look at information being taught, like graphs, books, or exhibits. Last is the kinesthetic learner that likes being taught through a hands on process. While most children display two or more of these styles, usually they are dominant in one. It’s important to find out what kind of learning style your child has.
When you find you’re in your school day and your child just won’t continue their work, first try a time out of school work for about fifteen minutes. Let your student go do whatever they want during this time so that they can refresh their mind or possibly burn off any excess energy they may have that is keeping them from focusing. Next check your teaching style. Have you been teaching to the auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner. If you find you have been teaching one style, then when the child comes back from their break try and teach from a different learning perspective. Switch it up. If you’ve been teaching from a visual aspect, change it to auditory or kinesthetic. By doing this you’re not only offering a variety but you may be making the subject more fun for your student. This could be something they just weren’t experiencing before.
If you have chosen a curriculum that is geared towards one learning style, don’t fret. You can always supplement to assist the subjects your student needs help with. There is a surplus of homeschooling websites that can help in this endeavor or it may be as simple as just finding your nearest teachers supply store or children’s learning store. If that isn’t doing the trick then you can always change the subject within the chosen curriculum to a different curriculum. The curricula are set up as a guideline and not as a must follow. Feel free to take different subjects from different curricula to make sure that your child is learning the best way possible that suits their learning style.
These little tidbits have helped myself and my family as well as many other fellow homeschooling families. This advice has been passed around the homeschooling community and I now pass it on to you. Hope you find this as helpful as I did when I ran into trouble with my little “Daydreaming Procrastinator.”