amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

MMJoiner · 11-04-2009, 02:47 PM

How do you make your kids accountable for independent work they are given?

gretchen · 11-04-2009, 03:26 PM

We have a checklist. (My kids are list nerds, like their mama

)

It looks like this: (except centered on top)

Daily Work List
Name_________________
Date_____________________

* Bible __________________________
* Math ________________________
* Grammar ________________________
* Language Arts ___________________
* Spelling ______________________
* Reading ______________________
* Geography _________________________
* Science ________________________
* Music ________________________
* Art ________________________
* Extra __________________________

The * are actually little boxes that they check off. I made one copy on my computer, xeroxed it about 50 time (to start), and I fill them out weekly when I write my lesson plans. We don't use them ALL the time, but if it's a week with more than usual independent study stuff, I do. Also, they just really like the option of choosing what order to do lessons. We do Bible, science and geography together. Art, too.
I keep the blank sheets in my file box.
HTH!

tara · 11-04-2009, 03:58 PM

I like the checklist idea, and I also like the idea of having a carrot, like, "you can go out and play with your friends once you've shown me that you have done X."

MMJoiner · 11-04-2009, 04:29 PM

But what if they don't get it done, what then? I have one that is the queen of procrastination.

tara · 11-04-2009, 04:41 PM

Well, is it a regular thing?

Try to find out why she is not getting things done on time. If it is just procrastination, give her an incentive to complete her work on time. Using my example above, you could say that if she doesn't get her work done by X time, then she doesn't get to play with neighborhood friends before dinner/after dinner. Or she doesn't get to play on the computer/watch TV/watch a video. Or she just doesn't have any free time until her work is done.

Sam just started school last month, and our rule is that he has a quick snack/chat with me when he gets home, and then does homework. Once he is done with all of his homework, he can have free time to do mostly whatever he likes. Many times he says, "oh, I'll do my work later" and I say, "you may not do anything else until you do your homework."

My rationale is that he is pretty disorganized and also a procrastinator with poor time management skills. We both know this. There have been times when he has said, "I'll do it later" and it doesn't get done, and he is frantically doing the work in the morning before school. So, this is my current approach, and I hope that eventually it sticks and he can continue doing this through the rest of his education.

Tara

3boysnagrl · 11-04-2009, 05:30 PM

I just wrote a little blog about something similar a couple of weeks ago.
Creating Independence with a planner

If all of their stuff is not signed off, then they don't have free time until it is. Austin has spent a few days sitting at the table because he didn't complete his planner... he sat there and looked at it.

What has helped him is giving him some say in what needs to be done. I give him a long list every week - and he plans out his week. Including other things he has to do, chores, youth group, hula class, ukulele practice, etc. He writes down his plan for the week in the planner (NOT a timer) and once his school work is done for the day, he can 'play'. If he finishes his work before school time is up (2:30-3) then he still has to work on educational material.

With Adam and Lauren - the answer has been workboxes. They help me set them up, too, so they know what is in them. And I only put the pages they need to do in each box - not an entire book (unless it's a reading book).

HTH!

MMJoiner · 11-04-2009, 05:31 PM

Yeah, it's just procrastination, when doing things she hates doing.
Taking away/giving privileges doesn't work for her. She'd sit in her room alone for weeks on end if she didn't want to do something bad enough.

Usually it's things like, I need her to write a final copy from her final draft while I'm getting something else done. All she has to do is copy from her final draft. She'd very likely sit there all evening doing nothing-- because she hates writing-- unless I sit down with her and breathe down her neck. Then the next day when we need to move on to something else she still has to write her final copy.
If I had told her to do something like getting on the computer and researching the war of 1812, she'd be all over that. History and the computer- 2 things she loves. But any kind of writing, or doing math, not so much.

She writes a list everyday of things I need her to do on her own, and it does help some because sometimes she forgets that she's been asked to do something. I need some way of making her accountable for things she's asked to do on her own, even when she doesn't want too. I just can't seem to find anything that clicks for her.

3boysnagrl · 11-04-2009, 05:34 PM

Would she respond to using the computer for writing assignments? This has helped my writing-phobic children a LOT!

MMJoiner · 11-04-2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3boysnagrl

Would she respond to using the computer for writing assignments? This has helped my writing-phobic children a LOT!

I don't know. We can try it. She does really like getting to use the computer.

I'm going to look at your planner here in a minute..... our connection's so slow, still waiting on it. Letting her choose how her lessons go each week would probably be a big hit with her too.

TulaneMama · 11-04-2009, 09:56 PM

looks great and I left a few comments/questions