Posts Tagged ‘Frustration’

The teacher in charge does the grading in homeschooling. Usually, the mother does this. In such a situation, it could get a little tricky as giving your own child grades can get a little difficult. There is no standard of reference against which could gauge your child’s performance. Usually, you are unaware of the average performance of other children too. Therefore, perhaps, it is best not to resort to the grading system that has been followed traditionally.

For grading a child who is undergoing homeschooling, it is best to assess whether the subject has been thoroughly understood by the child or not. It goes without saying that in case the child has not grasped a particular subject or topic, you need to go over it once again. This helps your child in two ways. First, there is confidence in the child that if he or she is not able to understand something, it will be taught again till he or she gets it. Furthermore, the child will know that once she or he masters a topic, full credit will be received for the hard work that has been put in. Getting full credit and reward for hard work is one of the best motivating factors for a child.

While assessing the abilities of your child, ensure that your emotions do not take over your rationale. You must remain solid against the tears and cries of your child in case he or she resists some subject or topic. If it becomes necessary to master a certain topic, you need to, not just as a parent, but also as a teacher, go through the topic time and again till the child has full grip over it. The child is likely to show belligerence or frustration while having to deal with tougher concepts. But the child is too young to comprehend the importance of these lessons, so it becomes your job to ensure that your child develops all the skills that are required for an all round growth.

If your state needs children to take yearly tests, it will become easier for you to gauge your child’s performance with respect to the other children. Even if has not been made compulsory, it is always recommended that yearly tests be taken in order to assess the child’s progress. These tests can help you see the undiscovered areas of weaknesses and strength. This can help you structure the curriculum so that you cover all the weak areas and build upon those that are strong.

If your state insists on a report card for children who are being homschooled, ensure that you have all the records of your child’s scores and yearly developments. Ensure that you make mention of issues such as discipline, punctuality etc in the report. Also, keep track of the number of days that are working days and all the attendance schedules.

Try to use a lot of external tests while grading the child. There are a number of websites that can help with different age groups and have the provision of free question papers. This method is one of the most cost efficient and effective methods of grading and assessing a child. Because a child is studying in order to satisfy natural curiosity, homeschooling can do wonders in boosting his or her self-confidence.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/the-nuances-of-home-schooling-how-to-grade-your-child-703368.html

Technorati Tags: Belligerence, Confidence, Emotions, Frustration, Gauge, Grading System, Homeschooling, Job, Masters, Motivating Factors, Nuances, Rationale, Reference, Two Ways

Who does not feel frustrated when your child cannot seem to finish his chores even after repeatedly asking him to do so? We all are. And so it is time to design a chore chart. Here is how it works.

List the chores you want your child accomplished. The chores may include getting the dishes done, taking out trash, cleaning the room, putting laundry in proper places, gardening or yard work. To be realistic about it, target finishing each chore once or twice a week. More than that may just invite frustration. When your child accomplishes a task, let him indicate it with check marks on the chore chart. Each week should be an opportunity for measuring his achievements. Parents will notice that a child derives satisfaction from checking off each completed chore. And with it both of you can expect completed chores at the end of each week.

Making the chore chart work will require discussing and jointly designing it with your child. You may also wish agreement on rewards for accomplishing the tasks listed on the chart. Fixing a certain amount for a set of accomplishments is recommended in case you decide on granting monetary rewards. This means the grant must be given on regular basis and deemed appropriate to the child’s age. Fifty cents for each year of age is “industry standard”. Thus a 10-year old child receives $5.00 of extra allowance per week for getting his chores on the list done. He does not get it if otherwise he fails to complete the tasks.

The chore chart and the reward system it offers can also be an opportunity for your child to develop other values aside from having the discipline to finish his assigned tasks. You can teach your child the value not only of earning money with commensurate effort on his part, but also of saving what he earns and even sharing it with less fortunate kids. Introduce to him ideas like dividing the extra allowance he earns into three: 1/3 for his savings, 1/3 for him to spend, and 1/3 for charity. There are many ways by which your child can keep tab of where his money goes. You can encourage him to use money jars or coffee cans, or both of you can devise a “bank book” where movements of each portion of the allowance can be tracked.

Non-monetary incentives can be applied just as well. Again you need to be clear with your child of the rules involved. For example, he can enjoy seeing a movie with mom and dad or have two hours of his favorite video games every weekend when he gets checkmarks on the chore chart. Another option is for your child to write “paper notes” for tasks he accomplished, and store these notes like deposits which he may later on convert to cash based on conditions or parameters you agreed on earlier with your child.

In whatever form the rewards may take, do not forget that the chore chart is your means to develop a sense of discipline in your child.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/how-to-make-your-child-complete-chores-by-using-chore-charts-740329.html

Technorati Tags: Charity, Chart Work, Chore Chart, Chore Charts, Chores, Discipline, Dishes, Earning Money, Fifty Cents, Fortunate Kids, Frustration, Laundry, Monetary Rewards, Opportunity, Parents, Reward System, Satisfaction, Target, Trash

I’ve had very concerning reports from my 3 year old boy’s day care that he has had violent outbursts and has even hit himself repeatedly in bouts of frustration and anger.
This is new and probably the result of a new baby being brought home this past week, however I know this isn’t "normal" behavior and doesn’t happen to most kids in this situation.
Has anyone had the same experience? What should I do?

This is actually a very normal behavior for a child with a new baby in the family. They are looking for the attention that they once had before the baby was born. Try to give your child as much positive attention as you can. Get your child involved in caring for the baby as much as possible, for example, getting the diapers, wipes, or picking out an outfit for the baby. You may also start to see your older child regressing into "baby-like" behavior due to the new baby’s behavior. Encourage your older child they need to show baby how to be a big boy or girl by the positive actions of being an older brother. Make sure you are very verbal with your older son to make sure he can express himself verbally rather than physically. After he has his bouts of anger, give him some time alone to think about his actions, and then take the time to talk about what made him mad, why he got mad, and how he can express himself with words instead of hitting himself. Constantly remind him when you see him getting frustrated "use your words."
I hope I helped a little. Ask your day care what they are doing to calm your son, or maybe you can sit and observe him for a little bit one day to see if you can come up with a de-frustration plan together.

Technorati Tags: Anger, Bouts, Brother, child behavior, Day Care, Diapers, Frustration, Little Bit, New Baby, New Sibling, Violent Outbursts

Who does not feel frustrated when your child cannot seem to finish his chores even after repeatedly asking him to do so? We all are. And so it is time to design a chore chart. Here is how it works.

List the chores you want your child accomplished. The chores may include getting the dishes done, taking out trash, cleaning the room, putting laundry in proper places, gardening or yard work. To be realistic about it, target finishing each chore once or twice a week. More than that may just invite frustration. When your child accomplishes a task, let him indicate it with check marks on the chore chart. Each week should be an opportunity for measuring his achievements. Parents will notice that a child derives satisfaction from checking off each completed chore. And with it both of you can expect completed chores at the end of each week.

Making the chore chart work will require discussing and jointly designing it with your child. You may also wish agreement on rewards for accomplishing the tasks listed on the chart. Fixing a certain amount for a set of accomplishments is recommended in case you decide on granting monetary rewards. This means the grant must be given on regular basis and deemed appropriate to the child’s age. Fifty cents for each year of age is “industry standard”. Thus a 10-year old child receives $5.00 of extra allowance per week for getting his chores on the list done. He does not get it if otherwise he fails to complete the tasks.

The chore chart and the reward system it offers can also be an opportunity for your child to develop other values aside from having the discipline to finish his assigned tasks. You can teach your child the value not only of earning money with commensurate effort on his part, but also of saving what he earns and even sharing it with less fortunate kids. Introduce to him ideas like dividing the extra allowance he earns into three: 1/3 for his savings, 1/3 for him to spend, and 1/3 for charity. There are many ways by which your child can keep tab of where his money goes. You can encourage him to use money jars or coffee cans, or both of you can devise a “bank book” where movements of each portion of the allowance can be tracked.

Non-monetary incentives can be applied just as well. Again you need to be clear with your child of the rules involved. For example, he can enjoy seeing a movie with mom and dad or have two hours of his favorite video games every weekend when he gets checkmarks on the chore chart. Another option is for your child to write “paper notes” for tasks he accomplished, and store these notes like deposits which he may later on convert to cash based on conditions or parameters you agreed on earlier with your child.

In whatever form the rewards may take, do not forget that the chore chart is your means to develop a sense of discipline in your child.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/how-to-make-your-child-complete-chores-by-using-chore-charts-740329.html

Technorati Tags: Charity, Chart Work, Chore Chart, Chore Charts, Chores, Discipline, Dishes, Earning Money, Fifty Cents, Fortunate Kids, Frustration, Laundry, Monetary Rewards, Opportunity, Parents, Reward System, Satisfaction, Target, Trash

I considered subscribing to _child Development_, a scholarly journal that publishes a lot of the leading research articles on parenting and child outcomes, but it’s subscription fee is horrendous. (Set for university libraries, not parents, I guess.)

Most magazines seem to give very short shrift to research. They interview so-called experts for ideas from time to time, but you can tell that these folks are rarely research scientists.

So have any of you found any good methods of doing this?

It depends upon how research oriented you want to be. I like simplicity for most parents and journals aren’t simple. For parents who have a background in research you could go with the journals but instead you might read some parenting books that have become well established and look for their research references. Then you have the practical application with some validation.
It is true that we have a lot of parenting frustration going on right now but it seems to be more related to the difficulty of transitioning from physical to mental management. We know that punishment does not work but it can be very difficult to take the time and be smart enough to discipline and rear children with love and good modeling. (bicksmom: Spanking children has short term results when we are looking for a lifetime answer.) Don’t get too complicated or the confusion might make you feel incompetent. Try Love and Logic and the 1,2,3 Magic series.

Technorati Tags: Articles On Parenting, child development, Child Outcomes, Frustration, Leading Research, Love And Logic, Magic Series, Mental Management, Parenting Books, Practical Application, Research Articles, Research References, Research Scientists, Scholarly Journal, Short Shrift, Simplicity, Spanking Children, Subscription Fee, Transitioning, University Libraries