With a first grader, sixth grader and ninth grader all in the same room doing school, the energy in the room can get . . . loud . . . frustrating . . . silly . . . ridiculous . . . fun all in one half-hour stint!
What do we do to keep the peace during school? Besides bapping them on the head with a rubber spoon? Well, the answer to that varies. Sometimes bribery works. I like chocolate covered pretzels offered when everyone is working quietly. I will also do a chocolate chip challenge. This is for flashcards or any rote memorization skills.
If everyone is at odds with eachother, often times I will just stop what we are doing and read a relevant story to all of them together.
Yes, I still read aloud to my boys. And they like it. Some of our favorites are Read Aloud Greek Myths, 40 Best Stories Retold, Chinese Folklore or Foxfire books. This is probably my best remedy as it gets all our heads together and quiets us down a bit.
Or a walk. Or go get firewood. Or run around our loop 10 times. Or take the garbage out or other chores. The main thing to point out, though, is that when I am actively engaged and upstairs in our school room, rather than in the laundry room or doing dishes or (especially) on the phone, the peace is easier kept! I’m sure we all have our days of chaos, but the days of conflict-free learning are so fun and rewarding!
