As parents, we would love to say that our children are perfect in every way, but the fact is that they aren’t always perfect. In fact, you probably get some back talk from time to time and if you have a homeschooled child . . . chances are you have been the recipient of some pretty nasty attitudes at least a few times.
Part of homeschooling is raising our children in the manner we want them to grow. It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian and raising them in a godly manner or if you are an atheist who wants their kids to behave respectfully, this is the time to teach them. Homeschooling provides us with the perfect opportunity to guide our children on the right path and there are a few things you can do to help curb those bad attitudes.
1. Identify the source. Kids tend to have bad attitude for a reason. Maybe your middle child feels he’s not getting enough attention. Maybe your youngest wants to be given more responsibility while your oldest feels she has too much. Or it could be something like the fact that something has changed in the house, dad’s away on a business trip, a new puppy came into the home or a baby was added to the family. Whatever it is, that attitude has a reason behind it.
If you can find out why your child is acting out, you can remedy the situation. It might be that you need to change some things around. While we can’t always accomodate our kids and their wants, respecting how they feel is a good way to teach them to respect others.
2. Set a good example. If you’ve got a bad attitude yourself and are complaining about things, don’t expect your kids to do what you say and not what you do. I recently experienced this first hand when I muttered something about lost keys and my 2 year old went up and yelled at his father for losing the keys! I realized then that I’ve been scolding my husband quite a bit about his tendency to lose things and I had a pretty bad attitude . . . something that was picked up by my kids.
Modeling a good attitude can bring about amazing changes in your homeschooling day. If you are eager to start school and study, your kids are going to pick up on that.
3. Talk it out. Not everything can be fixed by reasoning, but giving your child a chance to air his side of the story and then explaining why things are the way they are can mean a lot. Your kids will feel like they are being treated respectfully when you listen to their opinions. They might not be right, but hear them out and they may lose some of that resentment they feel.
Bad attitudes in homeschooling need to be addressed quickly. Since everyone is in the same house all day long, things can turn bad very quickly. Deal with the issues promptly and you will tend to live a lot happier.