Hello Dear Friends,
It is that time in the show when The 4 Moms answer reader questions. Remember to email your question if you have one burning a hole in your medulla oblongata. (And I would see a doctor for that if I were you. That has GOT to hurt!)
The first question, although, the author didn’t reveal this, sounds like it comes from a mother of young children:
How do you find time for projects which need to be done and require your undivided focus, and which the children can’t help with?
When I had only young children, I had to wait to do painting projects or needlework or the like until the children were down for a nap or in bed for the night.
I do remember lamenting to a friend, when I had 3 children under 6 that I never had time for the smocking that I loved to do. She told me then, that maybe it wasn’t the “season for smocking”.
Whenever you have lots of littles with no bigger kids or grandparents to watch them, it is not so much the “season” for those extensive projects that can’t be done with little children around.
Don’t despair, though! Once they get a little older, you will be able to count on them to behave, or at least tattle on each other when they don’t, long enough to get a few things done.
My son is 7 and he can read some books like “A Fly Went by” with some help with words that we have not covered and can easily read the little readers. He says that he doesn’t like to read because it’s just too hard. Should I just get him to continue reading the readers? How many in a day? And read one or two pages of the harder ones in a day? He is not interested. Some days it is welcomed and some not.
I have had a couple of readers like this. They could sound out the words and make out the story, but they did NOT enjoy learning to read or practicing the reading skills.
I made them do reading lessons every day in the beginning and they read aloud to me every day after they completed Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I can not say how many he should read because I do not know him. You won’t want to exasperate him and cause him to dread reading, but neither will you want to let him get off too easily by allowing him to choose whether or not he will practice his reading.
I am not easily moved by tears, and I don’t let my children do only work they are interested in. I would say continue to have him read the easy readers aloud and at least a portion of the more difficult ones every day. It will become easier with practice.
Both of my reluctant readers have become eager readers!
Now, be sure to visit my compadres to see what reader questions they tackled this week!
Other posts in this series
- How to Easily Cut Homemade Bread
- The 4 Moms Head to Church With 35 Kids
- 4 Moms Answer Reader Questions
- 4 Moms Teach History
- 4 Moms Eat Inexpensively While Traveling
- How To Keep Kids Still and Quiet During Worship
- 4 Moms Answer Reader Questions
- 4 Moms Reveal Where Babies Come From
- Summertime Company Meals
- How to Lose Baby Weight
- Large Family Moms Answer Your Questions
- 4 Moms Choose a Church
- Favorite Naptime or Bedtime Read Aloud Books
- Homeschooling a Child With Learning Differences
- 4 Moms Picnic Linky
- 4 Moms Announce a Book Club!
- Teaching Children Diligence
- 4 Moms Discuss Lunch Menus {Linky}
- 4 Moms Interview Kim Brenneman, Author of Large Family Logistics
- 4 Moms Discuss "Large Family Logistics"
- 4 Moms Discuss Managing the Week ~ Large Family Logistics
- 4 Moms Review Chapters 28 - 47 in Large Family Logistics
- 4 Moms Finish Reviewing "Large Family Logistics"
- The 4 Moms Keep Our Patience in the Midst of Chaos
- 4 Moms Pack a Lunch
- 4 Moms Discuss Memorizing {and 2 GIVEAWAYS}
- Keeping Up With Housework in the Midst of Homeschooling
- 4 Moms Tackle Large Projects
- 4 Moms Q & A
- Food Storage For Large Families
- Best Vehicle For a Large Family
- 4 Moms Celebrate Thanksgiving
- Preparing Children to Deal With Differing Beliefs
- Favorite Holiday Recipe {Linky}
- 4 Moms of 35 Kids Go Christmas Shopping
- 4 Moms of 35 Kids Answer Reader Questions
- How Do You Organize ALL Those Clothes?
- 4 Moms Q&A
- Encouragement For Homeschoolers
- 4 Moms Share Favorite Desserts
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Questions
- 4 Moms Discuss Storing Keepsakes
- Ebook SALE! {Goes Live at 11:00a.m. CST}
- 4 Moms Answer Questions From Readers
- 4 Moms Make Time to Manage the Budget
- 4 Moms Manage Blogging Time
- What Do Large Families Do About Tithing, Saving for College, and Saving for Retirement?
- 4 Moms Q&A Time
- Large Family Moms Homeschool Through Chronic Illness and Pregnancy
- Large Family Moms Serve Leftovers
- Favorite Frugal Tips of Large Family Moms
- How Do Large Family Moms Manage Everything? {4 Moms Q&A}
- Homeschooling Through Bad Attitudes
- Teaching Children to Cook
- How Did Large Family Moms Know They Could Handle a Large Family?
- How Do Large Family Moms Keep Their Energy Up?
- Favorite Freezer Meals
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Discuss Dating and Courtship
- How Do You Manage the Home While Nursing a Baby?
- How to Begin Homeschooling With a 5 Year Old
- How Do Large Families Handle Older Children Disciplining the Younger Children?
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Reader Questions
- What To Do About Tattling
- Favorite Fruit Recipes {LINKY}
- 4 Moms Discuss First Weeks With a New Baby
- 4 Moms Answer Questions About Sharing, Boys, College, and MORE!
- 4 Moms Handle Different Standards Between Husband and Wife
- Kids and Electronics - What Age and How Much is Too Much? {4 Moms}
- 4 Moms Discuss Food Preservation
- 4 Moms Discuss Laundry, Labor, and Clothes Management
- Large Families Keep Up With Technology
- Giving Food as Gifts
- 4 Moms Answer Questions About Christmas
- Quick and Easy Christmas Crafts
- Quick and Easy Holiday Recipes
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Questions on Preschool, Homeschooling with a Newborn, and More
- On Encouraging Self Sufficiency in Children
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Questions
- 4 Moms Answer Reader Questions
- 4 Moms Talk Buddy System, Dinner Recipes, Hand-Me-Downs, and Sharing
- 4 Moms Q&A - Birthdays, Switching Seasonal Clothes, and Grieving a Stillborn Baby
- 4 Moms Discuss Difficult News Stories, Naptime, and Sleeping Through the Night
- 4 Moms Answer Questions About Personal Space, 15 Passenger Vans, and Dawdling
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Questions About Seating Arrangements, Snacks, and Books
- 4 Moms Answer Questions About Sharing, Church, and Extreme Honesty
- 4 Moms on Bedtime, Home Construction, Forced Association, and Favorite Read-Alouds
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 4 Moms Answer Questions About Road Trips, Bedtimes, and Cool Meals
- 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Discuss Tattling
{ 4 comments }
Finding time for projects is difficult with little ones. Some projects, which I think can’t be done while they are up, actually can. And when I start in on something they enjoy watching or “helping”. Of course, it usually results in a greater mess and a longer working time, but they learn a lot while working with me. If something truly needs to be done without their help I have to do it during their morning nap time. Sometimes they don’t fall asleep in the afternoon (it’s just quiet time) and if I’m doing anything too “exciting” they’ll constantly be getting up to check on me.
I’ve been following you for a while now and love your blog. Maybe you or one of the other moms can answer this question for me. We have four children 5 and under and my husband works out of town four days a week. Recently we have been traveling with him every other week where he works so the family can be together more. We stay in a hotel that does not have a kitchenette and may or may not have a microwave. We eat meals in to save money. I need some ideas for meals that are easy to fix and clean up. I do have a Nu-Wave oven that I took with us last time, which helped out some. Any ideas from your or your readers would be greatly appreciated! Also, ideas for entertaining little ones in the room is great too!
I have two boys who went through that at the age of 7. Honestly, it just finally clicked with them, and they realized they could read and that it was fun.
My mother tells of my brother still struggling to read at a later age. She checked out some ultra-exciting chapter books, and read portions aloud to him, purposely ending at ultra-exciting parts. He finally decided he didn’t want to wait and started reading the books himself. He became an avid reader.
Some of the homeschoolers around us solved the “needing more reading practice” by arranging with the library to do an informal story time as a family…. the children and the father lead the storytime taking turns reading to the toddlers that have come by…. Nice work, kids have reading practice, have fun, and the parents have a chance to catch up with others and find out what is working and what isn’t back at home.
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