Does your teen have a REALLY rotten attitude? I have seen this sort of thing before, and then PRESTO! The kid turns it around – usually when they find a thing that really floats their boat. Let me throw in a few ideas:
Do you remember when the kids were babies, and things would get really hard and miserable? One thing that helped me at THAT stage of life, was realizing that those things usually only lasted for a week or two. I was never sure whether it was me adapting to them, or them adapting to me, but after two weeks the thing that freaked me out wasn’t freaking me so much anymore.
It’s like that with high school, too. In two weeks, maybe this crisis will be over – or at least lessened. Somehow, someway, it will have gotten better (not perfect perhaps, but no longer a crisis.) So hang in there! Maybe in two weeks, you will have moved to the next crisis, LOL!
You can also try this new book, Deschooling Gently: A Step by Step Guide to Fearless Homeschooling.
You can try letting the student have more control over school (not less control, like with an accredited, online or alternative education program.) Ask your child their preferences. What would they want to study? Be sure to cover the core subjects, but still provide a lot of free time when finished with the core. Have the student look at Robinson Curriculum, PACES, and Sonlight Curriculum to begin with, just as a starting point.
You may want to take your child to the doctor to see if they are depressed or have fallen into something serious. Don’t give meds unless necessary, because you don’t want meds to mask an underlying problem. Still, it’s important to keep our eyes open for serious problems.
Parenting is never easy, but sometimes it can be REALLY hard. I hope these ideas will help.
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Debbie says:
Lee – Thanks for getting to the heart of things here. This is a rough time in life, but it helps with this reminder to keep looking at the big picture, and practical ways that we can visibly be working WITH our teens and not AGAINST them. I appreciate your blog – it’s not too much, but a quick, useful read – always full of little gems and gentle encouragement. The Lord bless you.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Lee says:
Debbie,
Thanks for the encouragement!
Blessings,
Lee
August 13th, 2009 at 5:02 am