Training Our Children to Do Careful Work
Do you have a child who rushes through work and makes careless mistakes? You see such potential there, but you also see many errors. Though the work is done quickly, the fixing of the work takes so much time. You are both frustrated by this. Sometimes you have this child redo the work, and other times you are weary and just let it go. If you have a child like this, this post is for you! So, without further adieu, how can we train our children to do careful work?
Natural Consequences for Careless Work
There are natural consequences for careless work, and they can be great teachers. For example, if your child is making cornbread for the Heart of Dakota (HOD) History Project and only follows steps 1, 3, 4, and 6 of the recipe, there will be natural consequences. Let’s just say you might not enjoy eating the cornbread as much. Sometimes, natural consequences are enough. Unless the child is belligerent and unapologetic about it, you probably don’t need to give a further consequence. The natural consequence of a failed project is enough.
Repetitive Careless Work
Sometimes natural consequences for careless work are not enough. If a child has made the same careless mistake too many times to count and there is no good reason for it (i.e. special needs or health concerns), then another consequence is probably needed. For example, if a child has average math ability but is consistently careless and missing answers, another consequence should be given. Likewise, if a child has been doing R & S English for years and years but cannot answer the daily oral questions about the definition of a noun or a verb, something more needs to happen. Similarly, if a child’s writing is consistently illegible and there is no good reason for it (i.e. hand injury or special needs), the work is repetitively careless. A consequence is needed to change this habit.
Redoing Repetitive Careless Work
Repetitive careless work should be redone. The child needs to realize that rushed work or lazy work is careless work, and it will have consequences. Now, that doesn’t mean everything always has to be redone. The child’s attitude has much to do with the consequence. A sincere, apologetic child gets less of a consequence than an insincere, rude child. Let’s say for example, a child rushes through math and makes careless mistakes. He/she knows better. He/she is just being careless. (This is far different from a child who truly struggles with math and needs your help and encouragement instead.) But, now back to the careless child. For every problem missed carelessly, I would write the same problem or a similar problem on a markerboard to be redone. If that problem is missed, another can be done.
For the child whose writing is illegible, I would have that child rewrite at least a portion of the assignment. For the child who cannot remember what a noun or verb is, I would have him/her write the definitions on an index card. The definitions can then be studied prior to the oral questions the next day. These are simple, yet effective consequences. They require more time and effort, and the careless child needs to learn to invest in both if improvement is going to happen.
Be careful not to overburden children with extra work.
I do want to make mention that children should not be overburdened with excessive additional work. Children should not have to complete everything in an HOD guide and then have more and more piled upon them. If you add something for older children, add it on the free 5th day. If you add something for younger children, add it at the end of the school day if they still have energy and focus to do more.
Also, additional steps to completing work should not be added (i.e. HOD plans say to write the narration in Box 2, but you have your children write it all on lined notebook paper, edit it, and then require them to write it all again in the HOD Notebook).
Finally, children should not be overburdened by doing another guide’s work a sibling is doing (i.e. an RTR child having to listen to the read-aloud and complete the Storytime follow-up in PHFHG with a sibling who is in PHFHG, while also having to read and complete the Storytime in RTR). Overburdening children with extra work can lead to a longer school day, which in turn can lead to careless work due to an unmanageable workload.
Grading Careless Work
I personally don’t assign grades prior to eighth grade/high school. This is just a personal choice, not an HOD guideline. Once my children are in eighth grade/high school, however, grading things or using a point system can be motivating. Certain children need more motivating than others. Likewise, certain children are more motivated by points/grades than others. My goal with points/grades is to teach them to follow directions carefully and to do their best. I don’t grade everything. I do expect all of the daily plans to be followed carefully. To read more about using points to motivate kiddos, click here.
As parents, we need to be careful we are not part of the problem.
Unfortunately, we as parents can be contributing unknowingly to our children being careless with their work. At the start of a new HOD guide, we need to take real time to read the directions of each box’s assignment carefully with our children. We need to spend time carefully training our children how to properly complete the plans. If students are new to HOD, this training period could be longer, as in up to a month or two. Veteran students’ training periods should be shorter, as in about 2 to 4 weeks. When we dedicate time to purposely train our children, we can then expect work to be carefully completed instead of carelessly done.
One other way we as parents can contribute to our children being careless with their work is if we don’t consistently do our daily work. This means daily teaching what we are to teach, daily correcting what we are to correct, and daily doing whatever tasks we are to do (i.e. discussing provided questions, editing written work, listening to oral narrations, etc.). Now, are there days everything doesn’t get done? Yes, absolutely! However, should this be the norm? No, absolutely not!
If this hits home, you are not alone.
If this hits home, you are not alone. Many times I have had to step back and really evaluate if I’m doing my part in this homeschooling endeavor. If I find myself wanting – and I have before – I look at what’s hindering me from giving it my all. Usually, I need to plan more time to teach, correct, etc., and drop doing something else. Planning time in my schedule to correct work and do my teaching tasks helps too. So, together with our children, we can tackle this ‘careless’ work and turn our kiddos into careful workers! This is a lifelong habit to develop – it is so worth the time and attention!
In Christ,
Julie
