 Hey everybody, welcome to the Waldoch Way. I'm Jessica, and today's video is going to be my top tips for what to do when your kid doesn't want to do school. First, I wanna tell you that you are absolutely not alone and that I would venture to say that every single home schooler in the world has had a day when their kid didn't wanna do school, myself included. In fact, that is actually a question that I'm asked very frequently is are there days that Emily doesn't wanna do school? So I'm gonna answer that once and for all. There are absolutely days that Emily doesn't wanna do school. No matter how fun, interest, or child-led I try to make it, there are still days that she resists. So just know that you're not alone. Also, I want you to know that resistance is natural. It's something that every kid is going to do at some point and I want you not to take it personally. So don't immediately think, my kid doesn't wanna do school, what am I doing wrong as the teacher? I'm not making it fun enough, I'm not using the right curriculum. What do I need to change? Don't let that be the first place that you go because chances are it has nothing to do with you, the curriculum you're using or what you're doing in your home school. Figure out why your child is resisting. Maybe it is as simple as they didn't get enough sleep last night. So then you address that, hey, let's rest today. Let's maybe just lay on the couch and watch a documentary. Maybe it's that they're getting sick, that they're coming down with something. Maybe it's that there's some big life-changing thing going on and you've lost a loved one, you're in the middle of a move. If those are the cases, just call it and don't try to do school. Like it really is okay to just say, you know what, your resistance is totally understandable, we're just gonna take the day off. Maybe it is something that seems so minuscule that we would totally overlook it but it seems really, really big to a kid. For example, one day recently, Emily had forgotten to charge her tablet which meant she couldn't do her math. So she just like, I just don't wanna do school. And she was like kind of freaking out and having a moment. And I was like, what's going on? And after actually like pulling it out of her, I was like, it's not a big deal, you're not in trouble. Let's just charge the tablet and we'll do our school day in a different order, no big deal. Problem solved, she was no longer resistant and we were able to move on with our home school day as planned. It really wasn't a big deal. I had a friend recently tell me that it can be something as simple in her home school as the blue pencil is missing and it's her child's favorite. And so if that's the case, then help your kid find their blue pencil. Again, resistance gone, you can move on with your home school day. Change locations, because sometimes just a change of scenery can really give you an entire different outlook on things. And sometimes just to change the scenery is what we all need. So that can be as simple as moving from the school table to the floor just to get a different perspective. Maybe you're gonna do school in bed today. Maybe you're gonna do it on the couch. Maybe you're gonna take school outside. That is actually my number one location change tip is take it outside. Something about adding a little bit of sun and vitamin D, it just like changes everybody's attitude and you're a lot more willing to do things. Sometimes you need to go to a totally different location though. So take it to the library or take it to a coffee shop or maybe take it to a home school friend's house or grandparent's house and change things up a little bit, compromise. So maybe you say, okay, look, here's the five things we were gonna do today. You pick the order that we do them in and you let your child pick whatever order they're gonna be done in. Who cares what order they get done in? They're getting done just the same but now your child feels like they have control and that sometimes changes things. Or maybe you're just honest with them like, hey, look, this is what we were gonna do today. If you don't wanna do all of it, that's fine but I really need us to get math and language arts done. Like if those are your two must do's then be honest with your kids. Like that's fine, we don't have to do it all but here's the two must do's that we have to do. And knowing your must do's is really important especially in that moment because then you can instantly be like, these are the two things I really need you to do. The rest can wait until whenever. Or you can even compromise with like looking at math and saying, okay, today is addition, fact, practice. So how about instead of doing math this way, we're going to do it a different way. So maybe you pull out flash cards and you have them use manipulatives or you have them jump from one flash card to the other or you build the addition facts with Legos. I mean, there's tons of ways that you can take that same lesson and compromise to make it a little bit different for your kid where they're a little more willing to do it and less resistant to make it fun. One of the best ways to keep a kid interested and more willing to learn is if it is fun, especially fun for them. So that means doing things that they find fun, not necessarily things that you find fun. And yes, I am equally guilty as that. Being like, hey, this would be really fun and her kind of looking at me like, yeah, no, not really. So trying to find ways that it would be fun for your kid. Does your kid love Legos? Okay, then let's do Lego math. Does your kid love games? Then pull games out and have a game school day. Like, okay, we can get language arts, math, science, spelling, history. We can get all this in through games. So you know what, we'll scrap this and we're just gonna play these six games today and we'll call that school. Maybe your kid absolutely loves baking. So then just get in the kitchen and bake something together. That's reading, that's math, that's life skills. I mean, that can still be school. And if you happen to be the teacher who is not wanting to do school that day, then some of my tips for that are documentaries, audio books, podcasts, apps. And I will leave links to all of that in the description box in case you need a substitute and you need a sick day one day. Because honestly, we're just as guilty as our kids for not wanting to do school or having some resistance sometimes. Now, I would love it if you would give me your best tips. What are your best tips for when your kids don't wanna do school? Please leave them down in the comments so we can compile an exhaustive list and I'll help each other out.