Sounds like what might be helpful here is some unschooling, ie "child-led" activities.
Are there some projects your dc would be inclined to do
based on their interests that might also incorporate some traditional subject matter? That way, it is not "more school work" but they would be still learning...
We're really hesitant about these options, as he has a keen sense of "time for this & time for that" and doesn't like it when the "extra" school work infringes on "his" time. This is why I am so adamant about finessing a solution within the school day. I want him to have all that tree-climbing & bike-riding time -- you know, be a kid, too.
It would really suck to spend a full day behaving & getting work done in school... just to come home and be greeted with MORE work at home.
We have the same thought regarding this. There's just no way that DS is going to have any desire to do more work after school. I can only imagine - DS hates to do homework
that's required by the teacher,
he's certainly not going to look forward to anything additional, especially if it's imposed by me. I can hear it now "But MOOOOOOM! I already spent all day in school and you want me to do more work. It's NOT FAIR!!!", and so on until I begin plucking the hairs out of my head one by one, because that's nowhere near as painful as doing additional homework....
We used to do a lot of things like that - I'm a big believer in learning through play and following where his interests lead. I think Dandy's dc and mine are very similar - if DS feels like he's learning something, it's all over. Of course, if I take the sneaky approach, he'll usually fall in...ie. if I start watching something interesting on The Science Channel and he's nearby, he'll usually meander in, but the key is for me
not to say "Hey, check this out!". Or, if I get the telescope out, he'll want to get involved. However, if I say "let's get the telescope out and see what we can find", he's turned off instantly.
His lack of interest in learning is, I believe, a result of being bored to tears in classrooms yet required to be there. I'm not even sure I can call it a lack of interest in learning, perhaps it's more the teaching aspect of it. More times than not, he's expressed that he doesn't like having to sit and listen to the teacher go over something when he's got it after the first lesson/instruction. Truthfully, that would drive me bananas, too.
