I feel the need, the need for speed!

Ok, readers, I could use some input. I just can't get the Elder Child moving. Not in the morning for chores, not during school for math speed drills, and not at dinner (even when there's something fun afterward). He. Just. Won't. Go. Faster.

A big portion of the problem seems to be his inability to focus. Morning chores get distracted by "helping" Younger Brother cut something out. Math speed drills lose the attention span to whatever else is (or isn't) going on in the school room. Dinner... well, everything distracts dinner. Skinny boy doesn't like to eat on schedule. I thought we had a breakthrough on Monday, when he lost the chance to go to his beloved soccer practice over a particularly difficult (& lengthy) dinner.

To help with the focus issue, we're considering enrolling the boys in a martial arts program. Anything else we could try?

Morning chores

This week's focus was trying to get our morning chores to run more smoothly. We finally got it right this morning. Apparently, we need Daddy home in the mornings to crack the proverbial whip. Sigh.

So while we keep working on the chores, school is going rather well. Jimmy is getting much more comfortable writing his journal assignments. He has written some funny stories from his writing prompts. Quite the sense of humor from that kid! Caleb seems to relish all of his assignments, except the parts where he has to sit still & listen (like for Bible - we're reading Proverbs - & History). One of Caleb's journal assignment was to complete this sentence: "My favorite school subject is..." He said math. Jimmy seems to enjoy reading the most. We just finished reading his first reading comprehension book, where he & I read at the same pace so I can ask questions to make sure he's understood what he read. This book was a Hardy Boys mystery. I was really impressed at how much he retained, especially considering that a mystery has lots of important details that the reader must keep track of.