Dear Blake,
We are homeschooling our 16-year-old son who has slowed his schoolwork down to a crawl. Once he sits down to it, he easily rips through the work, but having him sit down to it and work…well, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. He helps with the household chores cheerfully, he is extremely diligent about things that interest him, and he is an ideal son except that he won’t do his schoolwork.
Signed, Brenda
From Mobile, Alabama
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Dear Brenda,
Getting a teenager to focus academically can often become very frustrating for parents. You, however, are in an awkward position, because if you ever told him that if he didn’t start doing his assignments you’d contact his mom and dad, he’d probably think he was adopted. There a few ways that might motivate him. For example, you could try setting up a home office that he has to remain in whilst you homeschool him. This could create a feeling of being in a classroom, encouraging him to get on with his work. Additionally, getting some cheap filing cabinets could also be useful. This will allow him to organize his work. This could have a positive impact as he will be able to file his work after he’s completed it, this is almost like a reward. After he’s filed his work, you could then try and do something that interests him to break up his day slightly. By teaching him that when he completes his work, he gets to do something fun, you could get him to start enjoying his schoolwork. This is just one method. It’s important to try and improve his mindset if possible. Otherwise, when he gets a job, he’ll probably struggle. If he will only “dabble” in what interests him, what is he going to do when he gets a job, and his boss tells him to do something, that your son doesn’t feel it’s “fascinating”? The odds are, he’ll be a permanent fixture in the unemployment line, until he gets “bored” with explaining to the agency on why he’s so freakin’ lazy. You’ll probably end up supporting that loser until he gets married, unless his wife thinks like him, and in that case, you’ll be catering to two bottom-feeding leeches. But there is some good news out of all this. Even though your son is not very motivated, if he can easily “rip” through his homework, he’s pretty smart. So my guess is, as an adult, people will admire his intelligence, and he’ll also be revered by his friends at the various homeless shelters he’ll be seeking each night, for a meal, to sleep, and to wash his raggedy clothes. I hope this helps.
Blake