How to stop the chatter?

[Frontier Mom]

This has definitely been the best start to our school year ever!! However, at my dc's ages I am really struggling with reducing the needless chatter during the day in our learning room.

I try to be calm at first but my dc's have gotten in the worst habit of interrupting me and each other. When I am going over a lesson, the others will just start talking about something completely off track.

I am in need of some good ideas on consequences or something. I'm not sure if it is a matter of getting back into the routine or just bad habits. Any advice or suggestions?

[Michelle in TX]

:lurk5:

Yes, I'd like to know this too! And perhaps a comment or two about singing and humming, but I don't want to hijack your thread. ;)

[Frontier Mom]

:lurk5:

Yes, I'd like to know this too! And perhaps a comment or two about singing and humming, but I don't want to hijack your thread. ;)

Hijack away and don't forget the drumming of the pencils on the desk.:glare:

[Sasharowan]

:lurk5: Same thing happens here.

[JenParrish]

Well, this is my first year with 2 kids in the school room and the first week my daughter called me every single time I walked over to her older brother. We started back on 8/4 (August to April is our school year - we get spring fever BAD in May). Things have calmed down now and they are not talking all of the time. I am guessing that you just need to get back in the swing of things.

That first week, I put one child in the breakfast nook and the other in the school room (aka old formal dining room) so they would stop interrupting each other. I just walked through the kitchen to assist each one.

My seven year old wants to tell my 4.5 year old how she needs to do her work. That is the main reason I had to move him to the breakfast nook that first week.

[RoughCollie]

That happened here when all 4 DC were being homeschooled.

I gave demerits for disruptions and if a kid just sat there, staring at his work, accomplishing nothing. For every 2 demerits, the child had to do a chore immediately. I started with cleaning the toilets inside and out. Once those were cleaned, I moved on to other parts of the bathrooms. Usually by the time the bathrooms were clean, the kids had settled down. If not, they had to clean anything else that I did not want to clean.

RC

[Annie N]

I am going to make a list of chores I don't want to do.

Nya ha ha!

[Frontier Mom]

Yep, with that I will have the cleanest house in town.