Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A secret of homeschooling

We do not eat much candy or gum in our house. But since I read another blog that recommended esp. boys, to chew gum while doing school work, I decided to give it a try.

There has been lots of studies that show that gum was found to help relieve anxiety, improve alertness and reduce stress among individuals. (ie: Check out this article).

I have to say, it is quite amazing how disciplined and focused my children can be (esp. my boys!) while they chew on chewing gum. The rule in our house is if they do not do their work (ie: goof off, daydream, or disobey Mommy) then they loose their gum and into the trash it goes!

So far, this gum thing is great and they are even asking to DO SCHOOL WORK so they can chew gum!

I know, this could lead to some major dentist bills in the future...not sure how long this will last. But it is working well for us right now and that is all I am concerned about. Right now is all we have. "Right here, right now."

God bless, Mary

1 comment:

Jess B. said...

I chew gum all the time... it keeps me from biting my nails!

I never thought about gum aiding my focus, but I can see how it might.

Hey, if it gets kids to want to do their schoolwork it can't be all-bad, can it?

I remember my mom teaching my younger brother how to read by allowing him to have a Skittle for every sentence he read correctly.

I think their little teeth will be okay if they chew sugarless gum, right?