My Show And Tell
Today is Show and Tell for Home Education Week. What do you have to show off?
Let me share what I have hanging on my refrigerator door. What will probably hang there for years. This has been my pride and joy.
Yes, it’s just the alphabet, traced with green crayons and wobbly lines. But you see, for me it’s more than that. It’s a reminder that what I’m doing isn’t so crazy after all. My oldest’s cousins were doing well in preschool, very well. And I was getting a few comments about how they were learning to write and were do so well, and pages of copy work that they had completed with big smilies faces were shown. and in the air was this lingering question “Why wasn’t he with them?”
I admit I was starting to wobble. The teacher showed them how to hold their pencils, how to trace the lines, how to make the letters, and rewarded them with stickers and candy and small toys. and my kid? Nothing.
Then one day it happened. He pulled out a coloring book he had gotten, opened it up to the pages with letters, and began tracing. On his own. Because he wanted to. For a week he traced the individual letter pages over and over again. When he got to the last page he happily sat at the table and went to work going over each of the letters of the alphabet all on his own. No prompting, no stickers, no parent-teacher conferences on his progress (if we don’t count talking to myself). He just did it. Because he wanted to, because learning is fun, because it is exciting to know how to do new things.
Though it wasn’t the first time he’s taken initiative, and it certainly wasn’t the last time, it was an amazing moment. And it was one that left me something to wave in their faces. You know, if the need arises.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 am
Independent learning is a great skill to acquire. I didn’t really get that until I was in my second semester of college ~
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:17 am
How interesting that you’ve posted this now! I have been struggling to find a way to interest my 4yo son in writing to no avail. Just YESTERDAY we opened up a Diego workbook (his favorite show) and he traced all of the names of the colors. Then he went on to trace his name several times and our phone number. I was satisfied with him doing all of these things once, but he insisted that he wasn’t done yet until he’d completed all of the pages. It was then that it dawned on me that he’s not against writing, he just needed a purpose!
But like your boy, he had to come to that conclusion on his own, no pushing from mom. He’s also discovered a love for dot-to-dots, which will only help increase his writing skills. I’m so happy we chose to allow him to grow at his own rate! It only adds to the excitement when you know they are learning because they love it and not because they are pressured to keep up with the other kids in class.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
How wonderful! When my dd was in kindergarten years she spent a lot of free time writing out phonics lessons! Amazing, since she struggled with long vowels and later with 3+ syllable words!
Blessings,
Laurie
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 am
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
What a great story! I think we all get wobbly like that sometimes, Summer. Your little one reminded you why we put ourselves through it: because kids learn best when they get to learn what they’re ready to learn when they are ready to learn it.
Feel free to wave those pages around.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
What a great example of internal motivation!
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Yay!!!!Feels good, doesn’t it?
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:40 pm
My son did the same thing with nary a tear–isn’t it awesome! Now he has attacked reading. I am so excited.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Very very funny post… I know just h ow you feel. Sometimes it’s an up hill struggle, not with our kids, but with the “big people”!
God bless.
Ruth
April 4th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Loved the post….’specially the parent teacher remark…LOL!!!
(I have those a lot!!)
Thanks for sharing!