Something New

This week brought about a small revelation. I am yelling too much! I'll tell you how I found out:

Wednesday night I was about 24 hours into a cold. I was starting to feel like Thursday would not be a very productive day. So I went to JT and said, "If I write up a list of things I need you to finish for school tomorrow, would you be able to be disciplined enough to do the work on your own?" He says, "Oh yeah, no problem. I'd probably get done faster." When I asked why he said, "Because I wouldn't get yelled at as much."

I realized I may be micromanaging a bit. Obviously, since he's only 8, I felt the need to keep him on task. But maybe a little less could be more. This morning, even though I felt reasonably well, I wrote up the list and after some warm up work together, sent him on his way.

I kept a close eye on him from the next room. He would go good for awhile and then sputter out. I would go in, make sure he understood the instructions and leave again. After he finished a couple assignments, I spent some instruction time with him. Then we had a fun activity and lunch.

In the afternoon, he tried to work a little faster because every Thursday we play our spelling review game to prepare for his test on Friday. This involves him drawing elaborate space battle scenes on the board and getting an 'action' every time he gets one right. I NEVER win this game. We did some geography work together and then played the game. It was a good day!

Tonight he told me he liked the new method and hopes it keeps working. He also noted that I "didn't yell at all today."

Some of the inspiration for this came from another blog I read, Learn at Every Turn A recent post titled, Projects Overview, made me rethink my usual ways of trudging through the day.

Two other things I wanted to cover in this post.

1. JT has an AWFUL time with alphabetizing. I knew he had some trouble with it, but recent workbook activities have shown he really is struggling. I thought he just couldn't handle the fact that he needed to look at the 3rd letter in most words in these assignments. Then I realized he has no idea of the relationship of letters in the alphabet. Of course he knows A comes before Z, but if I ask him which is first, K or M, he really has to think. Today we started playing a game with alphabet flashcards. I hold up 2 and he has to tell me which comes first. It was much more enjoyable for him than the usual worksheets. Hopefully it will help him to visualize the relationships better.

2. I bought the most wonderful math books this week! Life of Fred If you have never seen this series you HAVE to check it out. JT did the first lesson in the Fractions book today. I was in the other room and he called to me to ask if he could PLEASE do the next lesson too. JT is good at math, but it's never been something he was thrilled about. I'm hoping this is a good sign. If you have a child who is strong in language, but not necessarily math, I highly recommend looking into this series. Here's a link that has some raves by parents. Happy People

Between the new math and new routine we should have an exciting week!