Last week came and went with no hysterics from my oldest son. Of course that led me to hope for another good week. So far, not so good. On his very first subject, he reacted first to the length of the assignment, then my request to do it neatly. I finally urged him to set that assignment aside until later and move on to something else. That unfortunately was not much better. A Latin test.
This kid is bright, really bright. But he doesn't want to have to do any work. I spent his early years making sure to keep his assignments short and free of busy work. I wonder if I failed to teach him the value of working hard and being diligent?
As I write this I am reminded how much I am learning from homeschooling my children. First, when I do something right, does God expect that I've got it from then on and will never struggle with it again? Sometimes I act like that is His expectation. But no, His strength is demonstrated in my weakness.
I just want these difficulties with my son to be fixed. I don't want to work hard and diligently correct him over and over. Here I am expecting something from my son, that I'm also still learning. And I always will be. I'm reminded that sanctification is a process. We don't get to check things off the list.
Patience
Kindness
Joy
While we're living on this earth, we will not be perfect! Lord, help me remember that and show grace to my children like you show to me.
We went through something similar with our middle son (6) last year. Math and copywork especially were like pulling teeth! At first we thought it was just stress from the move, but then when it still didn't go away, we looked into it and realized that he has ADD/ADHD (lot's of family history and most of the symptoms). We don't have an official diagnosis and have no plans to medicate him, but researching other ways to help HIM have helped US (and him) tremendously.
Obviously, I'm not saying that that's necessarily the problem for your son, but it might be worth looking into. There were some symptoms that I had no idea applied to ADD/ADHD.
Either way, isn't it amazing how God uses our children's challenges to mold us as well as them?! Your observations are right on the money for most of us, I think, and I'm sure He'll show you how best to help your son!
Jennifer
My days are never dull as a homeschooling mother of 4 children. This blog contains views of our life, reviews of homeschool curriculum, book reviews, and helpful hints for homeschooling.
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Oct. 26, 2009 - Untitled Comment
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