I already see a huge improvement in Gavin's handwriting. By making him practice the basics of printing letters, and not accepting anything less than careful, thoughtful work he took his time to complete, I've seen a turnaround.
I told him if I submit work that looks sloppy (whether as a paralegal or author), it gets handed back to me for a redo. I pointed out that this adds more time to the process, but if I pay attention and do things correctly, neatly or well the first time, I don't need to repeat my efforts. If I rush through work just to get it done, of course I will have to redo it again and again, and the initial hurry was not worth my time in the first place.
So I asked him if I should continue to return sloppy work to him, expecting a redo, or if he should just take his time to do it well the first time. He agreed that I was justified in handing badly-done work back to him to do over, and that it makes more sense to make a good effort from the start.
Today's lessons went very well, and I think Gavin is actually enjoying the work he deemed "too advanced". Why? Because it is far more varied and creative than usual. He enjoyed yesterday's science experiment and art lesson. I think he viewed today's grammar lesson as tedious at first - write a list of topics for a potential news story, then narrow it down, and prepare to write a lead by pinpointing the who, what, when, and where (why comes later). However, once he got past brainstorming and started charting out a word map, he seemed more enthusiastic about it.
Here's hoping he also enjoys his reading this year! Our reading list comes directly from the 5th grade recommendations in The Well-Trained Mind, however I also added a few modern titles for a bit of variety. Unfortunately, due to our school year lasting only 18 weeks instead of the usual 45, I know we won't get around to reading everything on this list.
Still, I think we'll enjoy whatever we choose to read. :)
Robinson
Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Call
of the Wild by Jack London
Black
Beauty
Around
the World in 80 Days
The
Hobbit
Artemis
Fowl books
Percy Jackson books
Harry
Potter (finish the series)
Confucius
Chinese folktales
Japanese folktales
ancient Chinese & Japanese
poetry
myths of ancient Egypt
tales of the Pharaohs
the Bible
Homer
Buddha
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Alexander the Great
Roman emperors
Greek and Roman myths
Aesop's fables
Indian & African folktales
Cicero
Virgil
Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan
Wow, you guys do 45 school weeks a year? How come? Love the list, by the way, and glad he's settling back in quickly :)
ReplyDeleteWe do 3 terms of 15 weeks each, with a week or two off between for holidays, and the month of August off. I've just always done it that way - it was a nice, neat way to schedule and organize our year-round schooling. :)
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