Just Different.

School with this little guy is nothing but interesting! I had no idea what I was in for when I started homeschooling Trey. For starters there was a level of fear within me as I wasn't sure how I was going to teach him to read.


When we started our homeschool journey almost seven years ago, Love and Lea were entering the home as readers as they had learned to read in private school. Lea was a new reader, but a strong, new reader. In many ways as I look back I can see how God blessed our homeschool beginnings with kids that could already read.

We could jump right into 2nd and 4th grade with simply learning and enjoying the experience while having a little infant by our sides. Fast forward to Trey's beginnings as a student and I wasn't sure what to expect.

I decided to use the same curriculum, ABeka, that my girls had in private school and that put me a little at ease with starting to teach Trey. What was beautiful in the whole experience was how naturally Trey gained an interest in learning. I remember setting him outside our school room door with his little movie player to keep him occupied when he was about 3 years old and as I worked with his sisters he would creep in the school and say, "Mommy, I wanna do school".

Just a few moments out of each school day I'd get on the floor and go over the letters of the alphabet or he'd sit up in my lap and want to trace his letters. That interest in learning seemed to grow everyday that by the time he seemed ready to do Preschool level material, he was so excited to "do school" like his big sisters. His face would light up when he saw all the brightly school colored pages that were all his.



Eventually though, I came to the realization that educating a little boy is a totally different ball game from little girls. About 3 or 4 months into his first grade year of school, the excitement of the brightly colored school pages seem to wane and I found myself bargaining with him on how many pages I could get him to read before lunch time. After doing some research and consulting with several Moms of boys I realized that there were some critical components of school that I had to ensure that I was integrating into Trey's day:

Games, rewards, and competition.

Game time created a stark difference in by boy's school day compared to his sisters' school days. As youngsters, Love and Lea could have cared less if we played a game during the school day. As long as they could freely sing and dance whenever they wanted, they were happy reading, writing, doing math, science, and anything else I threw at them for school.
　
At first it seemed a bit annoying to my conscience to have to go through the rigmarole of incorporating these things, but once I began to slowly do this our school days turned from a nightmare to a beautiful dream. It was literally a night and day difference.

I knew boys were active creatures, but I just didn't realize that incorporating activity was a necessity for learning for my son. Practicing phonics sounds went from completing worksheets to "Phonics Flashcard Baseball" in our basement. Math drills were ALL timed for increased competition and we started keeping a log of his times so that he could see how he could beat his best time each day. I created a reward chart and logged a smiley face for each day that was a "good" day without any whining about school work. When he obtained a lengthy, consecutive number of "good" days, his Dad would reward him with a treat.

Math and Science are definitely Trey's favorite subjects and it seems he could do endless sessions of both subjects. While Trey has always loved trips to the library, as he's become a reader himself, he gets frustrated when he has to pause and apply phonics rules to read. To increase his interest and ignite excitement in his reading time, I started incorporating Chapter book read alouds. These read aloud books are at a reading level progressively higher than what he could do on his own, but the storylines are very engaging, many times humorous, and maintain his attention.

While I read aloud, Trey finds enjoyment in building with his Legos and I will pause after a page or two to ask him reading comprehension questions to ensure that he's following along and understanding the storyline. 

We've read some awesome stories and even tuned into the movie that goes with the books as a reward when we finish it.

These things culminated together have really orchestrated a sweet time of teaching Trey in his initial years of school. With much prayer and following the cues of this growing little boy, we're finding that doing school with a boy is different, but just as enjoyable as it has been with girls.

I will post a book list soon of the Read Alouds that we've enjoyed thus far! (Go here for that list)