It is a treasure beyond any measurable value to homeschool. I get so many more joyous moments and memories thanks to God gifting us with the abilities to educate at home. A treasure worth noting today is learning what really motivates my little man to work hard.....
I have heard it said that boys are more difficult to raise and in some ways I find that to be true. But not in emotional matters - by far my girls strain me more on my own best emotional days! WHEW. But Samuel is more challenging to teach, though nothing the LORD has not equipped me to handle thus far. For example, I have learned to let him hop up and down while reading books and sing his math problems out loud while tapping his pencil as well as giving him room to wiggle his spelling words out like worms. Yes, some of this is a distraction that took Morgan some time to adjust too but one I know has made her stronger. She can focus on what is hers to focus on in the midst of chaos. Well this morning, Uncle Shannon is here working on our deck. Now that's a distraction for Samuel. He could hardly maintain a minutes worth of focus on his school lessons especially once the tractor started up. I barely noticed this, in fact the drone of it's engine bypassed my cognitive thinking completely. That is until out of nowhere Samuel says "OOOOOOHHHH, I love that sound" I am confused by this and reply "uh, what sound?" He answers with a dreamy look in his eye, "The sound of the tractor." That's when it hits me on the head, "you want to go work with uncle Shannon?" "OHHH yeah," he has started wiggling. "Alright then, as soon as you finish your math you can go." I have never seen him finish his math so quickly. So this is my treasured lesson: candy, stickers, and smiley faces are nice but if I want to motivate Samuel Lee I better have a tractor, a hammer, some nails and a saw:)
