Why, you might ask, is this a small victory? For two reasons: One, this animated, fun-loving boy could never be bothered with penmanship. He has struggled to write legibly every single year. Our first year of homeschooling (1st grade), I thought I had to do EVERYTHING in the box curriculum we were using or he would be "behind". I had to keep up with the Jones' kids that were homeschooling and little Johnny Jones learned cursive in 1st grade. So, dadgumit, we were going to learn cursive, too!! <hands on hips, doing the head bob> I forced my poor little guy to try and learn cursive. The dude could barely write manuscript and I rarely could read what he wrote. He was in TEARS every single day. (NOT my finest homeschool teacher moment ... but, I was a newbie) So, this list was fabulous because I could READ it without any problems!! I truly and seriously thought that there was something wrong with him when it came to handwriting. I did the big, should-have-known-better no-no and compared his handwriting to other kids' handwriting. You know the ones ... the kids whose handwriting is so neat it looks like a computer font?!!! Turns out, there's not a thing wrong with my little guy! He is blissfully NORMAL for a 9-year-old, active, doesn't-like-to-sit-still boy! (He actually did his spelling words standing on his head once. True story!) Also, I saw that he corrected his own mistakes. He had written the lowercase g and d backwards, but he erased it and did it the right way without Mom's help! Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus! ;-)
Lastly, everything on his list was spelled correctly except for one word (he left an s out of dressed). When I told him it was misspelled, he looked at it and added the s without me telling him what was wrong. Woohoo!!! Granted, these were not difficult words, but it still made me deliriously happy!
I know that this list and my little celebrations may seem silly. When you are responsible for the entirety of your child's education, however, penmanship and spelling can literally keep you up at night if you feel like they aren't getting it. These moments let me know that we are heading in the right direction! He really IS learning! *sigh of relief* :-)
Remember, give your kids and yourself a break; don't compare them to other kids! Every child is different and learns at their own pace and in their own way. And always, always look for the small victories and celebrate them!! They will keep you sane! LOL
Here's the picture of little man practicing his spelling words while standing on his head in the traditional homeschool uniform (a.k.a. pajamas). You can't NOT take a picture of that! Right??!!
