Patience, grasshopper

Remember how I am always telling you that it will happen if you wait, watch, and don't push.  It is much easier said than done.  I have read all the unschooling books, I talk the talk myself all over the place, but in my darkest moments I still question it.  Maybe "it" won't happen.  Sure he learns, but what about school stuff?

Angus is "special," things don't come as easily, he has a diagnosis, he's not terribly focused, he's left-handed, yadda yadda -- what if reading, and exposing him to the things, and not pushing, but waiting until he's ready doesn't work?  What if he doesn't have a time for writing?  What if he's 18 and can't read.  What if, what if??? 

Thankfully, Adam (my husband) has an infinite amount of patience.  "It will happen," he says.  "You know it will, it just isn't happening on your time schedule, and that's bothersome for you, but not for him."  And he's right, and then, just like Leo the Late Bloomer's father, I go back to reading my paper and waiting.



It doesn't help that, especially with Angus, there is no suggesting.  No pushing.  No "hey let's try."  Until he'd ready, he's not ready.  So I wait.


I will say, that when you wait like that, that when it happens, it's big.  You are excited, you get supplies, you sit with him in rapt anticipation.  Things get hung up and framed.  I should probably not make such a big deal of it, but I get excited.  :)

 So it was today, that I was a happy mama when Angus started rooting around for a piece of paper.  "Hey, dude, do you need something," I asked.  "I need to practice writing the letter b," he says.  I think never in the history of momdom has a mom moved faster to get paper, pencils, and the alphabet card I have for them to reference letters.  He wrote.  He practiced his whole alphabet in some form  "Hey, Angus," says I," if you can write a b, you can write a d, and a p, and a q."  We went from there.  There were letters and numbers, and he was awesome, and the angels sung for a bit for this mama.

Then there was some spelling and sounding out of things, and it was pretty amazing.  This page is currently on our refrigerator.

 

Then even Winnie got in on some fun.  She wrote a little, and they did some counting with farm animals.  And as quick as it came, it was gone, but he has the skills.  I know he does, I saw it.  And he was happy, and proud of himself.  And again I can wait, quietly, as every day he learns, and some days he even learns things that calms my nerves about "real" school versus doing it at home.  Life is beautiful in our neck of the woods.  Every day, and some days it actually looks a tiny bit like "school."  And that's okay, I guess.  :):):::::::::::::)))))):)))  (Winnie's blog contribution)