First Day - Drew's Moment in the Spotlight

Despite my lack of preparation - and the understanding that we wouldn't be able to jump headlong into a full school schedule, such as it is around here - we did pick up some of our schoolwork this week. I did just a very, very little with Drew on Monday before deciding to try again the next day. Yesterday morning Aimee was still in bed (she's such a good little patient!), and after I allowed Ryan to tuck himself away in my room to play computer games quietly, I I started on some math with Drew, Chase playing with some play-doh at the table with us. We were working with some money, and pretty soon Chase decided to get in on the fun, which meant dropping/throwing coins on the floor, and it was hardly any time before the constant "plink, plink, plink" began to get on my nerves. Then he moved to throwing clumps of play-doh off the table, then sweeping everything off with both arms... Ah, I had almost forgotten how much fun school time is! I tried gently redirecting him while trying to instruct Drew, then finally my patience gave out.

"For heaven's sake, STOP!" I implored, and while I am not by nature a shouter, I admit the volume of my voice was proportionate to my exasperation. Chase was, thankfully, unpreturbed, but Drew looked at me dissaprovingly.

"Mom, you lost your temper!"

Sigh. Thank you, Jiminy Cricket!

Eventually Chase found something else less destructive to do, and Drew and I finished up. I had meant to do some review here and there over our break, but that didn't happen, so I wondered if we might have regressed in some skills, and I was pleased to discover that Drew hadn't lost anything at all. Indeed, his handwriting, which did need some work, had actually improved, and his easy comprehension of math skills still amazed me. We were working on adding two-digit numbers with trading using dimes and pennies. I assumed he would understand the concept fairly easily once we tried it, but was unprepared for his reaction when I wrote the problems on the board.

I wrote 37 + 23 first. "Okay, Drew, let's use dimes and pennies to figure this out. Put the dimes on the left and the pennies on the right. Then we'll see if we can trade any pennies for dimes..."

"I already know the answer to that," Drew said causually. "It's 60."

It was the same with every other problem, and while we did the little exercise anyway, it was clear, once again, that he grasps this kind of thing instantly. It doesn't come so naturally to me, and I think it just amazes me still that someone who came from me can have his own talents and skills. Actually - and do forgive a proud mother, as I know this may be obnoxious - but there isn't much at all in school that Drew doesn't find fairly easy, unless you count the ability to sit still. :-) He reads with ease, has a terrific grasp of language ("Sometimes I have dreams, Mom, but there's always a portal to get out of them - waking up."), has an great memory, and has a mind for math. I think in a formal school setting his lack of focus would be a problem, and we might miss how smart he is. So while sometimes Ifeel like homeschooling drives me to the edge, I really am enormously grateful to be able to participate so closely in Drew's learning path and to watch his incredible little mind at work.