Day Four

Yesterday we focused on learning more about his learning style using the VARK method.

http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp

After going through the questionnaire, we discovered that he is a KAVR.

I noticed that when the school work became too demanding, he developed headaches, earaches, and sore throat. But when he isn't being challenged too much, he feels fine. This isn't surprising. The home school moms say that resistance is inevitable if you try to do too much too fast.

Today, I told him he can do whatever he wants, as long as it is:

Educational, self care, or chores

He may not watch junk television or play junk video games. But if he can explain why something is educational, he can do it.

Within these parameters he must:

Do some reading, writing, and math.
Take out the garbage, clean out the litterbox, and wash the dog.
Write down everything that he does. For example, "From 10:00 to 10:30, I wrote down my recipe for pizza."

I told him that while he is busy doing the above, I will:

Learn about homeschooling, do household chores, and practice self care.

Right now he is working quietly in the next room. I just brought him a cup of herbal tea. Things are pleasant, calm and peaceful.

Today, I thinking that it's best for him if there are no punishments or rewards from his parents for grades or schoolwork. We set the parameters to guide him and provide him with a framework of discipline. But today the learning and the progress is the reward. As soon as we praise him for grades, learning itself becomes less motivating. So I want to encourage him to develop his own goals with built-in rewards. I want to try to see if he can accomplish authentic learning for authentic reasons, rather than contrived busy work to please his parents.