Blowing My Mind

After working with Caleb this morning, I think I am convinced that I may NEVER understand what he is thinking!?! But I will continue to try!!

So this first example is Caleb's rough draft of his story. The actual first few lines were not even on the correct subject, so this is the second try. Not too bad for a 2nd grader. All the red circles were creatively misspelled words. We took about 20 minutes to go through and correct these together.


This next page is actually the one that 'blows my mind'!! So I told Caleb before he started, "Make sure you start all the way on the left side and go all the way to the right side before starting the next line. Do not stop at the period and start a new line if you still have room on the line." He has just been putting one sentence per line and I was trying to correct that thought.

So about 10 minutes later this is what he brings me!?!?


And he says, "Mom, I can't write like this."

And I say, "Well son, I don't think many people can!"

I have no idea what prompted him to write from the wrong side of the paper. He has never done this before, ever. And if you look closely you will see that some of the letters are actually written backwards! Drew, my dyslexic, pointed that out to me.

So anyways I sent him back to erase it and start over correctly and this beautiful paper is what I got 20 minutes later!!!

Can you believe that penmanship for and 8 year old boy? Especially one that had not really ever held a writing utensil till he was 5 1/2 years old.

I know sometimes I push him hard, but I guess that is because I know what he is capable of. I have never accepted half way from any of my children and I think Caleb is happy with half way. So the goal is to challenge him to see the rewards of giving his all.

So do I keep trying to figure it out? You bet! And in the long run I will trust that it will be worth ever ounce of effort and every sacrifice of time, both for his spiritual and academic growth.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6