We Think SO Differently

To me, this is just funny. We just started a lapbook, I asked D if he likes this better than reading textbooks and answering questions. He told me he hates "this arts and crafts stuff" but I notice he did it without complaining AND... he added lots of his own embellishments! He draws stick figures but always has some little joke in the scene or figures out a creative way to make a point. The 'typical' way of drawing or describing something is never what he chooses, he always surprises me. And then to add extras!

Besids the Hands of a Child science lapbooks, I have History Scribe. That doesn't go over as well, he complains about it without me asking if he likes it. These are simple pages with a few sentences at the top, a drawing section, then a few lines at the bottom for writing a paragraph. He usually feels confused what to write since the top already has a short summary of the subject. I've started writing a question for him to answer in a paragraph. He whines and fusses his way through it, then I hear nothing for a long time because HE'S DRAWING. And just like on the lapbooks, he's adding all his creative extra touches.

Sometimes I'm tempted to have him skip the writing since he's "writing" through his drawing but in Language, he's doing grammar studies. The only true composition he does in a school day is the history scribe lessons and I believe it's important that he learn to organize his thoughts in a coherent way and be able to share them. He has trouble narrating back to me orally what we study so we discuss it, then I help him figure out how to write it.

This takes a lot of work on my part, we think so differently and I get way too mean about it. If I show way more patience than I really can, he does so much better! I need to remember that, when someone explains technical things to me, I give a deliberately blank stare and go umm-hmm. Usually I'm lost by the end of the first sentence and don't bother trying unless it's written down and I can read it for myself. Why can't I remember that that's how HE feels when we discuss history? Reading is not what helps him, he's not me!