Quips & Quotes from The Adventurer (age 7)

I promise I really am going to talk about what it's like to decide you need to evaluate your not-yet-reading seven year old, and then the emotions of getting a dyslexia diagnosis, the therapies & remediation that were prescribed and how we're implementing those. First I want to share a glimpse at who he is, though, because he is so much more than his diagnosis. He is cute, and sweet, and funny, and smart, and creative, and....well, you'll see. Here are a few quotes & quips from The Adventurer from this past week of school. Enjoy!

While I was reading to him about Alexander the Great, who took his father's plan to invade Persia and then expanded it to the rest of the known world, The Adventurer had these questions:

"But, don't all people speak different languages? So, wouldn't that be a problem for him??" 

(a page later we learned that Alexander taught Greek to all the people he conquered)

When we read of the library at Alexandria, and the scrolls contained therein:

"So, how do pirates find treasure maps anyway? And how are treasure maps made in the first place?" 

(I answer that I do not know, and we can discuss it after school; he offers to explain what he knows based on a Tom & Jerry episode he watches fairly often; I decline and redirect him to listening to Alexander's adventurers.)

As we learn of Alexander's death after he had successfully conquered the world and was planning to return to Greece:

"So, will some random Greek guy be their king now, since the real king died?" 

(we learn in the next paragraph that Alexander instructed his generals to fight it out; they did, and 4 winners split his kingdom into 4 parts, each choosing one section to rule; of those four, only Ptolemy I, who took Egypt, is really remembered in history)

As I read to him about Joseph and his brothers, and Joseph's journey from the bottom of a well to a throne in Egypt, he was full of commentary and questions on why the brothers would be so mean, and why Joseph would be so nice, and then wondering why Joseph would hide his silver cup to make it look like Benjamin stole it. Perhaps my favorite comment during this story:  "What's so important about a dumb cup anyway? Didn't he have another one?"

As I read to him about Job, and the conversation between God and Satan about Job's loyalty: "Why would Satan do that? He must be pure evil." And later, "So, why couldn't he just be the next most powerful person after God? Wouldn't that have been okay?" (as I tried explaining who Satan is, why God doesn't like him, etc...)

As we do math, and I ask him questions, he most often replies with the answer and then, "Duh. Don't you have eyes, too??"  As he also talks back to the computer in this manner, I have realized this is not so much about giving me attitude, rather, it's how he responds to pressure, stress, and frustration. We will work on more appropriate ways to respond to frustration, but as we've only recently moved from "don't hit; use your words" to this, I don't want to shift too soon to "okay, now make your words nice and kind at all times." We just spent ages on teaching him and training him to use his words to show he's frustrated; he is doing exactly what we asked, although not in the way we imagined. I'll take it, for now. As long as I just reply with "yes, but YOU have to answer the problem, because it is your math homework, not mine..." it all goes well.

Singapore Math 1B

As he does handwriting, once he's written the letters he then draws stick figures -- being the letter, holding up the letter, jumping over the letter, etc. I get running commentary, lots of giggles, etc. as he does this. I so enjoy watching him add his spark to everything he does.

As he does his coloring pages, he seeks out the most defiant way to comply with my instructions. For a page that said "color this car with pastel colors" he chose the darkest gray he could, proudly told me he was not going to use a pastel color, he was going to use a dark gray instead, and then colored it as light as possible so that it looked pastel. He was absolutely delighted that he could thus "trick" the page into believing he had followed the directions, even though really he used a dark color, not a pastel. I probably shouldn't, but I adore those moments. My boy is full of spunk, that's for sure. I love watching him use it.

spunk in action:
he was starting on the right side, running, jumping onto the couch and doing rolls across to the other side
he asked for action photos; this is the best one, The Adventurer, mid roll. 

Tomorrow: why we had him evaluated, and our reaction to his diagnosis; the day after, his therapies & day-to-day routine. If you or anyone you know has a child with any kind of learning challenge, not just dyslexia, please share this post and this series of posts.