We Teach BOYS!

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Comment by Kelli- adventurezinchildrearing on February 3, 2013 at 10:39pm

Posting a link to our "weekly wrap- up" This week was a little slow for us as I was at the BEECH Retreat - but, I'd like to see this group be more active - I'm all about the boys :) 

http://www.adventurezinchildrearing.com/2013/01/our-weekly-wrap-up-... 

Comment by Megan Spires on January 19, 2012 at 12:36am

Teri Kimbell,

I'm curious...what is the age group of the boys you'll be teaching writing to? This is one of our struggles right now....writing. My almost 8 year old loves to make up stories, but doesn't love the time and effort it takes to write them. His Karate teacher asked his students if anyone would be willing to write a story for the upcoming Karate newsletter...my son was so excited to do this, until it came time to sit down and write. He kept dragging his feet until today, when his Karate teacher emailed me AGAIN to see if he had written anything. He hadn't, so I made a deal with my son. I would type it out while he told me the story. This worked really well and he was able to be really creative with his story. If I had made him write it, it would have been two short sentences long. When he has to focus on the writing, it seems that his creativity shuts down. I'm hoping that as time goes on and he is successful in his creativity, he'll be more willing to take the time and effort to actually write. Currently, he does write something everyday, but it's typically pretty minimal. I'm finding that when there's purpose to it, there's a bit more willingness.

How has your week been since coming back from winter break?

Megan

Comment by Megan Spires on January 11, 2012 at 7:29pm

We were struggling a bit, my boys and I, today. As I was desperately trying to keep our toddler and preschooler happy with toys, I was trying to wrap up a lesson on animal life cycles to my almost 6 and 8 year old boys. We've made this unit study very hands on with lots of crafts, messy painting, cutting and gluing magazine pictures, reading lots of books etc. But, today, I saw their eyes quickly glaze over as I began reading to them. So, before I lost them completely to "boredom" and cranky attitudes....I asked them to play charades with me.

They were so willing to get up and move....OF COURSE! So, we took turns acting out various animals and their life cycles. And because life cycles end in death....the deaths of the frog, butterfly, bat and chicken were so dramatic and hilarious. It was the perfect way to cement some of those concepts we had learned and have a ton of fun.

I think I'll be adding charades in to more of our learning time. Yesterday we did "community helper" charades. I just wrote down about 15 different community helpers on pieces of paper, folded them up and we took turns acting them for each other. They loved it.

What creative tips do you have for changing a difficult or potentially spiraling school day around?

Megan

Blogging at House of the Rising Sons

Comment by Megan Spires on January 11, 2012 at 1:49am

By the way, Kelli, I meant to also say that I've just added the book, How to Have a HEART for your Kids, to my shopping cart on Amazon. Can't wait to read it! Loved your review!!!

Megan

Comment by Megan Spires on January 11, 2012 at 1:47am

Hi everyone!!!! WOW...I'm blown away at how many of you have already joined our BOYS group! Love it and am so thrilled that we can share our experiences and encourage one another. I meant to post some things last week, but my family was down with the flu. Now that we're getting back to "normal" again, I'm catching up with emails, blogging and trying to get back on track with our homeschooling after a long winter break.

How about all of you? If you break for the holidays, was it difficult to get back on track this past week? Are you still trying to find that groove? We are. My 4 boys are constantly changing, it seems, which means I need to stay flexible and remain open to changing up our routines and activities.

Kelli, (who blogs @ www.adventurezinchildrearing.com) THANK YOU so much for posting the link to your post about the book "How to Have a HEART for your Kids". First, I can completely identify with so much of what you say. I love that you felt compelled to be "dramatic" about what you said :) and that you felt you had no right to keep it to yourself. THANK YOU for your transparency and honesty about the hard stuff. Our 6 year old son is not adopted, but we, too, have very real issues we deal with on a daily basis. ALL. DAY. EVERY. DAY. He has had a hard life as he's dealt with his deafness and many cranial surgeries and hospital visits. And yet, he's like most boys....filled with a never ending supply of energy and a curiosity that won't quit. Even still, we struggle with him daily on many levels.

Kelli, I love what you said here:

"God wants to heal him - He's working a miracle in his little life
 - but this boy of mine has his own choices to make too and sometimes he stands in his own way.
(sound familiar? don't we all do that at one time or another?)
All the love in the world cannot make him choose what's right. "

Amen!!!! These boys of ours, children of ours, are still God's children. We cannot play the role of the Holy Spirit in our children's lives. We can do our best with God's wisdom, guidance and grace and still...our kids have choices to make.

I just listened to an amazing message on Focus on the Family about the strong willed child. My 6 year old is definitely that. Part of what I loved about this message was that it was given from the point of view of one who is strong willed...and that it doesn't have to be a negative thing. Here's the link, if you're interested: Surviving the Strong Willed Child There are 2 parts. This is part 1 of 2.

Take care everyone! Looking forward to a lively and active group as we talk about teaching BOYS!

Megan

Blogging at House of the Rising Sons

Comment by Kelli- adventurezinchildrearing on January 10, 2012 at 1:26am

Posted about "How to Have a Heart for Your Kids" online book club - and a bit about what God is doing in our Home with our three boys

http://www.adventurezinchildrearing.com/2012/01/how-to-have-heart-f... 

Hope you'll check it out! Little miracle going on in our home!!!

group leader Comment by Michelle Breum on January 2, 2012 at 1:25am

I just joined this group. I have two sons 8 and 10. I also have a daughter who is 8. Yes, my younger ones are twins. I look forward to being part of this group. There is an amazing organization called LitWorld. They have and support LitClubs for Boys. This may be of interest to members of this group.

Comment by Teri Kimbell on January 1, 2012 at 3:05pm

I am an Instructional Coach after 29 years of teaching k-3 in a classroom setting.  I will be working with a group of boy writers in order to help them better their writing skills, once we return from Winter Break.  I am eager to hear and share ideas with this group.  Thanks for the opportunity.

Comment by Lois Tschaepe on January 1, 2012 at 1:19pm

I'm currently preschooling my triplet grandsons (age 3), and I need all the help I can get!