Yesterday, Benjamin woke up early and quickly ate his breakfast. He was incredibly excited and did all that was asked of him in the morning so that he could get to his first homeschooling activity of the day. What was it? A fine motor activity! He was going to paint the airplane that his daddy and he built together the night before (a $1 kit that he picked out at Michaels). At what point did any fine motor activity become something he looked forward to? At what point did artwork become a reward? I am astonished at how excited this kid was to start painting.
Look at that focus! Look at that grip on the paintbrush! Look at those two hands doing something different simultaneously! Look at the absence of an insane mom getting frustrated in the background!
This was not the first time that he has shown a preference for fine motor activities. Slowly, our homeschooling day has transformed. He now wants to start his morning with his writing warmups sheet. When I give him a choice of the order in which he wants to do his seat work, he always chooses his writing first. On days where he is fighting his work, he asks me if he can do his writing and be all done. He no longer wants me to write for him when doing his math work. He wants to write on the inside of cards that he makes for people and is very proud of his work when he is done. He does his finger muscle exercises throughout the day for fun.
The visible results of all of this hard work? If that first picture doesn't prove it to you, here is another one.
This is Benjamin's writing warmup sheet from a few days ago. Almost every number and letter is legible and most are formed correctly. He wrote this COMPLETELY on his own.
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