The Reluctant Writer

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I have a reluctant writer. He is an awesome student in many ways, but still, writing is not and never has been, his favorite way of expressing himself.

The problem comes in when I, the mentor, want the Scholar to be and excellent writer! I begin to worry (fear) he will not be a great writer and so start to feel panic (fear again) about failing to inspire him to love writing. This fear begins to permeate my thoughts. I've discovered that when fear begins to enter the picture, my conveyor-belt past begins to edge forward and want to take over the situation... literally! I want to fix it and I want to fix it now!

However, the Leadership Education way is different. It is not fear that leads to force. It is secure that leads to inspire!


"But, how do I do that?" you ask.

It is hard. I've been asking myself the same question. So, we had a Mentor Meeting with my son and discussed our "fears" that he would not be proficient at writing for his future. Since we have an open and loving relationship with this son, he then expressed how he feels his writing is good enough and that it feels like an assignment to him (which is what I had turned it into).

Hmmm...so we see he is not inspired to want to write the essay assignments I had given him. Looking back, I'm laughing at myself that I didn't see it sooner. Of course he is not inspired by my fear-based assignment! He needs a secure-based inspiration.

Today we sat down to discuss the types of writings that inspire him. I did also instruct him on the requirements that may be placed on him in the future, maybe in a career situation or his own businesses aspirations.

What kinds of things might he need to write? Advertising? Proposals of his ideas? Responses to inquiries about his business? Etc.

What skills does he need to adequately get his ideas on paper or electronic media? Punctuation? Spelling? Grammar? Etc.

So, what can he do to get those skills?

He decided that he wants to go back to a journaling approach where he records his ideas and interesting things that he learns about. OK. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but a step in the right direction, back to secure-based inspiration!

 

She's a Maniac!

I am now writing for three blogs, President of the AZ LDS Homeschoolers, speaking at the HIP Retreat in August and helping with the HIP Forum in February...what have I done to myself? Did I mention that I'm a wife, mother, homeschooler, and I have two callings? *sigh*

My Three Blogs:

• Cinder Mountain Scholars - (moved) My family stuff and about our homeschooling life.
• Az LDS Homeschoolers - Our statewide support group with information on State Laws, How to Get Started, and more...
• In the TJED Trenches - A group of TJED moms who write about implementing the Leadership Education model in their homeschools.

Check out my newest post that will get me in trouble....Arizona Budget Crisis.

Week 20

Busy, busy, busy...that is life as a homeschool family. This week we went to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday with some family. It was a beautiful day!

Christian - King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Sir Thomas Mallory, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (Playaway)
Marlayna - Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques, Salamadastrom by Brian Jacques
Me - Books - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Do Together -

• Devotionals - Let Him Ask of God
  
• Read Aloud - Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingals Wilder
  
• Government and Freedom - Key Constitutional Concepts (Judicial Branch) Part 1 & 2
• Mathematician - Mathematicians are People Too "Count on Pascal"
  
• Musician - Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers - "Mozart", The Story of Mozart CD
  
• History - Grand Canyon feidltrip -History of the buildings, founding of the Grand Canyon, etc.
• English and Grammar - Winston Grammar - Adjectives and Adverbs, The School House Rock videos Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get You Adverbs Here and Unpack Your Adjectives (see Mom Notes below)
  
• Science - skipped science this week
• Fieldtrip - The Grand Canyon! We went to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday with family that stopped in to visit. Pictures coming soon!
  

Mom Notes - Instilling good grammar and writing skills in my children has been something I have worried about. Many people ask about teaching grammar using the TJED or Leadership Education method. I think that reading classic books helps a lot, but I have noticed a need for more description in my children's writings...and that is where Winston Grammar fits into our curriculum. We have actually finished the basic books before and I just go back and review things on an "as needed" basis. I asked my children to go back over a couple of journal entries and make some lists of adjectives and adverbs that could be used to enhance those particular entries. We will be going over some of these lists next week in an effort to write more descriptive journal entries.

"In the TJED Trenches" posts

I am a contributor on a homeschooling blog called "In the TJED Trenches". TJED stands for Thomas Jefferson Education - which is also often called Leadership Education. I choose to call it Leadership Education. If you follow my blog or our family website, you have read my thoughts and how we apply this type of home education. I decided to link to each of my TJED Trenches writings here as well. So, here is today's entry:

Mentoring Adults

I post about 2-3 times a month. The other contributors are phenomenal and I hope that if you are interested in homeschooling that the information written by these women helps to support and encourage you. To see all of my posts, click here.