God can use anything –even blogs!– to bring amazing people into your life: people who make you laugh, people who build you up, people who make you feel as if you just might not be the only salmon fighting the current, after all. While our family is saying goodbye to friends and family here in the States, I’m honored to feature the work of some of those folks right here on To Sow a Seed. These bloggers bring inspiration, encouragement, and a healthy dose of keepin’ it real to their corners of the internet. It’s my prayer that you’ll be blessed through their words, and if you’re not familiar with their blogs, you’ll pop on over and soak in some of the life-changing stuff they offer.
Today, I’m thrilled to feature a post by Renee at Little Earthling Blog/Baker’s Dozen and Apollo XIV. I first stumbled onto Renee’s world in the days when the baker’s dozen was still being assembled; an adoption story junkie, I followed their family’s journey to grow their family through international adoption. In time, I discovered that she lives not far from us, is an amazing photographer, and loves the Beatles as much as we do. Not only that, but we both have children whose middle names are numbers. Mix in some special needs, yarn love, and mission experiences, and Renee is me but way cooler. Way cooler. If you’re not already one of her blog followers, do yourself a favor and add her now. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll fall in love with her adventurous brood.
Enoch is eight years old. Enoch, my son who by all appearances could barely read at age seven, but then flipped his book over one day and read it upside down with no difficulties whatsoever? Yeah, that one.
He has always been mechanically minded. He loves to figure out how things are put together. His mind is always working just like his body is always moving. I remember a couple of years ago he pushed a chair over to our pantry and spent a good ten or fifteen minutes peering at the top of the door opening and closing it slowly. Then he shouted, “Mom, I figured out how this works!” then gave me a five minute lecture on how the mechanics of the door operated.
He is smart, there is no doubt about it. The thing is, he doesn’t fit well into the role of Good Student. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to do any school work. And before you send me comments about the value of waiting to begin “formal schooling” let me tell you this is his first year of school, and he is eight.
Today I told him approximately 532 times to do his math. He will find any excuse to slip away: He needed to go the bathroom. He was helping Tucker. He was reading to Avi. His tooth is loose. He forgot. The economy is experiencing a recession…
“Enoch, do your math,” I said. Again.
“It’s too hard,” he said.
Actually it wasn’t and he knew exactly what to do. He needed to do double digit subtraction. When I walked by two minutes later he was doing it. With his math book upside down.
This child will expend twice as much energy to avoid his work, as it would take him to just do it. I have seen him (on many occasions) walk right past the closet where an item belongs, to stuff it somewhere it doesn’t belong. Why?!
Don’t ask me what goes on in this boy’s head. You may be wondering at this point why I try to force it. Why make him do this math…well, I can’t really say to my other children, “Enoch doesn’t have to do school work because…um….he’s like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. Smart, but not really into book work. So he can build with LEGO instead.” If he were my only child, perhaps we could skip all the book work and explore the world of math together. As it is, I have nine other students, plus my preschoolers. He needs to learn to get with the program.
If he were in school, he would be a trouble maker. I have no doubt about that. He likes to joke and make people laugh. He’s handsome and charming. He’s witty. A great kid, but not Good Student material. I look at him and it confirms in me my long standing belief that good grades have very little to do with intelligence.
And while Edison and Einstein were both brilliant, I don’t believe they were easy to raise. And so I take a deep breath, drink another cup of coffee and continue raising Edison.
{I wrote these words six years ago. Enoch is now 14, working full-time this summer at a local garden and about to begin 9th grade. I wish I had a magical formula to give you, 5 Tips to Teaching a Reluctant Learner or something along those lines, but I don’t. What I can tell you is, he somehow learned those math facts, finished a school book here and there and is doing just fine academically. Enoch has always been an intense kid, always been a bit different. But he is developing into a smart, strong, responsible young man. My only words of wisdom are: Be patient. Be kind. Be tough when you need to be. Educating is a subtle dance at times…sometimes he leads, sometimes I do. As long as we keep heading toward our goal (a well-rounded education), I’m happy.
About the author
My name is Renee. I am 38 years old and married to a hottie Canadian-turned-American, Chuck. I have been blogging since September 2006.
Chuck and I have grown our large family through adoption and birth. We have fourteen children: five adopted (foster adopt, private adoption and international adoption) and nine biological children.
I gave birth to our first eight babies in nine years, then came our grand finale, Apollo XIV, in June 2010. An what a finale he was, heart defect and all. Our four oldest have escaped our clutches and moved out of the house.
We homeschool our large family except for Judah (17) and Tilly (15) who attend community college, Mordecai (11) and Avi (8) who attend school with IEP’s and Apollo (age 4).
I love reading, writing, knitting, Jesus, photography, chocolate, and of course, coffee.
I own my own photography business Little Earthling Photography where I specialize in birth and newborn photography.