THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHILDREN

I was thinking about how different our children are. They are born of the same parents, like to do many of the same things, and yet they are so different. Let me explain. I will use the example of school work. It occurred to me while Carl was finishing up his school work at about 4:30 exactly how different James and Carl really are.

James-With James everything is a struggle. He doesn't understand why he has to do his work, and why he has to read, or why he has to do chores. I constantly get the "Do I have to", or the "Why do I have to", "I don't want to". It is a constant fight to get him to finish his work. He will walk away any chance that he gets and go play. I have been reading some things on how to deal with this. Just Monday as it was taking him all day to do his word problems for math, which he doesn't understand why he can't do multiplication when Carl is, I was wondering if we were ever going to make it through the day. Today we did his word problems on the window. I read them to him and he wrote them out on the window. It went much better. He even does this with his chores. If it is something that really interests him, like science, he will whiz through it. With his literature he think that I need to step him through everything. I do go over what he is to do with him and help him with any questions that he has, but goodness,when every problem or question he has a question about I can't get anything done. And if it is required reading, it will be the end of the world. But if it is something of his choosing then he will sit and read it without any problems. He also likes to hum. Today I asked him to stop. I explained to him that he didn't like it when others made noise because it distracted him and now here he was making noise and distracting Haylea during her math lesson. I hope he got it. I don't know how he gets anything done with his humming. But when all goes well and he gets his work done I am grateful.

Carl- Carl is not a struggle. Today Carl didn't get all of his work done on his list. So at 4:30 his was finishing it up. He said to me mom I didn't do it yesterday so I have to do it today. In my mind I am thinking, where did this child come from. Don't get me wrong. When he doesn't want to do his work he lays his head down and moans a little. He is hard headed at these times and thinks that he will win. Sometimes if I change the subject he is doing or give him a break he will come back and do it alright. I called him on it yesterday and brought it to his attention. He didn't do it today. He will sit until his work is done most of the time. It is in between lessons that he runs off. So I will have to call him back to start something new. I am grateful that I have one child who will stick to the task until it is done. Carl also likes to get more work done so that on Friday there is not so much work to do. He is one that I don't have to worry about getting his work done.

Haylea- Haylea is great. She loves to play. She usually plays until I get a chance to work with her on her schoolwork. When I do call her to the table she says she doesn't want to do her work, or that she wants to wait for Isaiah. Once I pull her away from playing she does all that I ask her to do, and enjoys it. Sometimes when I ask her phonics questions she wouldn't answer them right. Then when I added Isaiah to the lessons and he answered them right, she started trying a little harder. I am glad that her schooling does not take long, but she learns the things that she needs. I don't understand why it takes all day for kindergarten when we can do it all in about 2 hours. This includes science or history.

Isaiah- Isaiah is a trooper. He goes to preschool for three hours. And them comes home and does some lessons with Haylea. He picks up so much it amazes me. He enjoys answering the questions before Haylea. Sometimes I have to tell him that it is Hayleas turn to answer the question. He does everything except for math. Maybe I should start teaching him the math.

Adalyn- I have to say that she is a great baby. She has a lot of patience with me. She plays with Haylea. She will sit at the table and try to draw. She likes to climb in the chair behind the boys and see what they are doing. I have truly been blessed to have her. I remember Isaiah when I started homeschooling. All he wanted was my attention. I have to say that the first day of school for Adalyn was rough, but it has been smooth sailing so far. I hope that I haven't cursed myself.

As you can see that all the children are different. I love watching them learn something new. They grasp it differently than the other child. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for entrusting these sweet spirits to our family. I am also grateful for the realization that they are all individuals and they are each different. I have known this all along but I really appreciated it today.