Well, I suppose I do, our routines have been disrupted with the summer living and camping; and stuff gets dumped any old place.
So anyway, big tidy up today, which has the added benefit of knowing where materials and resources are.
Rye has been wonderfully helpful today; completing his own chores cheerfully, and taking on extra too. We do need to tackle his bedroom. While reading about dyslexia, I learned that the condition exhibits in a number of ways; the difficulty learning to read, is of course, the obvious one. The condition can also cause disorganisation, difficulties in finding things and following instructions. It was a lightbulb moment. The pit, that is his bedroom, is more than simple untidiness or laziness. A strict tidy up routine is necessary, it prevents his room from reaching nuclear state with the subsequent battles over tidying up, and the routine will, hopefully, embed keeping his things organised and in or on the correct boxes and shelves. A large dollop of self preservation too; nothing irritates me more than having to spend hours sorting his bedroom.
That time of the year too; when a declutter is necessary before the Yule and Christmas!
After the mammoth tidy up, we read a little, and then Rye went and played with his friends. After dinner he had cubs. Heart break! He came back so sad. The cubs stayed in and played games in the hall; hockey, which Rye loathes, and a game he said was called "Hand Ball", and where they passed the ball to each other, but no one passed him the ball, Rye said it made him feel really sad and left out. He came back saying how "terrible" he is at games, and doesn't want to do cubs anymore.
Rye is a kid whose self esteem is really fragile; if he can't do something, he immediately exclaims he is rubbish and can't do it. He needs lots of patience and being shown the task step by step. He is the epitome of Afred Cohen's assertion that generalised praise is worthless and children can spot it a mile off. Telling Rye, he's "doing well", or "that's great!" is a waste of time. Praise has to be meaningful, thoughtful and I try to engage him in praising himself. If he's telling me something is rubbish, and is getting upset and teary, I ask him to show me something he has done, that he's happy with, and to tell me why he's happy with it.
Cubs, though is a dilemma; he is adamant he doesn't want to go anymore; up to until this session he's enjoyed Cubs, and I think with encouragment he will enjoy it again; but at the same time I do want to respect his wishes, plus subs for the term are owed, and it's a chunk of money that could be used for other activities instead if he is serious. I'll chat with the cub leader and make a decision after that.
Home Ed life is never dull, that's for sure!
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