Homeschool Happenings: Weekly Review #1

Frequently, my oldest son visits my grandparents, his great-grandparents. They have him out usually every other week to visit. Often times he helps in the backyard by driving “Little John” (a kid-size John Deere tractor) around and collecting sticks in the back and moving them to the front trash bins. He finds this “job” great fun and it keeps him busy too!

But, this week, his great-grandpa “hired” him to help with a job. You see, my grandpa had his second hip-replacement surgery a few weeks back and he can’t bend past a 90 degree angle. That makes picking up sticks, rocks and such out of the question. So, he “hired” my oldest son to help him this week.

My son was able to go out on Tuesday and help and then again today (Friday). He is removing some boards my grandpa had placed next to their driveway for more parking spaces. They are having a new driveway poured next week and it needed to be done. So, my son has learned the invaluable lesson of hard work this week.

And the best part…my grandpa taught him a few lessons along the way!! He told my son he wanted to “hire” him for a job and asked if he was interested. Of course my son jumped at the chance. So, he explained to him that he would pay him TWO gold dollars for each day he worked until it was completed. Then, he went on to explain that when people are hired for a job they are expected to work hard and do their best. And, sometimes when the job is complete and they’ve done a great job, they could earn a bonus.

Everyday my son has asked to go out and work. In fact, he’s begged on occasion. With some rain that moved through a few scheduling conflicts, it’s been a looooong week for him. Maybe the motivation is money right now, but he is learning how to work hard, follow instructions, take direction and always do his best. Plus, he’s learning under the watchful eye of his loving great-grandpa! Doesn’t get much better than that!!

This is him mowing last year, under the watchful eye of his Daddy.
I didn't know he was mowing this week or I would have grabbed my camera to snap a new picture.

And since he’s been “hired” for this job, he’s also asked to help with things around the house…for pay! HA! Sadly, we had to inform him that helping with chores around the house is just part of being a family. Everyone pitches in and helps take care of things. (We don’t do an allowance for him at this time, but more on that in another post.) And what’s his favorite job to do around the house you ask? MOW! He practically begs to do it! In fact, he completely cleaned the backyard on Wednesday so he could mow. Unfortunately, it was already too late in the day to mow, shower and eat before church. Now if we could just figure out a way to keep up this motivation and transfer it to his actual school work?!

How was your homeschooling week?

Blessings,

Annette

Linking up to the Homeschool Parties:

Holy-Spirit Led Homeschooling, Learning All The Time, Collage Friday @ Homegrown Learners, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers