I did not have my son spend hours doing work that involved handwriting because he needed time to work on piano and musical theater and dance and exercise that I knew would further develop his coordination and strength, and it has. I also wanted to allow him plenty of time to read and learn things that were of interest to him to further develop his excellent vocabulary and his ability to carry on intelligent conversations about many different things. I wanted to allow him time to look for answers to his many questions and to discuss those questions with me and his dad who is just as much of a geek as his son but hides it in public just as my son has to do.
I wanted my son to have plenty of time to keep up with what was going on in the news and to learn about the history and culture of lots of different countries and to know that there is an interesting world outside of our small town where he doesn't fit in because he is interested in everything except sports and it seems that most of the other kids we meet are the opposite.
Because I didn't make him practice writing for hours he had time to read about things like Jungian psychology and he is able to make jokes when he is studying science. Yesterday we read on Brainpop "Some researchers, including Leeuwenhoek, claimed they could see tiny "animacules" when they observed reproductive cells... My son who immediately noticed the anima in animacules joked, "could they see their "inner female?" He says things like this all the time and I enjoy learning with him and just talking to him. If I make him practice writing more than what he is doing we lose the fun in learning and neither one of us is willing to give that up.
We absolutely need to keep as much fun in our lives as possible because my son will have to go back to a full time brace for at least a few more years until he stops growing and it is going to be difficult but we will get through it together.
I guess I always saw practicing handwriting for hours as taking away time from learning more important things. My son does still get some writing practice and my husband, who watched a Jack Vale video with my son that advertised a gadget called a "pooter" that well, makes fart noises, thought it might be a more fun way for our middle school age boy to do hand strengthening exercises than just squeezing a boring old ball. My son is definitely using it more than he did the ball.
I take it my comment about having a third-grader work on his homework for hours struck a nerve.
Just to clarify, my son creates his own music on his keyboard, just earned a spot on the local climbing team, creates stop-action videos with his Legos, plays with the neighborhood kids, and has plenty of free time to veg.
That does not in any way change the fact that I expect my son to try twice as hard to master things that come naturally for other kids and that accommodations should be a part of the mix when it slows down learning but should not negate the effort to master the skills that are holding him back.
I appreciate your difference of opinion but do take exception to what I see as a clear dig on my parenting decisions.
I respect your opinions and wish you the very best with your strategies and philosophies, and I do believe there is room for mine here as well.
