Hi all, it's been quite a few hours since and I've calm down, somewhat. Tks for all the advice.
Thinking through, for some reason, Aleks has been a whirlwind for DS7 so far. He never had any drill before - we used to just run through concepts without any practice, so I'm startled he hasn't needed more time. I think he really dislikes to receive any help (socratic questions or otherwise, Collinsmum - he's the sort who, if he looks at hints in some puzzles, tells himself to forget the examples so he can have his "original thinking"), so that in itself must be quite stressful for him, that's true. I did try to position the mouse for him today, but yow, I got an earful. Anyway, he finished the section with a triumphant smile on his face.
My chief complaint is his attitude towards mistakes and how he takes out his frustration. He's always had very fixed ideas about things and he despises mistakes, no matter how I model it for him. Actually, that backfired today because he said I couldn't help him since I may not be right, *roll*. And the backtalk, ouch. On his attitude towards mistakes, I guess only repeatedly talking it through and tireless modelling (gasp) can help. He's only 7yo, so we'll have plenty of time to do all that (I'll have to be saying he's only __yo for a long time to come
. )
After a day like this, he's sorry for saying hurtful things and will actually try to be patient with himself and sweet with me for several weeks. And then the overconfidence (to me) and impatience builds, and pow again.
I'm going to prepare myself for the next episode and remind myself about the pearls of wisdom you guys have said:
- a short time out, and assure him that it's not punitive, but rather, for him to calm himself (tks, Chris1234)
- bring out the real protractor set (yes I did find the Aleks version annoying, except he's bent on finishing it). A break for me wouldn't be a bad idea, Floridama!
- yup, this is my son at his worst, but he does deserve a hug for trying so hard. So true!! I have to look past the behaviour and find my sweet kid. Tks, onthegomom.
