I guess I'm still so personally attached to traditional teaching/learning that I fall back on it. It's what I know.
This is a great learning experience for you - next time your DS is being stubborn, and having a hard time doing it any way except HIS way, think back on this transition. Flexibility is an 'Executive Function' and can be 'natural' or 'learned through practice.' But it's so great that you get firsthand experience with exactly how sticky a brain can be. My parents were terrific at giving me lots of chances to 'practice,' and of course I resented it, and bent over backwards not to 'train' my DS in this area. LOL on me! Luckily I read a book about it last year, and have started playing catch up with DS13, and it does really work! (The Brain that Changes Itself)
I'll try to keep this in mind and do some stealth teaching. I'm a speech therapist and I work in geriatrics. Usually I'm dealing with dementia and cognitive therapy, but it's very touchy when you point out to an elderly person that they might be having memory or other reasoning problems. So, I do what I call stealth therapy or incognito therapy. I ask questions, play games, do whatever I have to do to treat without calling it treatment. Often, the patient assumes I'm just a nice person visiting with them or spending time with them. I need to do more of this with ds!
WOW and WOOT! W-A-T-E-R! I'm blown away. This is exactly the approach to take for the next 6 months. You have a great backround for this homeschooling thing. Nothing bad will happen if you 'just' have fun together and be a 'nice person visiting.' You can even do 'character development' with other areas, such as household organizing and maintenance, or sports. Think of this as an observational period where you are 'learning' him as a 'learning' and exploring the local resources.
Are there any Karate Classes that offer daytime classes near you? Or Gymnastics? Or a swim team that meets in the early morning. You son - to me- sounds like the kind of kid who needs something scheduled and physical almost daily. I wonder if that would eventually help with the sleep.
Smiles, Grinity
