Early this summer, Zion made it known he was not feeling doing any type of schoolwork during his break. The eager to learn pre-schooler and kindergartener was replaced with a sullen grade schooler. Maybe, he did not know any better when he was younger.
After a month of inactivity, I found a website called outschool.com, which has all sorts of interesting classes for kids and adults for any subject. Since Zion wants to be a builder (engineer or architect), I signed him up for STEM classes. Eventually, I found daily 90-minute Minecraft classes, which I thought he would love.
Early on, he did love the classes quite a bit. Inevitability, he started to burn out on the classes, and it became a chore. Towards the end of the summer, I gave him a day off per week just to get through the remaining the classes.
Zion has also gotten more into Roblox this summer. So, I signed him up for a Roblox. This was even a chore for him. He was clearly burned out.
Guess he will not be too excited about the two Minecraft classes and two week roller coaster building class I signed him up for in September and October.
I take some solace from another point Michelle Obama made in her book “Becoming.”
Kids know when you devalue their education, and they will behave accordingly.
Zion might not agree with my methods and think he is taking too many classes. However, I ‘m confident he does not feel devalued. If I quit pushing him, he will feel devalued and behave accordingly.
I’ll keep pushing him and keep hoping for the best.