Bursting!
Today was the second meeting of our cooking project group for 4H. Evie is the Youth Leader. Today's group was about cookies! Evie wrote a fabulous presentation about measuring, ingredients and methods. It was her idea, she did the research, she wrote it all out (almost 1000 words). She rehearsed, she made changes, she had demos. I am so proud of her I could just pop!
My confidence in her has never wavered. Just as I knew she would walk and talk, I was just as sure she would figure out how to communicate what is important to her through words on a page. That unshakable confidence doesn't mean there haven't been times (okay, a lot of them) when I wonder "AHHH! Should I be forcing this? Teaching her? Insisting on putting words to paper?" Generally I get a hold of myself and just watch. Over the last year her desire to write has soared and her spelling is like someone turned on spell-check in her brain. She has always been a voracious reader and now those words are running around her brain and coming out in new ways in new media.
Amazing stuff. Her presentation was FABULOUS! She was confident, funny, clear and really informative. Then everyone made cookies! What could be better.
Can you tell I am proud?
3 comments:
Awesome! And I'm not surprised. :)
I'll try not to be too long - I got an email (and follow-ups) from my local unschoolers group (which isn't that unschooly, 'cept for the ones I know, it seems) about this Mama talking about writing. "Should I insist she writes (she's five) from the top down? So she learns the proper way? Will she ever learn to write properly if I don't?"
I'm quite irritated, I must say.
I want to say "Are you kidding me!??" (an Unchoolers list, remember.)
And "I have never written the way teacher's wanted - my slant is naturally vertical or to the left a little (imagine that. :) ) and half of the letters I begin at the bottom!"
Come on! None of us write the same way, and lots of us have different styles of penmanship!
Trev doesn't write, as I'm sure you remember. For a while, he wanted to, and we practiced, but I think it killed the inquiry. I"m not worried, I know it's temporary.
Sheesh. For me the only question is, "Is it likely that he'll be fifteen, and not know how to write?" No way. He knows how to, he just chooses not to. He reads. His mother writes. He expresses himself beautifully verbally. Please. Not worried.
Blech. Came to apologize. It just so happened that this post of yours came on the heels of that discussion, and someone wrote in about "the best way to teach someone is to do it for 5-10 minutes a day for 4-5 days a week, blah, blah, blah," and it irritated me to no end to see that on a local unschooling board. Hmmph.
Now that I've tried to justify my poor manners, let me begin anew.
M - That is awesome. While I am not surprised - as Evie is an amazing girl, I am so happy for you that you get to have another "woohoo!!" :)
Always a superb height when we get to say "See!?!", and know that it Works.
You are both a credit to womanhood.
Yay, Evie!!
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