The boys report cards arrived yesterday, and it was as you would expect, nearly perfect in both cases. As such, it did not tell me much about them, but their is an academic activity lately that has done a fine job at illustrating facets about the boys.
As a way to promote their overall growth I've decided to have the boys commit to memory a few things. in exchange for a trip to the candy store. In this first iteration, Alex chose Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle" and Michael chose Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." This was what you would expect: Alex chose something passionate, whereas Michael displayed his affinity for Mr. Lincoln. Alex has been very diligent and is essentially done, but Michael is taking longer (as part of the dynamic, they are only rewarded when both complete their task); this is interesting in that Michael has a fantastic memory, but Alex has out worked him. Michael works very hard on his passions, but not as much on other tasks, whereas Alex can be directed. It is something that we need to continue to work on with him.
The most intriguing thing about this exercise has been to see that Michael has a natural cadence, and reads and recites his piece with rhythm, but Alex does not. "Rage, rage" erupted from his mouth, running together with the words like an explosion and in the process lost all of its poetry. This was something that I did not expect, but we have used recent days to teach him where to place emphasis, which has been a nice bonus of this task, and I believe is a skill that might serve him well.
RAPatton (3.11.2009)
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