A World of Learning

 Hi everyone! I hope things are going well as we enjoy the last bit of summer and head back to school! In any case, I thought I'd tell you about one of the boys I tutor. He's been reading about different men who have accomplished great things. Thomas Jefferson, MLK jr., and so on. During his most recent session, he read about Stephen Hawking. But this boy is accomplishing great things too! He's a nine-year-old boy, going into 4th grade, and I have to look up 6th grade words to go on his monthly word list! I really have to be choosy too, because I think that some of them would be too easy for him! He's learning words like appearance, audience, capacity, and concentration. He recently found out that he's going to have a baby brother. I don't know if this little boy will be advance in learning like the boy I tutor, but I hope he won't feel like he's been compared to his brother when it comes to learning. 

 When my mom made the gold medals for the kids I tutor, I wasn't sure how interested they would be in them. When I gave one to one of the boys, he said, "Can I keep it forever?" So he must have really liked it. Another boy was wearing his again the week after I'd given it to him when I came to tutor him again. This really made me happy!  Also, I saw the boy out and about one day and he came over and gave me a hug! Even though I make him do math (which he hates) as well as reading, he must really like me to want to give me a hug! It really makes a person feel rewarded when the kids show their appreciation for them.  Enjoy life's simple pleasure! Make someone smile today! It will make you want to smile too!

 The cup game is one of the kids' favorite learning activities! I tape a word from the list they are memorizing inside each cup, plus one that says ZONK! The goal is to pick a cup, see the word, and be able to say it. They need to get three words correct. Then the cups get mixed back into the rest, and they try to do it again. If they get a ZONK, they have to start that round over. They need to get three correct rounds in order to earn a piece of candy. This game works for all ages, as I've played it with letters for the three-year old I tutor, all the way up to the nine-year-old. I usually use six or seven cups. It's a lot of fun! We don't stack the cups for the game, we just arrange them all flat on the table. I just stacked them for the picture so I could get them all in. 😄