Surprises in Schooling...Back to Homeschool Hop

My boy surprised me this week.

He's in Vacation Bible School at one of the local churches.

They put a challenge out to the children.  Complete an activity book (easy enough) and read the book of John (21 chapters...daunting!).

I kept reminding my boy to read it, to complete his activity book and he kept blowing me off.

So I stopped reminding him.  I don't need to remind a boy to do things and have him blow me off.  Consequences will teach.

The second last day.  He's reminded of the benefits of following through on the challenge.

The reminder is out of my hands beyond.. "MOM!   Why weren't you stricter with me and make me do this? AH!!!    How am I going to read it through?   How am I going to do this by tomorrow???!?!?!?!   MOM!!!"

I told him I'm not keen on getting blown off and that I gave him LOTS of reminders and it was his choice to not follow through.   I encouraged him to do his best.

And you know what?   He did it!

I was surprised.

I did help him read six chapters because he was doing a stellar job of reading .. but not only that... he read and he talked about what he was reading.

I was FLOORED.   In less than a day he read the entire book of John, completed an activity book, and turned from stressful boy into "I did it Mom".  

Rather cool eh?

So guess what this means?

I can step up my expectations of my boy and the work he is able to accomplish.  This is a good thing to know.  :)

My boy, who has hitherto been content to read comic books, because everything else is too hard, or too boring, read and enjoyed reading through the book of John.  He understood much and asked excellent questions of what he was reading.

I think it's time to ask a bit more of him.

So tell me this....as you plan your homeschooling this year, have your children surprised you by what they can do and made you revamp some of your opinions and strategies?

Taking part in the blog hop has been fun.
I hope you've enjoyed this week.
If you want to see what others are writing, here's a list below to get you started.
if you want to see a list of all the participating bloggers, GO HERE.

Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Aurie @ Our Good Life
Jennifer @A Peace of Mind
Jenn @ Treasuring Life's Blessings
Kemi @ Homemaking Organized
Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
Katie @ DailyLife
Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Kim @ Homestead Acres
Melissa @ Mom's Plans