What are you doing to embrace your child's strengths and interests?

[rafiki]

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[momsuz123]

My little one who is struggling with school - is an awesome dowhill skier! She also, loves to model. Yep, model. I debated about this, thinking hmmm, she should be doing more school. Even her SLP said, she lights up in photo shoots - let her have that. (It is silly, because she is the shy, quiet type).

I just started my kids in a hs gym class this week. I never realized how fast she was - I made a big deal about this for her.

I think this is important to remind ourselves what our kiddos CAN do.

Thanks for this!!

[merry gardens]

The board talks so much about weaknesses and remediation, but that is not who our children are.

 

I'd love to hear about how you are inspiring your children's interests and encouraging further development of their strengths and how your kids are exploring those.

...What will today bring?

Let me share what yesterday brought. We went on a field trip. :D My ds had kept asking and asking me to take them there, and for some reason, when he asked (again!) yesterday morning, I finally said yes. We went to a zoo.

 

It was refreshing and fun. It was educational. It was practically empty. We saw a couple of school groups and a group of special needs adults too, but for the most part, we had the place to ourselves. My children got lots of attention from the staff, who answered all their questions about the animals and explained many things to them. I overheard my children sharing things they knew about the animals that I didn't know they knew. They were engaged in learning. They read (or tried to read) the signs and studied the displays. I was even able to tie in our phonics lessons to some of the signs we saw. ("Zoological" became a lesson in syllable breaks as we simply walked along to the next exhibit. My six year old took a guess at one sign, and I reminded her about the two sounds of c.)

 

 

And...I loved the gift shop. :D I found Easter lilies and tulips on clearance, which we planted right outside our classroom window when we got home. We also came home with an "anatomy of a frog" kit that we'll play with today for science. I'm thrilled about that because I dissected a frog in seventh grade and this will give my 7th grader a similar experience without the stench.

 

I'm thankful that my dyslexic little guy requested this field trip and that I finally agreed to it. My children are strong in science.

[peacefully]

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Edited November 20, 2012 by yllek

[Lecka]

I read and talk with my son at bedtime. He has gotten very interested in non-fiction lately. He likes Usborne books a lot.

 

He is interested in dinosaurs right now and there is a chance (small but growing) that we will go on a trip to Utah this summer to see some dinosaur museums there. It is 13 hours but we could stay with relatives who are about 8 hours from us and 6 hours from Utah.

 

Really just that read-aloud and talking time is what we do -- he can find out about and talk about some interests. I have tried adding in some netflix on the same subjects -- but he likes the books better.

[Heathermomster]

DS likes history and using his hands. Loves Myth Busters. He plays with frogs in the backyard and makes samples for the new microscope. The other night he and DH took out the telescope and looked at Venus. I periodically take him to the local Veteran's museum. He loves military aircraft and builds models of airplanes and dioramas. He loves making videos of Legos and his sister. We visit the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola annually. DS helps his father work on a '84 Corvette that is in the throes of a restoration. He builds snap circuits and loves BB guns. Loves GI Joes. He collects coins with his Dad and sports cards. I taught him to knit a couple of years ago and he uses a hand crank sewing machine that I cleaned up for him. He's all about machines. We used to listen to books on tape in the car. He loves Miles Davis so I recently picked up some trumpet sheet music for him. Koopa is your typical boy. This is how we live.

 

ETA: DS loves to draw motorcycles, ride his bike, and play with 3d software. He's a natural with the software.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Heathermomster

[TippyCanoe]

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Edited November 21, 2012 by Doodler

[mktkcb]

I love threads like this...it is so easy to dwell on the negatives every day. My son,...my...sigh...15yo 2e borderline aspie/adhd like-fury-hell-hath-no...son, is a fabulous musician and loves theater. He's been taking lessons since he was almost 8 with a teacher whose feet I kiss regularly, and he's been clearly musically gifted since birth. I love hearing him sit down and just play whatever he wants to play. Practicing has always been a bear, but he loves to just play. He also loves theater, and has been doing that since he was 9. He's had numerous leads..he got to fly as Michael in Peter Pan, his first show so long ago, and currently he is doing Joseph and the Technicolor dreamcoat, with the role of Potiphar (perfect for him..he's naturally loud, and can bellow with the best, if you've seen it and know what Potiphar does). Finding people for *him* that appreciate him, and love his unique personality has been such a blessing. They are the ones that encourage me on the days when I just want to rip his big pointed head off. He's learned SO much through theater...some of it the hard way, but thats good, and he's learned how to handle competition (auditions), and it's made him have to focus in the middle of chaos, and deal with peers graciously, and all sorts of good things. AND the directors are fabulous with kids of all kinds, and are a perfect combo of encouragement and discipline. I love watching him perform. He's never met a stage he doesn't like. He's also taken up biking in the last few years, a side benefit of joining boy scouts and having to do the biking merit badge. We got him a good bike for christmas, and he loves riding all over the city (we have a good trail system) to his favorite spots (bookstore, comic store, gadget places etc.) We live in an apartment, but fortunately there are lots of semi-rural to rural areas all around us. I love watching him play with tiny kids, also. Little boys LOVE my son because he'll sword fight with them, push their wagons fast, and be silly without worrying about the cool factor too much. He has a very sweet nature underneath a lot of the blatant obnoxiousness :o). And I know you all know exactly what I mean by that ;o).

[FairProspects]

Well, I declared today a "Math and Science Only" day. I told the kids they could do anything they wanted related to math/science. (Ds's Lego Mindstorm replacement pieces arrived in the mail yesterday and I knew he would get very little done today anyway since he would be obsessed about what he could now build.)

 

So far, they have played checkers, talking through strategy together, and ds has built with the Mindstorm. Older ds is headed to his Robotics challenge class this afternoon and I plan on taking younger ds to the zoo and reading him a National Geographic book on animals in the spring. Last week we took a tour of the WSU extension gardens to see plants in the spring, so this week is animals!

 

We moved into doing a lot of science since both boys love it!

Edited April 18, 2012 by FairProspects

[SonshineLearner]

My 8 year old was discussing the lack of reasoning behind the gods being made at each other, yesterday. How cute! The story was cute, but I can't remember it.... You know... the god who ate his sons except for one of them... or something like that. He has the most incredible memory when it comes to Myths... and lots of other info :) He is also great at remembering all the moves in his Kempo class.

 

Last week I watched a CHADD video about remembering the good points of your child, and identifying their strengths to help you deal with their struggles.

I need to just record all the information he needs to learn on cd, so he can listen from 8pm-11pm when he's awake... and I want to clobber him :) Instead he listens to Mark Twain (and oops... have to remind him about words that aren't ok) and Myths about children being eaten :)

[Jennifer-72]

For the last couple of weeks I have been using the narrative play ds has been using with his toys as a way to get him writing. We have been taking turns telling stories with the toys and then writing those stories down. Ds is thrilled with this and keeps calling out to me from the playroom to come write down his next story. Fun! Although, it is getting hard to make dinner:)

 

I have ds involved in many extra curricular activities to help him expand his interests. So far the clear winner is swimming, followed by his speech arts class. He is also spending an afternoon every other week doing workbench projects with my dad. This week they are taking apart a drill.

 

I try to incorporate his special interest in dinosaurs everyway possible. We live rather close to an excellent dino museum and try to go 3 or 4 times a year.

[freeindeed]

I've recently started an encouragement journal. In it I write all the things that my dd4 does that amaze me. It also helps me to see what her interests are & how she best learns.

[rafiki]

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[houseofkids&pets]

DS12 (pdd-nos) LOVES trains (shocking, huh?). He and my father are building a huge O Scale train layout in our basement. Ds has been planning how he wants to have a section that will be a city, and part of it will be countryside with farms, etc. His twin sister is helping him design and paint scenery since she is very artsy. He is really enjoying it and has spent many hours recently looking at model train magazines. Oh, he also plans to have a drive-in movie theater since he saw how to make one using a small, portable DVD player.

 

I know that this will be something he will add to, modify, and love for a very long time. It is also nice to see all of that bonding with his grandpa.

[SkateLeft]

One of the coolest things we've done this year is participate in the Special Olympics winter games. My little guy is too young to compete officially, but he was able to participate as an exhibition speedskater, in the demonstration of future Special Olympics athletes. He skated out in front of the judges, and the audience cheered. Then, he did a little hop on his skates, and they all cheered again. He was so thrilled! We loved all the other families, coaches and athletes. Everyone was so encouraging, and the environment was so positive. Athletes are celebrated for what they can do, and every triumph is celebrated.

 

My older kids' skate coach has been working with my little guy for two years now. He's made very slow progress, but he can now skate around on his little speedskates! The older homeschooled teens who are on the ice during our ice time always cheer him on and help him out.

[Finnella]

My DS loves Legos and makes fantastic builds from his own ideas. He recently admitted that he did want to move up to Mindstorms but had said he didn't like them to spare us the expense. So we're going to save up for that.

 

He's also very interested in acting. I take him to plays and other performances when I can. He's also doing acting classes. Last fall he won an Exceptional Performer award that got him preferred placement in his current acting class. This performance will be his first for a paying audience (as opposed to just adoring family members). He's introverted and anxious but that doesn't stop him from performing.

[herekittykitty]

We've been reading lots of history and science stuff. I knew he loved science but did not realize how much he would love history. We've been doing SOTW (me reading aloud) and he begs for more. We made words from hieroglyphs and then did our writing practice by translating them. So fun! Next week we are going to the Egypt exhibit at a science museum.

The timing is perfect. I am learning that if I relate the 3 Rs back to history and science he really likes it!

[swellmomma]

Strengths and interests eh. Well aside from video games ds13 loves dinosaurs. I gave up fighting him about video games and took the idea someone had posted here once of having him teach me how to play them if he finished his school work in time. He is loving that. As far as his interest in dinos, this weekend at conference one of the talks was froma creationist that believes dinos are the dragons of lore. Anyway I attended the talk with ds, and bought him the book the talk was based on and took him up front to ask the author to autograph it. Ds thought I was the coolest mom ever for that one. Generally speaking I take him to museums, get him books, found out what he needs to become a paleontologist and am helping him reach those goals. I am hoping to get WP dinosaur days for him for next year. It is likely a bit young for him and will need some boosting but he will love it.

 

dd12 She LOVES horses. She has been a tad bit obsessed since the first time she rode at 18 months. I have taken her to ride when we can. It is expensive and we don't own a horse. She attended a summer camp last year that gave her a chance to earn her horsemanship 1 which she is very proud of. I got history of the horse for the kids based on her love. I have been saving up for her take riding lessons closer to home so hopefully that will be a reality for her.

 

ds8 has always had a dream of being a firefighter. We have toured mutliple fire halls, and EMS stations. Talked with fire fighters. Studied fire engines, fire fighters, fire safety etc. One of the reasons we chose this house (though admittedly a small reason) was that it is only minutes from the fire college ds would have to attend to become one.

 

With all of the kids as they become interested in something new I jump in whole hog. DD12 wanted to learn to sew so gramma and I paid for lessons. DS13 enjoys mythology so we read it, and talk about it, and watch videos about it, and do lapbooks, and hopefully next year he will write the mythology exam. He wanted to this year but we missed the deadline.

[Ottakee]

My girls are in school now but I do like the idea of focusing in on things they love.

 

We do the horses.

 

16dd has an older horse (32 year old quarter horse) and while he can only be lightly ridden, she LOVES him and takes greatly for him. Taking care of him has really helped with her skills all around and the physical skills of riding have been great for her as well.

 

15dd actually has 2 horses--1 is an older pony that she can do just about anything with (that 16dd can also ride on longer rides) and then a 20 year old Arab cross that she is going to show 4H this year and has started jumping. SHe has hypotonic CP so riding has really helped her core strength and balance and gives her something that she can do and excel in .

 

My girls both love having friends over to ride (very carefully supervised lead line).

 

24ds did LOTS and LOTS of Special Olympics before but now has other interests. He is on a bowling league with his bio brother and really enjoys that time as he can bowl with "normal" peers and be very successful. He also had a dirt bike for years.

[Greta Lea]

11th grader (Aspie & Math LD): He loves reading books about philosophy and worldview. I try to have one day a week for him to work on the book he's writing during writing class.

 

8th grader (struggles with reading *and* math): I keep his lessons short and to the point so his school day is short enough for him to have time for music.

[sixpence1978]

My DD loves to listen to audio books over and over. I'm always trying to find her new ones. Lately she has been on a kick with listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader audio drama. She has listened so many times that she is beginning to memorize large portions of it.

 

She has been "rewriting" the audio drama word for word, which I find awesome. I keep telling her to add to it.

 

She also loves horses, which we hope to encourage again soon. She also loves playing at the park with me, just getting outside and enjoying life. I have been making sure to make time for this now that the weather is warm again.

[peacefully]

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[Citrusheights5]

My Miles- who struggles with anything academic, is just a whiz at any kind of movement. That is is his "special gift". Walking by 8 mos, riding a bike with no training wheels just after his second birthday. He was asked to give a performance of his different tricks. He wowed them with his wheelies, and peg hopping. Then he did head stands and flips. He was so happy to be recognized for what he does. It is still amazing to see what he can do, once I peek through my fingers..

[AngelaNYC]

Ds(11) has gotten more serious about singing and thinks he may want to attend a performing arts high school. I recently found a wonderful show choir in the neighborhood that meets on Saturdays, and after one 90-minute practice, he's hooked. They sing, dance, and do several performances.

 

Dd(15) has been all about dance since she was 3. She's in a great dance studio and was accepted to one of the best performing arts high schools in the country. We have supported her since day 1, not only being her biggest cheerleaders, but helping out anyway we could (travel, money, the crazy NYC high school application process, research, cutting music, etc).

 

Dd(18) has tried dozens of things, never really staying with any one thing in particular, but we still encouraged her interests and found ways for her to experience almost everything she showed interest in.

[merry gardens]

Well, I declared today a "Math and Science Only" day. I told the kids they could do anything they wanted related to math/science. ...We moved into doing a lot of science since both boys love it!

I love this idea!!!

 

My children are strong in math and science. Those subjects should receive more focus in our homeschooling.

[funnygirl]

WONDERFUL thread!!

 

My dd gets on a "kick" which usually lasts a week or two. During that time she thoroughly explores a subject. A few weeks back it was drawing anime/manga. She brought home at least 25 art books from the library and spent every waking moment working on her drawings. The last couple of weeks she has been obsessed with origami. I have allowed her to work on it for hours a day (in place of "regular" lessons) because she has to follow directions, stick to a task, work/rework, and usually try and fail before she is successful. If I can figure out how to "macro" those skills to her life in general we'll be in great shape!

 

LOVE hearing about all of your wonderful kids. Let's do make this a weekly thread. :)

[rafiki]

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[FairProspects]

Just this past month, I purchased the Life in a Rotting Log kit, a set of painted lady caterpillars, an ant farm, and a praying mantis egg case (all from Carolina Biological).

 

Yllek, you have to quit posting such cool resources! I just ordered this kit thanks to you - the boys will be thrilled, but dh will not be! :D

[TippyCanoe]

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[akalori]

My son loves to draw, so we just recently started exploring different mediums - watercolor pencils, ink, watercolors, and gouache. We haven't found the bet fit yet. He is craving more vibrancy and texture. So next we are going to try acrylics. Once we find the right medium, then I might enroll him in art lessons. I wonder if I could afford private art lessons to address his particular interests and skills. It would be great to have an artist mentor him. What he lacks in skill he makes up for with enthusiasm. It would make him so happy to develop his skill so that he was recognized as being artistic.

[peacefully]

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[peacefully]

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[peacefully]

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[TippyCanoe]

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