The difference a week makes

Last week I wrote about Isaac's hesitancy with colouring. Well tonight after supper I suggested that he try to colour the sheet that his teacher sent home with him after school today. This past weekend, and tonight as well, I asked him in such a way as to try and make it a fun activity rather than something he would dread. I guess it worked.

They've been reading about Curious George at school, and the teacher sent home a full-page cartoon of the monkey for him to colour, and I was quite pleasantly surprised when he finished the whole thing in less than 1/2 an hour. I was especially impressed at how well he stayed within the lines. Then as he was finishing, he told me that he was glad that I had encouraged him to practice colouring, because now he really enjoyed it. The fact that he acknowledged this was tremendously satisfying.

I think this whole experience thus far was a small taste of the feeling I had tried to describe to myself earlier, even before Isaac was in school. Somehow, eventhough I knew that things wouldn't always go easy, I was always looking forward to helping Isaac with his schoolwork. A lot of it I believe was because I enjoyed school. There's also that natural parental pride in seeing your child achieve something after working hard to get there. Like other parents I'm sure, I want my child to do well. I hope that Isaac finds the environment in which Bonnie and I are trying to help him, an encouraging one.

Anyways, here's the result of his work tonight.