Rediscovering Old Loves

During the summer between second and third grade, Gabriel spent hours writing.  He was writing a Harry Potter in-between-quel.  It was a fabulous story.  But sometime in the third grade, he lost his love of writing.  In fact, not only did he lose the love, he found quite a bit of hatred.  For the last four years, I've been personally fighting this hatred.  Sadly, nothing I said or did made a difference; that has all changed.

Gabriel has been wanting to take an online Ancient Greek class.  Gary was not convinced that the online format would work well for him; I thought he needed a writing class.  The two things converged to give Gabriel the motivation to take an online writing class.  He would not be allowed to take the Ancient Greek class until after he took a writing class, and did well in it.

Gabriel started taking the Kidswrite Intermediate class on April 4th.  The first week was rough going.  He didn't want to write, of course.  He felt no comfort in the idea of writing.  Then, he got feedback on his first assignment.  Last week, he once again felt no compunction to write, but he did it.  When he was done with that third assignment, his face was glowing.  Today, he informed me that he wanted to get his schoolwork done quickly.  He was writing a book.  Apparently, he started last night after everyone else went to bed.  Today, he is ecstatic to be writing.  I am thrilled that he is rediscovering a love of writing.

On a side note, I have been watching the way the teacher interacts with the students in this class.  I have read her feedback and have been quite impressed.  She is very sensitive to their needs.  She is giving them advice and critiquing their work without seeming critical.  I am impressed.  My other children will definitely be taking classes with them when the time comes.