Assessment 2024--Baymax

He's little . . . but he's big . . .
 

I'm just stunned not to have any babies anymore.

I've tried to never treat him like the baby--even going so far as to run our little daycare for a few years so that he wouldn't be the youngest and he could learn to care for others more helpless than himself.

But as with Lola, my heart is constantly gasping as I switch between delight and sorrow in his growing up.

He's a reader and writer.

He writes long, long journal entries every single night.

I love helping him spell random words--survivor, movie, commandments, etc.

His narrations are simple but enjoyable, and he's willing to make a few corrections at a time, so he's slowly learning the rules of grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

He reads like Mister Man . . . and his mom (me).

He can't hear anything when he's reading.  I have to get right up to his face and wave a bit as I call his name to get his attention when it's time to clean up or eat or go outside.

He's opinionated.

(Are all youngest children opinionated the way Lola and Baymax are?)

He's just as likely to kick my shins as he is to grab me in a big hug.

(And yes, we're addressing the shin-kicking!  He was a baby when we adopted our crew of 4, and he's known far too much trauma during critical developmental years.)

He raced through Math 3 and most of Math 4, but then it got hard (long division), and he decided he hates math.  I put him on hold in his program, and he'll pick up again in August right where he left off in June.  He said he wants to try pencil-and-paper math, but I mentioned that he wouldn't get immediate feedback, and he's rethinking that idea.

My hope is that the break will give his brain time to settle what he's learned into long-term memory and give him time to look forward to a little screen time each day. :)

As with all of my younger 6 kids, the majority of our learning has come through family read-alouds.  We've covered history, literature, science, social-emotional skills, and so much more.  Baymax has reluctantly participated in all of the reading with us as each book is started.  Then, once he's hooked (and he's always hooked by books) he responds with thoughtful opinions that let me know he is successfully learning through it all.

Other family learning experiences this year have included American Rhythm, Morning Meeting, cooking lessons, and church activities.  Baymax is a capable--if somewhat disgruntled--participant in all of them.

He wants to be a police officer when he grows up.

I think he could learn to be a really good one someday.