Assessment 2024--Beowulf

 I had to use this video of Beowulf!

Each of the circles on the windows in the museum has a direction to act like an animal in the display.  He's reading them and trying to do what they say without making any noise in the museum.  

Nature Angel filmed him.

This video is just so perfect for describing my boy!

He's willing to give anything a try.  

He's good-natured.

He's silly.

He's creative and funny and awkward and all of the good things there are to be when you're an 11-year-old boy.

He has a lot of mental health struggles--some as severe as Brother's--but Beowulf is somehow just a tad more optimistic and easy to comfort than Brother is.

He's huge.

Probably not as huge as you're imagining.

He outweighs both of his older brothers, even though he's shorter than both of them.  He's not one bit fat though.  He's just big and strong.

(My three older boys wear the same size clothing!)

He's totally unable to control his body in space.

(I'm still trying to decide if he needs help with this or if he'll outgrow it as he gets used to his size.)

This means that he causes lots of accidents, and if I'm not careful, I can hurt his feelings.  This makes him defensive and starts us down a hard road for an hour or so.  

If I am careful, he will apologize and do his best to help clean up because he genuinely cares about the people around him.

I often say that Beowulf only speaks in exclamation points.

And anyone who hears me and then hears him agrees. :)

He's a lot of fun.

Beowulf doesn't really like any part of school that is hands-on.  He struggles to draw, to write, to craft, or to manipulate if it is part of an assignment.

He does love Legos, Magnatiles, and other manipulative toys that he uses in his free time.  

I've noticed, though, that he often gets angry when he can't make his constructions do what he wants them to do.

When he was little, we had him evaluated for PT/OT, but he didn't qualify.  

I suspect he could qualify now.

His handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and writing style are comparable to early/mid-second grade.  It's hard, hard work for him to complete a narration, but he's always willing to give it a try.

But then he can spend hours drawing Pokemon characters and copying information from cards, so I've grown to love those silly cards for how much OT they've given him without him even realizing it.

He loves being read to, and he learned to love reading this year.  

He became a reader.

A voracious reader.

He loves ideas, and book plots make him just about jump off the furniture with excitement every time he has a prediction to make or an idea about why something is happening the way it is.

He is also fond of math, but even on the computer with all of the instant feedback and immediate correction and second chances, he gets distracted from what he's doing.  He worked his way through Math 3 and most of Math 4 this year.  I think he's set to complete Math 4 before our new school year starts, so I plan to set up Math 5 for him for the 24-25 school year.

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.  Beowulf has participated in all of the reading with us, and he has responded with his special enthusiasm that lets 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.  Beowulf is an active, delighted participant in all of them.

Beowulf is willing to ask questions.

He's usually willing to listen for answers.

He loves life, and he makes the people around him love life, too.

He's infectiously joyful!