Grandpa Crashes and Burns As Teacher, Quickly Recovers

The Student Body

My charade as a teacher was exposed on Day 6 of homeschooling grandson Jack.

Little Jack had been forming his alphabet letters, numbers and symbols from the bottom up, directly opposite the way his grandparents were taught many decades ago.

Even the question mark was being formed by making a period first, then up into a straight line and curve on top.  No one at BISD had corrected Jack's technique or mentioned it in communication.  

Frustration set in as I tried to correct the technique for every letter.  Homeschooling seemed at an impasse.  Jack was in tears, needing consolation from Grandma.

That night, I went to the internet, read about the impact of being mixed/dominant, then read that many schools no longer emphasize "how" letters are formed.  Some twenty-somethings even write letters from the bottom without undue harm.

My internet roaming led me again to TEDx talks, Joshua Katz on the "Toxic Nature of Education," and others who explained how "kids in rows, one-size-fits-all curriculum, 8 hour school days, standardized tests," etc. was the road to failure.

Workbooks, I was reminded, were designed to keep some kids busy while others were being taught.

I approached Day 7 of homeschooling with the resolve not to continue on as the inflexible instructor every student loathes.  I changed my emphasis and attempted to make learning fun.

Since Jack had shown an interest in taking pictures with an Iphone, I looked for a YouTube video on that subject. 

"But, Grampa.  This video is for an Iphone 5.  You have an Iphone 6," Jack told me with some excitement.

Jack's Pic of a Tree Trunk

I found the correct video.  Jack absorbed it all, then went to show Grandma how to use the camera, explaining aperture, time delay, video and focus.  Grandma pretended to understand.

Relaxing my obsession with how alphabet letters are formed, I gave an oral review of exclamation, command, question and telling sentences.  Jack aced that.

"Practice writing any letters you want," I offered.

Jack drew "families" of perfect "B's" and "D's" and then put them in make-believe war with each other.  He said each group had a "catapult" aimed at the other and laughed.

We finished our day with photography and scooter riding at Cabler Park. Education was back on track thanks to YouTube and Tedx.