The Education of Me

My oldest son starts 4th grade today.
He's excited!  I'm nervous.

There are so many reasons why I don't think it is a good idea.
He will probably prove all of them wrong.
He's such a smart kid.  Way smarter than me.
I'm happy about this, but I don't look forward to the day he realizes it.
For now, he's happy to learn from me.
Though I'm sure I learn way more from him.
I am constantly amazed by him.

I took this video of him when he was exactly three and a half years old.
I had given him a set of post-it notes that have words written on them.  He made a sentence out of them.  While I was taking the video, he changed his mind and added a word below to rewrite his sentence.

How can a three year old read and "write"?



I know he's not a genius.
I mean, come on,  he may be smarter than me, but he did come from me.
He must take after my husband.
That's what my mom said when I told her about him reading this book just after he turned four.
Thanks, Mom. :)

The book starts out with simple sentences, but if you stick with it, you'll see the sentences and concepts getting harder.  He asks for help with only a couple of words and also asks a few questions about the concepts.



I posted this video on the internet for my husband to see while he was away at a 6 month training.  The author of the book happened to come across it and contacted me.  She was delighted to see a little boy enjoying her work.  I could not have been more proud.

This is the picture I took with my camera
at the school Meet and Greet this past Friday.

This is the picture I saw in my head.

My little kindergartener.

He's so much taller now, but he looks just the same doesn't he?

I'm so nervous that the teacher will not remember that he is still only 7.
I'm so nervous that the other 4th grade boys will remember that he is.
I'm so nervous he will be frustrated that the teacher will always be reminding him to be still.
I'm so nervous that he won't be able to sit still because he has so much excess energy.  (I obviously have it too, don't I.)
I'm also nervous that putting him back into school after homeschooling the last two years might be the wrong choice because he's super smart, but he's still only 7.

I'm nervous.  But he's excited.
And today I will probably learn that all my reasons to be nervous are just excuses, and that he is bigger and stronger than I already thought he was.