This was yesterday's homeschooling activities but I didn't get to post as I was abit mentally emotionally drained after helping my youngest with his writing specifically in numbers. We noticed sometime ago since we started homeschooling this year that he dislikes writing numbers. Why? We are not sure. He doesn't know too. But it is just not his thing, for now, I hope.

However, as his mother, I am not worried, but just keep encouraging him and try to build his confidence. I started him on number book in January but after writing number 1, he stared at number 2 and 3 and didn't want to touch the book since then.

Let's try

Yesterday, I decided to let him try again and this time he said "YES". At number 2, he did it pretty well in the beginning but somehow halfway through, something got stucked in his brain, it was like he just could not write the curve as he wanted to. I could tell he was feeling a bit frustrated, no matter how I encouraged him, he knew what he wrote doesn't look like the number 2. I told him that it didn't matter as long as there was the shape but he wasn't satisfied, kept erasing and trying again till he got it. I was impressed at his tenacity. Number 3 was even harder. He said he tried to write the curve but ended up looked like number one. So I gave him a few dots as stopping reference pointand after few trials and error, he got it! Phew!

It sounded easy but it was a struggle for him. I would never tell him that he has delayed fine motor skills (by doctor) although he did notice all his peers and those younger than him can already write A to Z and numbers blissfully.

Yay! You did number 2 & 3! Great achievement!

I told him.
And gave him big high-5.
Then we proceed to the book he loved, just practising those strokes or curves, no right or wrong, just fun.

He would take out his markers to play along as he made those strokes or curves. And even painted his nails as you could see from the photo.

Introducing addition

Then, after relaxing with this book, we moved on to something new. Addition. Not new as in he didn't know addition, we had been playing plus and minus with fingers, food and toys, but I had never tried telling him addition in written form, so I thought we should try. He didn't like writing numbers but he is alright with plus and minus. After a short description of addition, I gave him these faces, and asked him to draw the numbers of hairs accordingly and he could use his markers or pencil, whatever mode he liked to do it. I got this idea from other homeschooling mothers, thank you!

He did all 4, and said wanted to decorate further!

Haha!

Thank you, big brother!

Meanwhile, this bright one, was doing and practising his Mandarin language and homeworks all by himself using Google Translate, while also becoming the greatest supporter to his younger brother.