What’s in a Name?

Each child is unique and they all learn at their own rate. I often find need to remind myself of this…especially when it comes to Jack. He definitely has a stubborn streak and can put up a pretty good fight when he doesn’t want to do things. Trust me, I potty trained the kid, I know.

Writing is one of those things that isn’t high on his priority list. I mean, why worry about how to hold a pencil and scratch out your name when there is dirt to play in and bugs to watch, a sister to giggle with and bikes to be ridden?

Back to the aforementioned potty training, there was many a day where we came to a stalemate and I just wanted to beat my head against a wall. At the time it seemed less painful than getting Jack to pee in the toilet. During that period I also learned there is only so far you can push this kid before he shuts down completely. He’s more of a “tit-for-tat” kind of guy.

Want me to potty in the toilet? Give me a good reason to do so.

For Jack, Dum Dum lollipops were a good reason. If he took himself to the potty he’d get a lollipop. Eventually taking himself to the bathroom became second nature and lollipops were phased out.

That experience told me that trying to get Jack to sit in a chair and copy his name down 10 times would most likely end in bitter failure and tears (probably from both of us). That’s not to say I didn’t try it. Still, seeing I’d like him to at least be able to write his name by the time he gets to kindergarten I have been working on figuring out what would give him the drive to write his name. What would make those four letters, J-A-C-K, important enough to write.

Well, if you know Jack you can probably guess the answer….tractors! Jack looooves tractors. He loves to watch videos of them on YouTube too. Therefore we devised a system that when he wants to watch a video (most range from 2 to 5 minutes in length) he has to “sign-in.” We have a little wipe off book and he has to write his name before I’ll turn the video on.

At first we struggled. But soon enough he caught on that Mom was serious that no name = no video. Now he makes an attempt. He has a motivating factor to write his name and he’s making progress!! When we started he’d mostly hold the pen and I’d drive his hand. Now he’s ‘driving’ and I’ll hold the top to steady him if he asks. However, he’s been free-handing all by himself lately.

I’m just so dang proud of him I wanted to share some of his latest efforts. The big JACK I wrote and held the pen-top while he traced inside the letters. However the top right and bottom right scratches are all Jack. If you squint and tilt your head to one side  you can even make out the letters! J-A-C-K!

Next goal….getting him to do this at preschool for his teachers.