Careless

Careless has always been a problem for Ansel.  He used to have quite a number of corrections for his math homework.  He has always been complaining the math at school was too easy.  We thought that he did not have the patience to go though easy problems and hence was careless about the work.  We started homeschooling this year.  He has been longing for taking Algebra class.  It is quite a challenge as he has not taken a formal Pre-algebra class. He picked up pre-algebra concepts from here and there.  Taking into consideration of the SCAT results,which states his math level is at 8th grade, and our knowledge in his math ability, we decided to give him a try to the Algebra 1 class.  We have discussed with him that this will be challenging and will take lots of time and effort.  Ansel was very determined to take it.

After 3 weeks of lessons, I found out that the class should be at his level though he needs lots of work, when compared to his math at school. To my disappointment, Ansel still makes lots of careless mistakes.  Making it worse, he is not willing to do corrections.  This goes in line with his character of not taking things seriously.  He believes mistakes can be ignored and will not lead to consequences.

I am going though a hard time on changing his concepts to mistakes.  I need him to do the corrections which he constantly fights against, as that takes up more time.  Emphasizing on accuracy and accepting consequences has been a tough ongoing process right now.  I pray that God will guide us.

Academics vs Character Building

Academics builds a knowledgeable person.  A knowledgeable person thinks too high of himself.  A person who thinks too high of himself will have  a lot of pride.  A person with a lot of pride finds it difficult to see his weaknesses.  Humility thus is a big challenge for a knowledgeable person.