Getting Along

The good thing about deciding to do blended learning for Nikki is that not only does he learn to overcome his shyness, he gets to interact with other (good) kids his age as well.  You’re probably wondering why I didn’t decide to enroll Nikki in regular school when he was 7 (if socialization was what we wanted for him).  Well, it’s because the system is not that swell.  I’m not saying all schools are like that in the Philippines, but only that I believe that as homeschoolers, I can give much more than education to my boys whereas traditional schools can only give so much. 

Anyway, Nikki’s class started yesterday. He was quite excited to see his classmates again.  The night before, he wondered if he was going to have the same classmates or if he’ll have new ones.  I told him he’ll find out eventually.  So yesterday, when I brought him to school, he saw a new face there.  Since she was seated beside him, I told him to start talking to her to make her comfortable. He seemed happy enough to see his old friends. When he came home however, he was distraught.  He said that one of his classmates touched his stuff in his bag and found his pencil case.  She opened it and found his whiteboard markers and volunteered to give one of his markers to his teacher to use.  Now, they (the students) need markers for spelling exercises since they have small whiteboards where they spell words on. Even if Nikki had an extra marker, he did not give permission to give the other marker to his teacher.

So anyway, last night, I asked him if he was okay with what happened.  He said he didn’t like it when his classmates touched his stuff without permission.  On top of that, his classmate put him in a situation where he feels he would either hurt his teacher’s feelings by getting the marker back, or that he would look selfish.  I asked him what he wanted to happen.  He said he wanted his marker back without having to hurt his teacher’s feelings.  So, I told him to ask her nicely if it was okay to have his marker back since he did not give permission to his classmate to take it and give it to her (teacher). He was really worried.  He asked me if his teacher would be okay with it.  I told him, she should be okay with it because 1. the students are not supposed to supply the teachers with markers, and besides, if that were the policy, each one of his classmates would have given one marker to their teacher – which they didn’t; and 2. it was HIS marker and being HIS, should be in his possession.  He seemed to feel better after that.  This morning, I reminded him to just ask his teacher nicely for the marker back and when he came home this afternoon, he said his marker was in his bag. 

Nikki has always been a sensitive boy.  He gets so affected by little things and usually, wouldn’t know what to do when he feels he’s put in a spot.  I think things like these help him to be more assertive and to learn how to deal with life experiences.  I think this is one of the perks of doing blended learning.  We keep the values and lessons we learn at home and at the same time, Nikki learns about interaction and life experiences outside the home, plus the discipline and group activities.  I think it’s a wonderful exercise. 

Hopefully, Nikki will continue to be open with me about problems he encounters in school or outside the home.  And hopefully as well, he will learn on his own to be able to do the right thing when he encounters a problem with other people.