As a family, we don't "do" new year's resolutions, but we do mindmap some goals for the year and also review the previous year's goals to see how we did. A little pat on the back is a good way to start off the next round of goal setting!
Number 2 son had achieved many of his goals (they had been associated with starting a new school, and he's had an awesome year there) and could easily set goals for things he wants to achieve during 2013.
Number 1 son had achieved many of his goals, but found setting new ones very difficult - hence the frustration.
I have pondered this for the past couple of weeks, and came to some conclusions:
- Number 1 son is academically very capable, and often finds his school work tedious and unexciting. One exception was last year's maths - he completed the Year 11 work and did most of the Year 12 work as well... the challenge was stimulating.
- If he can't find enough challenge in the quite rigid thinking of the NZ exam system for Year 12 students, he would normally look to his out of school past-times.
- In this case his out-of-school passion is ATC, but sadly the challenges there are quite regimented and time-dependent.
- So to give him a challenge and a focus I decided I would have to create one for him.
He did embark (quite of his own accord) to write one when he was 11 or 12 years old, but got a bit bogged down with the complexities of planning and plot development. I've offered to work alongside him on this, and we've crafted an overview together this morning. He's off now to start on Chapter 1, and I've said I'll help with structure and editing.
I'm really excited. It might take us a long time, and even if it goes no further than our computers it will still have been an excellent experience. I'm hoping it provides number one son with the challenge he needs to sustain his academic interest through the year.
Watch out for the imaginatively titled "Dunno yet" an epic adventure of awesomeness written by number one son and his wonderful mum!
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