Will to learn

When my son saw me leafing through a newly bought workbook, he sat beside me on the bed and looked at the picture of the pig on a number recognition and counting activity.

He said, "a pencil."  What he meant
was "I want a pencil." During our tutorial sessions, I sometimes purposely neglect to provide him with writing or coloring tools after handing him a worksheet to encourage him to notice what is missing and make the appropriate requests.  

"What do you want?" I continued browsing through the book, waiting for him to say a complete sentence.  

When I turned to a page showing a maze, he grabbed the book, went to his desk, and demanded, "a pencil."

I followed him to his desk to give him a pencil.  I watched in awe as he solved mazes and connect-the-dots with ease.  Months ago he had the tendency to try every trick to delay sitting down on his chair to study, run to the bathroom in the middle of an activity, and holler when presented with a worksheet he did not like.  He was finally doing learning tasks on his own volition.


(My son drew the pig according to this step-by-step guide from hellokids.com)