Study Habits

We home school.  Well, part time that is.  We send the kids to school 2 days a week and home school the other 2 days.  Our oldest child Connor, is in 3rd grade and, of course, extremely smart.  He gets that from his Mother.  What amazes me though are his study habits.  The school sends home his homework every day for us to do the following day at home.  That provides a continuity throughout the year.  Being 8 years old he is a boy growing up with video games and other technical distractions that abound in our lives.  What surprises me isn't that he likes to play the Wii, or his Nintendo, or even the iPod, it's that he likes to do his home school work usually on his own.  He already has started to develop the study habits of a boy much older.  He likes to figure out the problems and when he needs help he will come to us and ask.  He takes breaks, gets snacks, and all in all makes our job that much easier.  Now I'm not saying he is on his own.  We are constantly monitoring his progress and making sure he is meeting the requirements set forth by his teacher.  We will even sit and watch him do his work once in a while, but usually he prefers to study on his own when possible.  Could it be his independence is beginning to exert itself?  Maturity a little beyond his years?  Perhaps.  Either way, I am very proud that he has the discipline to accomplish all he does on a daily basis.  I'm not sure if this is something shared by many other boys his age.  No matter, all I know is that I couldn't be more proud of his level of self control for being only 8 years old.   I can only hope he is able to keep this discipline throughout his years as it will serve him well as he gets older.  I wish I had been as disciplined when I was his age.