A few stories now. This kid fell in love with welding last year. He did very well in a some welding competitions and was very eager to increase his skill this year. however the required classes got in the way and he has not had much time in the welding shop. he occasionally finds a way to get some time in but mostly he is just in the books and working with dad. One of the tradeoffs for shop time was an advanced English class. He has not been in advanced English ever and has rarely put forth much effort in the writing department as it's just fluffy stuff. The less said the better in his opinion.
His teacher this year is a Ph.d. of english or history. She expects and has done more than we have seen before. The most recent assignment was a research paper on a topic from the Book The Princess Bride. This son was excited to research sword making. That got him kicked out of the school library because swords are weapons and there's a no weapons policy in effect at school. He finished his research at home. Which I might add was very interesting. Part of the fun of lots of kids is learning about lots of different items. I personally would not have taken much time to learn about sword making but have been amazed as we have worked on this project.
Harold took a day off work after spending some evenings on research and proceeded to craft teh paper. He willingly accepted the many edits and revisions of his multiple readers. From younger sisters and brothers to grandmothers and aunts and mom we combed through his thoughts and words. IT was laborious and it was hard. Harold is not averse to work and or critiques so he fared the days well. The finished paper was 9 pages long, he siad his peers did about 3.
The next step he informed me after we finished that step was an in class prsentation complete with some visible part of what you wrote about. Knowing full well swords, as weapons, were not allowed on school property. WE decided he had the skill level especaiily after watching youtube to begin crafting a sword. So he skipped seminary again to being making a sword. Anna was the photographer.
THe pounding and shaping was a lot more difficult than he anticipated. HE said it was like a squishy sandwich trying to keep the metal in place and moving as desired. Not to mention this would be incredibly tiring to do all day to get the desired length and width of a sword.
A cross section . He welding three pieces of flat iron together trying to get the desired thickness, and to do some welding.
This complete project took a lot of time. However, so much was learned and there was mostly only complatining from parents wondering when he would be done. Yet as I reflect on past experiences trying to get him to write this was much easier because he was engaged. I wrote the teacher a few times how much I appreciated her challenge and how exciting it was to see my son grow. She has no idea how big of a jump in thinking, writing, and learning this was for him.
When asked about the presentations by his peers it sounded fascinating and funny. One kid made his own poison from pineapple leaves. Another talked about arranged marriages complete with cheesecake wedding cakes. Another demonstrated fencing using old fishing poles. Some talked about kidnapping, others about swords- whom knew significantly less than Harold as he corrected their errors in sword construction- in a polite way he reported.
We are thankful for growth. We are so pleased with maturity as it comes. As we begin the growing up middle school journey with another I am anxious for the metamorphosis to happen and wishful all the painful stretching for us both won't have to repeat. But it will. There is no growth with out lots of trial and stretching, and correcting, and time.
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