As part of an ongoing effort to help my boys become the best they can be, we have begun our next level of Achievements AND we have launched a new “Weekly Advancement Initiative”.
For those who don’t know, I started a Home Achievements board that tracks the progress of my boys as they learn new skills, hone old skills, and earn prizes along the way. The first board launched with the following achievements that were required to be finished in order to receive a prize; their choice of a new Diamond Infinite Edge Pro bow, or an Apple iPhone.
- Cook a meal
- Learn 2 songs on the piano
- Learn a CHRISTMAS song on the piano
- Create a 3D print design with a logical purpose
- Create a 3D print design for fun (could be a toy or what ever)
- Take high-quality photos
- Build an iPad app (photo selection app)
- Have people vote on their favorite photo
- Have the favorited photo become framed art
- Learn 2 Origami designs
The boys were given 6 months to finish the list which proved to be MORE than enough time.
To continue the at home education I created a new list of achievements, except with a twist. They have the achievements they will complete, but we are also implementing a “weekly learning” portion that will allow them to learn a new item every week, but not just one item, THREE. The categories are food, sports, a new word in Japanese AND they will finish the week off with an entry in their blog about what they learned in that week. I think this is going to be an amazing exercise, and will teach my boy lots of new things, and have some fun doing it. It will also create a log so that they can go back and see all that they’ve accomplished, plus as they get older they will be able to review their lives. As with all learning, you start small and work your way up (except for week 2, I made some steaks and thought “why not” so we took a huge step forward for that week).