ManCub

This is Man Cub. As you can tell, he is not a big fan of picture taking. This is a horrible picture of him, but it's taken on the first day of school like the other two siblings, so this is going to have to do. Maybe he'll see this and give me a better pic!

He's by far my most challenging child. His brain is not wired like everyone elses', and putting things in terms he can understand is not always easy, but he eventually gets it. If you can combine the concept with baseball, you have a good shot of driving the thought home. When we needed to practice five-paragraph essays, for example, we outlined a piece for Albert Pujols, and it seemed to click. Opening paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, and then closing paragraph. Tell me why Pujols is the greatest player alive, compare his stats to other greats, tell about how how hard he worked to get to the majors, list his current stats for the year, and reiterate your opinion that, indeed, Albert Pujols is the most awesome player on the face of the planet. Don't make it an opinion; make it fact and prove it in your writing. My Man Cub does very well with math and concepts, but reading comprehension and writing skills really need work, but he is now mainstreamed in regular classes.

This cub has an amazing talent: Baseball cards and stats. Out of about 1000 cards, I can pull one out, show him the picture on the front, and he spouts all kinds of knowledge while I look at the card's back and just gape. We try to encourage him to put them away in a safe place, but they truly belong in his hands. He creates games with them, selecting his teammates like a fantasy league. Then, he mentally actually plays a 9-inning game! Reality is finally dawning; he knows now that he probably will never be in the major leagues, but with his knowledge of statistics and passion for the sport, perhaps there is a future in sports journalism for him. He doesn't talk much, but when he's going through his fantasy games, he calls the entire game. Speaking of which, I probably should find a score sheet template and print him out one for each game. Actually, that's a very, very good idea! I try to encourage this activity, because I think it's a healthy obsession, and it's making him reevaluate his writing skills. That's something that needs work; ergo, that's why we checked some college requirements, and found out that our local high school offers intro to journalism classes, so he might be able to get a dry run and see if he wants to go that route or not. Any way Man Cub chooses, though, will take so much effort, but the rewards for him will be so fantastic!