Growing pains - my brain hurts!!

We've had growing pains happening here for a while now.  Maestro is getting long and lanky, sore bones, forever hungry and odd sleeping hours.  It's all part of becoming a teen.  Yes, he is only 11 years old, but it's been happening for a while now, starting in the latter months of being age 10.

First he started wearing the same shoe size as I do, now almost into his Dad's size shoe.  He's now taller than me too (not too hard to do) !

When children grow quickly like this, they lose their centre of gravity, so we've had moments of more clumsiness.  The poor lad has tripped a few times and gets frustrated with his awkwardness.  For those pains in his muscles and bones, he's taking some tissue salts (Magnesium/Phosphorus) which is helping, especially before bed when his irritable legs keep him awake (along with his ravenous appetite).

Sleeping hours have completely shifted to later nights and then later rising.  Yep, this is normal too. Hormonally, teens don't feel tired until around 11pm.   What's more, they then still need up to 9.5 hours of sleep, because that's when they're growing.  So, for this fact alone, I'm really grateful that we can have a more relaxed schedule as homeschoolers, allowing Maestro to sleep as his brain and body needs it.

But, what's he doing with his time if he's staying up later?  Reading!  Yep, he's aquired a nice stash of books (besides those from Sonlight) that he's working through.  Hardy Boys. Cairo Jim. In fact, his desk is covered with books and papers (he's writing his own stories too, without prompting), with a few piles stashed next to the bed also.  This boy really needs another bookshelf of his own, just for the volume he's borrowing from the library.

With a brain that's changing so much, you want to feed it with the best input.  This has been one of the prompts to direct the children's learning with good literature, discussion and healthy outdoor activity.    I really liked the advice in this article, advising parents and teachers about 'exercising' the teen's brain to help them ....

to order their thoughts, understand abstract concepts, and control their impulses are laying the neural foundations that will serve them for the rest of their lives. "This argues for doing a lot of things as a teenager," says Dr. Giedd. "You are hard-wiring your brain in adolescence. Do you want to hard-wire it for sports and playing music and doing mathematics–or for lying on the couch in front of the television?"

And we've had a bit more fascination in movies, music and computers lately. Another article here, echos the sentiments I've just quoted. Teaching moderation has been a key, as well as monitoring what's being heard and seen.  Actually, I'm impressed that Maestro still does come to us to ask about suitability on these things.  We don't have to prompt him too much.  He has been vetting what's suitable for his younger sister for a long time, and continues to do so.  Directed family movie nights has helped, which is usually Saturday or Sunday evening.  Sometimes it's just a special night with Maestro and his Papa (as he seeks more 1:1 time with his dad). One film we recently saw was the first "Hornblower" episode, where we discussed loyalty and honour; and this has now raised interest in a new series of books. :)

So, we've had more sleep, lots of eating, some moments of forgetfulness and more emotion. But we've also got him having adequate sleep, eating a good selection of whole foods, an increased interest in his dance and violin, lots of good literature and good communication with his parents.  After all, we are building them up to become independent adults, so hopefully we'll use this crucial time to our advantage.