Here’s the thing about regular school that homeschooling does not have: Competition; and since the beginning of his school year in August, Ethan has been excitedly reporting to us his progress on accumulating merits whilst in school. Yes, this is something he really really thrives on and gets hims really inspired.
Students are given incentives in the form of house points when they behave well (e.g. showing respect and good manners) or perform well (e.g. good work in assignments). Accumulation of five house points will earn you a merit. Earn 20 merits and you get a Bronze certificate; 40 merits = a Silver certificate, and 60 merits = a Gold certificate.
At one point, he almost got wrongly penalised (a teacher wanted to subtract house points his house points because she mistook him for someone else). Thankfully, his record stayed intact and unscathed.
Every now and then, Ethan would eagerly either tell us that he was currently the front-runner in his class, or that someone else had overtaken him by a few points.
Finally just 2 weeks ago, he hit the 20-merit mark. We could tell he was so very proud of himself 🙂
So last Friday, Emma and I attended the morning celebration assembly where Ethan was presented with his Bronze certificate. What’s more, he was one of four in the first batch this year to get the Bronze certificate.
Way to go, Ethan! Next up: the Silver cert! 🙂