Every day - even with the little to no homework policy for elementary school- it is a struggle. I pull the papers that were thrown in his bag out, remind him that is what his folder is for. I make him put it in the folder. Then we go over the unfinished classwork. We fix his letters, we review the rules, we go over the math problems. Then we start the homework. How many sentences in a paragraph? What do you start and end a sentence with? What are our clues for remembering how letters are formed? Try to write in cursive - remember that it is easier? You forgot? Ok, tomorrow, ok buddy? Spelling words? Ok, pick 7 words. Those are the ones we will focus on. If you get these 7 right, it is a 100 for mom and dad and you get a marble. What clues can we use to remember how to spell this word? Now we need to read. Set the timer. All done? Don't forget to write the title and the author and check the genre.
Or
Why is the paper here if your teacher didn't want you to do this? Ok, I am texting X mom. X says that it needs to be done. I am not going to fight you on this. Do you want to fail? If so, tell me now and we will stop. You don't? Ok. Then this is work and you need to do it.
Or
Hey buddy, you should have been done by now. It has been 30 minutes and you wrote 2 sentences. Do you need a break? Go ride your bike/scooter for 5 minutes. 30 minutes after the 5 minutes, we have written 2 more sentences of the 5 sentence paragraph.
School is a struggle. He loves it. He loves learning. He loves recess. He loves his teachers. he is so smart. But it is a struggle.
I never was so relieved as when I learned that he had a learning disability.
As LD's go, it isn't so bad. There are tried and true methods that help. You just have to use those methods - which we do NOT but will admit that it is easier when we do. (Insert mom banging head on hard surface).
Still.
I don't enjoy the daily routine. There is a pit in my stomach every time we get grades or report cards. I hate that those numbers and letters define my child. That piece of paper is supposed to show what he can do; what he knows but that piece of paper knows nothing about him.
It doesn't know that he is kind and outgoing. It doesn't show that we think he can play by ear (No, Mommy, I don't need the book to practice. And I already know the song). It doesn't show that he can figure out how things work or that he can take something apart and put it back together.
I dislike IEP meetings and meeting new teachers. They don't know me. They don't know what we do every night. They don't know that we read and play classical music and have family dinners or sometimes, family breakfast. They don't know that we do review during the summer to try to keep that 20% education loss from happening. They don't know that when I say we work on it home that I mean it. They don't know that I will be their partner instead of a moocher.
No, I don't want to homeschool. I know myself, I know my child (note - singular) and I know how hard it is to do it right.
School is work. I always told my students and my own kids that this is your job. Jobs are work and how fun it is is up to you. Teachers aren't there to entertain you but you can enjoy something, even if it is hard. But I have to say, I don't enjoy our evening routine. Even the one who is "good" at school has issues. She won't ask a teacher for help because she doesn't want to be seen as "arguing" with the teacher. (Insert head banging - again - on desk by her parent who wonders what she did wrong that her child thinks that asking a question is arguing...)
So, yeah. I am not looking forward to this school year.
