Yesterday I administered a test to a child that I have been testing for a couple of years. His math score was down more than a grade level from the previous year. During a break, I showed his mom his “scratch” paper so she could see what was happening.
Her reply: It’s been one of those years, Kay. When I learned something was going on with my son, I let some things go as I dealt with and came to terms with “it” (fill in your own word for “it”; we’ve all been there and if we’re not, we will be sometime). Then we had OT once a week all year. It was just once a week, but it was an hour there and back, but would consume the better part of the day. I should have been more diligent.
This precious mom and I shared with each other heart to heart. At the end of our conversation, I was so proud of her resolve to embrace the test scores simply as a tool to point out areas that need work, not as a sentence of judgment.
As I pulled her son’s scores off the printer, it hit me ~ What if this family, under the same circumstances, had been a part of a traditional school? How much harder the year would have been for all of them ~ making up lessons, evenings taken away because of extra homework, no time to rest and recover from those drives to therapy. I’m sure you can add to this list.
How good of God to allow this family to be homeschooling at this time. Because they were home, they could set a schedule that worked to accommodate their son and his needs. I believe God’s lesson plan for this child this school year was occupational therapy, skills that will help him in all areas of life and school. Next year can be the stellar math year.
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to do life with our children and teach them so much more than math during “one of those years”?
Hugs to all you wonderful moms who walk with your children day by day.
Blessings!
Kay
It is exactly what happened with my son. He is really terrible in Maths and we have tried a lot of things to do. The only way to help him is just sitting next to him during the lesson. Lucky for us that we are homeschooling family.