Then, at the end of the day, while saying goodnight to my third grade son, I told him how happy I was that he worked so hard in spite of not feeling well. He said, that's okay, I didn't really learn much.
OUCH!
So I learned that the introductory lesson to keyboarding skills, cursive handwriting, learning to research and take notes for a report on the Indonesian rainforests, writing poetry based on an example from classic poets, equating coins and values is nothing much to learn. It's the standard stuff of third grade. I was ignorantly happy all day because in my mind, we seemed to be on track. The standards were not so challenging as to make him cry or leave him completely lost. Elliot could re-enter a regular school and be just fine. We aren't hiding from anything or anybody. (These negative thoughts sometimes creep in, no matter that he scored at a fourth grade level in vocabulary on his second grade end of year test.)
So, hmmm. All those hours of lesson planning and offering what I thought was "new" material turn out to be nothing much. What will bring a sense of wonder and excitement back?
Time to get tough. Time to dig deeper. Maybe today will be about discovering something completely unexpected.
There are always those ebbs and flows in the learning process, and as bright as Elliot is, although it was new material, he probably just mastered it quickly with ease. Even very bright children, though, need those lessons, no matter how quickly they master them, so you are doing a great job. What you listed that you covered would be a pretty full day for any third grader, especially for one who wasn't feeling well. Don't doubt yourself! Hope he gets to feeling better today~
ReplyDeleteThank you for the vote of confidence, Shelly! Elliot woke up in much better shape today. We read Birches by Robert Frost, and by the second reading of it, he picked up that Frost wished he could start life all over again so he could be a boy swinging from branches. This is the stuff that I love to dig into! When I'm excited, then he gets excited. Perhaps I wasn't showing much enthusiasm for the other skills. I forget sometimes that me being enthusiastic about his learning makes all the difference!
DeleteHi Jennifer, children are like that sometimes. We can teach them and teach them and while it may appear to be in vain at times, it's still all going in.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Thanks Duncan! I know that your students, and your beautiful daughters are learning so much from your teaching. It's nice to hear a positive vote for continuing forward:)
DeleteSomeone else said it above, even if it seems like it's not worth the effort, it's getting in their brains somehow :)
ReplyDeleteHopefully today was a good day (from one of your responses it seems like it was! We were reading Frost yesterday, actually!)
You're inspiring, mama. Mostly because you keep him in mind, and are rolling with the punches.
Hi Corinne,
DeleteGreat to see you here! I love that you are also walking this path with your sweet ones:) I feel better knowing that I'm not alone.
I don't know much about teaching, since I never home schooled, but I know if I had it to do today, I would seriously think about giving it a try. I think you're doing a great job with a very bright little boy. I'm sure not everything will be challenging to him, but think of it this way: in life we have to do many tasks that are not challenging or interesting. But still we do them. He is learning a great lesson right there by plowing ahead with the mundane, simply because it must be done. Time another day for the exciting and challenging.
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