K. is behind her peers in reading. She is reading, but not at the level expected. Which meant she was pulled out of class to have a special class for her and another boy. This was hard on her but great at the same time. She thrived on the one on one instruction, but felt bad for being singled out. She had a hard time sitting still and completing her work. Her teacher was not very positive during all the times I had interacted with her. I had volunteered in class several times and had several meetings with her. She just was not very compassionate or understanding about K's situation (being in school for the first time).
I did not have intentions of homeschooling again this year even though we were experiencing these issues. I thought we would just work through them. I wanted to teach my children that quitting was not something we do when things get rough. Until K. approached us during the month of December complaining about going to school. Then the vision problems came along. She got her first pair of glasses this summer. She is far sided and her prescription is quite strong. I was surprised that we had noticed any problems prior to this year. Last month she went for a six week check up after patching her right eye. The doctor said her vision was getting worse! How could that be? We rescheduled another appointment and will check again later this month. I am sure this was effecting her classroom behavior and performance. The school nurse even sent home a note from a screening: right eye 20/60 left eye 20/100 WITH GLASSES ON! The test was performed two times.
There was also some anxiety K. has had the last year. She acts out in several ways. But I think the worst part was some disturbing current events in our area that has effected my husband's line of work. This has really troubled sweet K. in a horrible way. She will stay up late waiting for her daddy to come home, making sure he arrives safely. He will tuck her in and every night she'll ask questions involving his day. If he has to work late, K. will make up every excuse in the book to not go to bed.
We told K. we would all pray about homeschooling again during winter break. We decided last weekend to withdraw her from classes. This morning I called the school. I went in to drop off school books she had and ran into the principal. She and I had a pleasant conversation about what was going on and she offered her help in however they can.
Today I have three children and home, and K. was able to focus and complete about 10 worksheets in an hour! It's break time now and she's having a great time with the boys.
3 comments:
You just have to do what is best for each child. You're the mom and the best one to know what that is.
You made the right choice. The Lord will bless you for it too. What are they expecting from a child in K anyway? I have no clue what public/private schools expect. But I do know that each and every child is unique and special....
K. is in first grade. She was expected to be a fluent reader by September, which she was not. She went into first grade knowing her letter/numbers and sounds. She could write pretty well. But that is not enough in our state (WA) now. She was in a special reading class 1/2 hour a day to get her caught up with her peers. She is doing really well with her reading, but I kept telling her teacher that I was not concerned about her reading level. Her teacher was adamant that she was not going to be caught up, even if she tried really hard. She was also upset about how much K. talked with her peers and didn't complete her school work, so K. was not allowed to go to recess. Poor thing. Of course when there were no distractions she got her work finished quickly! I think a huge weight has been lifted off K's shoulders. She seems so happy to be home.
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