I thought I'd relay a brief story from our home-schooling days. When I think back, my heart still goes out to my son - and he's now a senior at Georgia Tech. At the time, my son was in 8th grade and preferred to do most schoolwork by himself in his room. We had agreed a schedule, and to verify his understanding we'd have conversations over dinner, etc. We graded some of his work but, to be honest, life was becoming very busy (I was traveling overseas most weeks), we knew he was very responsible, so we trusted all was OK with all subjects. The truth is, though, that he got stuck on one subject in math - around lesson #10 of about 180. Every day, we'd discuss his schedule, and he acted as if all was just fine - and for all other subjects, they were. With math, though, it turned out he was a little ashamed and embarrassed at not being able to do this one lesson, so he hid the truth. About six weeks later, I really pressed him about his progress and demanded to see the work - and he burst into tears. Six weeks of frustration and worry with math came out, but he was clearly relieved the pretense was over. Despite traveling out of the country much of the time, I called home most evenings to help him and reassure him so he could catch up - and he did. My wife also encouraged him daily. It was perhaps the most important lesson I learned as a home-schooling parent simply because I was touched by the emotion of it all. No matter how much a child may not want to reveal actual progress (especially when in their mid-teens), we really must know. It can save a lot of heart-ache down the road.
I have a friend whose daugther did the same thing...and I believe it was also in math. Here's a bit of a flipside....when my ds was in 2nd grade he had an Abeka phonics book. He had been reading well since he was five, so I figured he had it down. I even checked his work and he never missed a question in his workbook. Then during a time when I was discussing phonics, I realized my ds had not truly understood his work but merely followed the patterns. He missed the point of most of his assignments! His reading was very advanced, however his knowlege of phonics to complete the work given suffered. I suppose we all let things go when we think a kid has something down or that he or she is responsible. We can never forget to stay on them no matter how much they hate it! lol.
That's what I love about hs'ing, the relationship we are privileged to have with our dc. Good, Bad and sometimes Ugly what a honor! Thank you for the reminder
