Kept At It

Proud of the boy.  Last night I checked his homework for the first time all week and realized he'd done his math problems all wrong and would have to erase everything and do it over.  We talked about it for a few minutes, and he started wheezing and whining, as he is wont to do when something is hard, but we kept at it.  And, slowly, it started to click for him. 

I left him alone for a few minutes and then came back, and he had slogged through a few of the questions but by now it was pretty late.  I told him if he was tired he could go to bed and pick it up in the morning.  But, to my surprise, he said he wanted to keep going. 

I let him be for a few more minutes, and when I checked again, he was in bed and all the problems were done.  Correctly.  It may take some time but he's got it in him.  We just have to know when and how much to push.